I caught the bus out to North Marston and, after it navigated its way past a stray shih-tzu puppy, I disembarked and started out along the Quainton Road, off St John's Lane and out into open countryside.
I had another "Why was there any doubt?" moment as I got my pace on. I put off walks for unfathomable reasons but as soon as I get out there it's no chore, but an exciting privilege. I'm enjoying the countryside and doing myself good in the process. Please, no more sofa-surfing and more walking!
The path across six fields and a road leads into an enormous field that holds half of Woad Hill. I climbed at a steady rate, remembering that I'm essentially in training for five consecutive twenty-mile days and I must remember to pace myself. There's a natural route up the hill, which certainly left me panting as I reached the top and took in the cracking view. Over the crest, approaching The Best Tree in the World and a large fox bounced out of the long grass and bounded toward the hedge, the white tip of his tail tracing his path.
Down and up and down past Denham into Quainton. I do love this village. I got some good photos of bees enjoying the lavendar but couldn't bring myself to take shots of a hundred wasps burrowing into windfall fruit. Next time I will. Through the village and turning to head north toward home, I climbed Simber Hill without tiring myself and with my legs only gently strained. I continued along the ridge toward the radio mast, right then left over locked gates and along the hedge on a precarious cow path, with a view of strip fields and possible terracing on the side of the slope. Down Conduit Hill - there are a few routes down and I appear to have chosen the easiest and most boring way to do it. Across open fields again spotting three hares by the hedge, who sauntered away as I approached and hit the turbo as I got closer. I'm always astounded how fast hares can run. Two or three crop fields, then horses, a bit of track then left onto a couple of hundred metres of tarmac.
I've often rued road-walking as being wearing and tedious, but today I found a renewed appreciation of flat, solid ground. The going across fields wasn't slightly difficult, but the majority of the five miles already covered was irregular, so to find even ground gave me a chance to work up a good pace and rhythm.
Right onto a path new to me, a partly unmemorable stretch until reaching the hill. A good short climb to a track, tempted to take in a rare view of East Claydon Electricity Grid Sub-Station but without my binoculars it wouldn't have been much of a view, although the view back to Conduit more than made up for it. Past the church and into East Claydon for a brief visit before getting back onto known route. Across, down and into a field where muck-spreaders were loading their steamy payload and flicking it evenly over the rape stalks. Left onto the road through Verney Junction, past the pub and right, over the old railway taking care to slip right through the kissing gate and onto the footpath for a stop to rest. Eight and a quarter miles before stopping. Fantastic.
Recharged with an exotic sandwich and some chicken I continued across harvested fields, pleased to be walking over crunchy wheat stalks instead of wading through chest-high grass. Over Claydon Brook and skirting Addington before trekking across fields to cross the main road and head toward Adstock.
This next field has a name, in my head: "Friendly-Sheep Field". Thrice before I'd traversed this field and twice I'd been fortunate enough to fuss some of the friendliest sheep and lambs I've met. Today, only the mother sheep was interactive, her adolescent offspring less willing to approach now they were almost fully-grown. She snuffled my hand, nuzzled my leg and went all misty-eyed when I scratched her neck, head, ears and the side of her dark nose.
Off again to and through Adstock village. I've walked from here a number of times but never past the beautiful pub. There followed an unremarkable one and a quarter miles road-walking to the reserve at Coombes, where I took a standing break and made a happy stick figure near a bench - literally, out of sticks. Down past the pond, at the lowest level I've ever seen, over and down the hill to the road and along the brook. I took a sunset shot here, just after the sun'd gone down. Across Thornborough Bridge, past White House, Manor and Home Farms, along the path that follows the ring road and home.
On that final stretch, one final nature display. Three bats put on an incredible air show in the dusky night sky, literally right in front of my face. This was the icing on the cake of a lovely, long walk.
For the record, I massaged my feet and legs when I got in, moisturised my feet and slept well. I hardly ached the next day and apart from a couple of blisters in a new place on my little and next toes on my right foot, suffered no ill effects whatsoever. This is great progress in my preparation for a great big walk next month. Also, I've tagged 2.5 miles in this post for a quick walk out I did locally yesterday evening.
