Saturday 18 May
Wotton-under-Edge to Little Sodbury (15 kms)
The sun shone brightly despite dire predictions of rain - and stayed that way until early afternoon when the clouds came in and the temperature dropped.
We both got away about 9 a.m. - me on foot; My Friend by car to return it to Gloucester.
I stopped a little while at a small chapel in Church Street in the sun and by a pretty garden to send Kathryn a text (she has just made contact, her exams having finished yesterday - phew!) and then, after passing a set of almshouses (the first of which was erected in 1648), I then climbed quite a long way via Blackquarries Hill out of Wotton to then share an escarpment walk with about 400 mountain bike riders participating in the Heaven of the South charity ride (75 kms and 2000 ft of climbing!). We shared the track with much bonhomie although there was a lot of splashing of mud and I got stung by nettles in my enthusiasm to get out of their way.
More navigating across fields - the farms are the worst: often there is no signage and stock sharing the track necessitates shoo-ing herds of cattle out of the way; or the alternative is no stock but the path badly chopped up by them (Australian Customs will enjoy my boots when I re-enter the country!).
The sun continued to shine as I passed small villages: Wortley, Alderley; Lower Kilcott was very pretty, with people fishing at a local reservoir; and there were many pretty gardens filled with trees in blossom.
I even came across some pheasants!
At one stage, I realised I had lost track of where I was on the maps - I thought I was on Map 32 when in fact I was on 33!
I only worked this out when a tall monument rose out of the ground at the end of a field: Hawkesbury Monument, or more correctly, the Lord Robert Somerset Memorial Tower, which was built in 1846 to the memory of General Lord Somerset who died in 1842 (a bit of a difficult landmark to miss at 100 feet high (30.5m)!!).
I have to say I was rather pleased to be a map AHEAD .... But it just goes to show how easy it is to think you are at a certain spot on a map by "massaging" your interpretation of the way-markers to fit what you think you are seeing (does that make sense??).
More walking brought me close to good views of Horton Court (a stone 16th century manor house) and then it wasn't too far to the farm we are staying at in Little Sodbury.
I arrived before My Friend who had to catch a train and a bus followed by a 2.2 mile (3.5 kms) walk.
Our B&B hosts gave us a lift into the Cross Hands Pub where we enjoyed a nice meal: to be followed by a 20 minute walk across fields and an old Roman camp site back to our lodging - just as the sun was setting.
We look forward to seeing Kathryn and Regis tomorrow; they will drive across in a rental vehicle from Oxford and we will walk into Old Sodbury and meet them there & continue the walk together into Bath over the remaining days.
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