Ridgeway, Day 5

When I was rather younger I went to a Ridgeway School, don't think it was named for this Ridgeway though, there are several of them after all.  It was north of Birmingham for one thing.  I do recall we took a school trip down this way once though, and visited the Avebury Ring.  Various people have said I will be impressed by it when I arrive, however given the Ridgeway doesn't in fact go to it I suspect I won't - the 4 miles or so it would add to the day being enough to put me off, given I have 20 to do anyway.

The end!

Less than yesterday at least... I eat an excellent breakfast (old spot sausage!) and am on the road by 9am, again the way is mainly along bridle paths and wide, rutted green lanes.  Hill Forts abound, I soon reach the impressive Barbury Castle, and not long after there is another fort on Hackpen Hill.  Allegedly there is another White Horse here too, again I can't see it.  And then, with little ceremony, I find myself at the end of the Way.  The finishing point, Overton Hill, is hardly worth the name, though it does have an array of burial mounds.  In any case, I'm not done, I have another eight miles or so to do to reach Pewsey, where I can catch a train back to London.

The rather excellent Crown Inn.

My route planning turns out to be good though, much of the remaining miles being on bridle paths, and I pass through scenic nature reserves and charming villages full of thatched cottages.  There's only a brief section of nettle-choked footpath, then some exciting battling through a field of head high maize.  And I don't get lost at all... Keeping up the impressive speed too, I reach Pewsey at just gone 5pm, just a little early for the 9:22 train I've bought a ticket for.  Or indeed, the next train which is at 7:29 - fortunately I find the Crown Inn, which even has its own brewery, a better end to the walk is hard to imagine.  It's tempting to hang around for four hours and consume considerable amounts of beer, I resist though... back to work tomorrow after all.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Ridgeway, Day 4

Didcot power station.

Well, as it turns out I bounce out of bed at 7am, clearly this lifestyle is doing me good.  The Swan Inn provides a hearty breakfast and a packed lunch, then I'm off on a long day, twenty-four miles in fact.  The legs seem to be working at least, and the Way continues flat, with a view off to the north that suggests I may actually be on a ridge.  Shame the view is of a power station.

Uffington hill fort.

The miles roll on, I reach Uffington Castle, a rather impressive hill fort, and wander a bit.  There is a White Horse here, but a long walk downhill and off the way to see it... So, onwards.  Later on I pass Weyland's Smithy, somewhat overrun with children.  And then more and more miles, much of it the wide 'green lane' that I'd expected from the Ridgeway.

The body keeps working though, in fact I'm a bit shocked by the pace I'm maintaining, full pack and all.  Don't seem hungry either, I now have a selection of uneaten chocolate bars in my pack... riding for a fall I'm sure.  As it is I reach the Inn with the Well in Ogbourne St. George at 6pm, and yes, there is a well.  In the floor of the restaurant area, covered with bullet-proof glass, and it has a scare-crow in it for some reason.  Anyway... food here is good, not just pub grub.  Nice to have a bath too.  And this sofa is very comfortable.

The Inn with the Well.  Also with dog.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Ridgeway, Day 3

Weir and lock at Goring.

A short day today, well sort of at sixteen miles.  It's my only sub twenty miler anyway... I celebrate by staying in bed 'til 9:30am.  Then it is on with my wet clothes - washed them last night but forgot to hang them up - and off.

Still not much ridge action.  The morning walk is along the Thames, so pretty flat and pretty near sea level, scenic enough though, especially the weir at Goring.  Or at Streatley, from the other side of the river.  Which turns out to be a good place to be as I get a good ploughman's lunch at the CAMRA approved Bull Inn.

From here the route leads uphill and into more open country, chalk and flint underfoot and broad fields to either side, I could be in Wiltshire already.  Still not a ridge mind you.  And before long I'm turning off the Way towards East Isley, where I'm booked into the Swan Inn.  Once off the well travelled route I find myself beset by brambles and nettles, but I'm at the pub before long, and there is beer, food, even a shower.  Shame about the 7am wakeup call tomorrow...

Over half way!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Ridgeway, Day 2

The Carrier Arms.

After a night camped in a field - couldn't find the campsite - I make an early start so as to avoid wrathful farmers.  I'm walking at 7am, not too quickly though, I'm feeling it from the previous day a bit, have a couple of blisters as well.

Still no ridge in evidence... more farmland, more woods, there seems no end to it.  I am very relieved to reach a pub for lunch, the Carriers Arms in Watlington, so much that I spend an hour and a half there.  This in turn leads to a little lie down in a field later, still why not.

I do pass a landmark of sorts, Grim's Ditch is a prehistoric earthwork, some three miles long.  Presumably for defensive purposes, or maybe it was a giant half-pipe for bronze age skateboarders.  Not far past this is Wallingford, where I find an actual campsite, and even better a pub with yummy Thai food.

Grim's Ditch.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Ridgeway, Day 1

First Trig Point on Ivinghoe Beacon.

So, back on the trail - seems to have been a while, my summer has been busy with festivals, holidays, and of course the Olympics.  None of it seemed 'travelly' enough for blogging though.

The Ridgeway then.  Ninety miles from near Tring southwest towards Wiltshire, White Horses, burial mounds and beer.  Plan is to do it in five days... the first being a bit tricky as I start from London.  A ride into the city, tube, train and it's 11am before I reach Tring, with twenty-three miles to go.

I need to head northwest to the start of the Way at Ivinghoe Beacon, then circle back and at 1pm I'm in Tring again.  Ho hum.  That first section seemed to be most of the ridge for today also, from here it is farmland and a lot of wood.

Easy going though, and I power on towards Princes Risborough, journey's end for today.  Turns out to be remarkably dead, I find one open but empty pub... the contrast with Wendover, seven miles away, is marked - that place seemed to be entirely composed of pubs.  Well, there's food at least.  A local asks if I am having a mid-life crisis... no comment.  Right then, off to pitch my tent in the dark once more.

Tring Tring!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.