Challenging Chilterns

Leaving the outskirts of Wallingford it was a steady slog uphill. Then about 3 miles along Grim's Ditch which starts as a raised causeway flanked by trees and bushes and eventually becomes a ditch between 2 banks. Rolling fields on either side. Some very steep ascents and descents through beech and bluebell woods and I was so glad that the ground was still dry, not slippery. There were several quite fierce hailstorms but we were protected from the worst by the trees, until the last mile or so which was exposed and very muddy. Sadly not much time to really enjoy the walk, but it got me thinking how it must have been for travellers in the past who didn't have the benefit of light weight, high tech walking gear.
Saw more wildlife today - rabbits, a squirrel, a fledgling bird who looked very lost, also unexpectedly an unspoilt bank of violets and cowslips. But no people and certainly no motorbikes.
The last few miles were flattish and low so we had clear views of the tree covered hills rising above us in gentle evening light. The Chilterns just as I remember them.
16 miles today. Exhausted to bed!

Familiar places

Day 5 Streatley to Wallingford

Quite nostalgic today walking along the Thames and then over the bridge into 

Wallingford. Cloudy again but no mist and quite chilly till the afternoon, when the sun came out. We remembered the stifling heat last year and were grateful! Suddenly we are seeing trees and shrubs in blossom - lilac, laburnum, horse chestnut, magnolias and wisteria and the sweet scents of early summer. Also stinking ranks of cow parsley! The cuckoo was in full voice  and so were the geese.

The grasses in flower are particularly lovely and I'm so glad I don't suffer from hay fever.

We were conscious of the mainline to London disturbing the peace most of the day. But passing under a fine brick railway bridge crossing the Thames I remembered how I was fascinated by the many different bridges we came upon last year.

Quite surprised that a hotel like the George where we are staying doesn't offer afternoon tea, nor is there a tea shop in town. So we ended up at Costa and I pretended I'd earned a big slice of carrot cake!

Tomorrow we start the great challenge of the Chilterns, in snow and hail if the forecast is to be believed.

Horse Racing Country

Day 4 East Ilseley to Streatley
A shorter walk today for which I'm so grateful as my toes are getting very sore. Ed drove us the first couple of miles back to the path. Very murky again, but if it had been hot and sunny the heat and brightness reflecting off the chalk would have been deeply unpleasant. It's a part of the world famous for its racing stables and we saw a horse exercising on the gallops. It's a landscape you can't see from any road and it felt like a great privilege to able to walk through it.
Most of the snails had gone today and the few slugs I saw were facing the opposite way. Maybe thats an omen? However what was new today were the lapwings and their haunting cry. And some drama - a buzzard being mobbed by crows as well as the inevitable Red Kites circling ominously. Don't know why I find kites so sinister.
Lovely to be back in Streatley where we stopped last year on the Thames Path and celebrated reaching the halfway point of our journey. Strangely we are half way through our Ridgeway journey too.

Gastropod gala

Day 3 Woolstone to East Ilesley.
Today I was in totally new surroundings having never walked beyond Uffington before. Rather murky and quite chilly but still the rain kept away. Lovely weather for walking in fact though it made some of the scenery a bit vague. What was visible was BIG and that was a bit of a surprise. Huge rolling hills, very few people and absolutely no motorbikes!
We were accompanied by a band of little black slugs mostly pointing the way we were walking plus a troupe of pole dancing snails. Why DO snails climb to the top of dry leafless stalks? It looks so uncomfortable. Mainly yellow shiny and brown. Clearly showing off their party shells.
The birdsong was glorious but even this began to pall as we neared the twelfth mile on our longest day.
Thankfully Ed picked us up from Bury Down and drove us the rest of the way to the Crown and Horns in East  where the food was good and the bed was soft. I don't remember much else!

Kindness of friends

Day 2 Ogbourne St George to Woolstone.
11.5 miles and boy am I out of condition! However we made it and it was such a lovely day, with wonderful views and such a huge variety of wild flowers - bluebells, cowslips, violets, gorse, speedwell and lots more. Even Swindon looked vaguely mysterious through the haze. The best sight of all, when my poor old feet were ready to give out, was our friend Alan, who appeared in or path and carried our bags by car the last mile. Then when we got to the end he transported us a mile further to our b&b for the night. The White Horse Inn was a great find. The pub is old and full of character, but the accommodation is modern and extremely comfortable, which was exactly what we needed. A relaxing meal with Alan and Diana followed by deep dreamless sleep re-energised me for the challenge of day 3.

What larks!

A lovely start to our journey. Joan dropped us off at Overton hill about 11 and as we walked through the beautiful undulating chalk downs we were accompanied all the way by skylarks hovering and singing their hearts out. Good walking weather and apart from some very hostile bikers, it was all very peaceful.
The path is pretty poor in places - churned up by motorbikes and 4x4s so we had to be careful not to trip, but the views over yellow and green fields were stunning. No bluebells yet, but lots of cowslips at Barbury Castle. We walked just over 10miles which was quite strenuous and proved that we should have trained a bit harder. BUT we did it, and after a shower and a good meal I am pleasantly sleepy.
Longer day tomorrow - about 13 miles I think - but we'll take it steadily with plenty of stops to 'admire the view.'
No blisters yet.
And so basically it's all good.

Is it really a year?

Another year, another challenge! At 11o'clock this morning Mel and I will set off along the Ridgeway National Trail walking for the joy of it but also hoping to raise some money for Arts Together, the Wiltshire charity for frail and isolated older people. Sadly, we won't have Sue this year to deal with the cows and horses and generally lift our spirits, but Mel has been practising chatting to cows, so I'm sure he'll be able to persuade them to move out of our way and we'll be fine.
Not sure how I'll cope with the steeper hills and faster pace than last year, but I'm looking forward to passing through beautiful landscapes with late spring flowers still in bloom. The B&Bs all look great and this year we have some back up help, as some of them are over a mile from the path.
My joints are a bit stiffer and bones much creakier a year on from the Thames Path but I've packed plenty of painkillers and blister plasters and am ready for the off!