Monday, May 20, 2013

Day 10 Damp again!

Monday 20 May

Tormarton to Cold Ashton (10 kms)
Another shorter walk today before the last longer haul into Bath tomorrow. We'll stop at Dyrham Park on the way - it's apparently only a few kms from here. My Friend will drive and meet us there.

The first part of the walk stayed close to the M4 Motorway for a time but then peeled off and the noise of the traffic finally disappeared into the distance and we were left with the peacefulness of the fields, the cattle and rolling hills criss-crossed by hedges of yew.

The day started overcast and pretty much stayed that way until the mid-afternoon; we walked in beanies and rain jackets, peeling off only after a long walk uphill after Dyrham Park, which was very pretty - the gardens, that is: we didn't go inside.

Dyrham Park is a spectacular late 17th century baroque mansion with gardens and an ancient park of 270 acres (110 hectares) with herds of fallow deer. It was used as a filming location for the 1993 film The Remains of the Day; it was also used for some of the outdoor and garden scenes in the 1999 BBC mini-series Wives and Daughters; and in 2010 the BBC filmed many scenes for the Doctor Who 6th series episode "Night Terrors".


A wooded lane disgorged us out onto the frantically busy A46 where the traffic stopped for no-one, despite the "slow down for pedestrians" sign. We stopped briefly for a surprisingly good coffee made by a machine at a fuel stop; and then a walk across a long field and past a 16th century church brought us into the hamlet of Cold Ashton.

Our very pleasant B&B has views out over St Catherine's Valley; we put our feet up for a while and then took the car into the village of Marshfield nearby, which was very pretty - and the sun came out too!

We wandered around and had tea and scones (very English!) for lunch/afternoon tea (it was about 4 o'clock) and then went back for a rest before dinner which had been pre-arranged to be had at Folly End Farm (all the pubs in Cold Ashton having closed and there being nothing else). We had a good and more than substantial meal with a number of other walkers who had clearly been advised to arrange the same thing for dinner; a few of these we had met already along the way.

We are now all of the same purpose: the final leg into Bath tomorrow.

I'll be pleased for my feet to carry me in, I can tell you. We had earlier picked up some stores in Marshfield for lunch on the road tomorrow, there being nowhere to get anything enroute. Our Friend has been given a possible lunch spot which he can access by car and as he will be carrying the lunch in the vehicle; we will be dependent on his meeting us! That is the plan ...

It is also Regis' birthday tomorrow!!


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