Tag: Ridgeway

Sunday, June 15, 2014 Kingston Blount, UK

20140615_101158 gate 300Lightning, thunder, and driving rain awakened us during the evening. As soon as the sun was up, around 4:00 A.M., the birds started chirping and cawing. Sue May had returned from the reunion and prepared the English Breakfast for Dennis, while I had a lighter meal. She drove us to the trailhead so we wouldn’t be drenched from walking through the field.

The trail was muddy and buggy…seems the rain attracted the flies. In places, we had to climb over the gate similar to the one pictured because the ground was flooded. No easy task with full packs.

20140615_102123 poppy field 300We walked through a large Chiterns wood which opened to a large field of poppies with a clearly marked path. I felt like Dorothy leaving the enchanted forest and following the yellow brick road to Oz. The only difference is the morning mizzle did not invite me to lay down and sleep; instead it encouraged me to walk quicker.

We had to be in Kingston Blount, our destination before the B & B stopped serving dinner—on Sundays, there is no evening meal. Since there are no other eateries in town, we had to arrive there by 3:00 P.M. Additionally, it is Father’s Day and we had no reservations.

20140615_114509 plow lines 300I am amazed by how straight the plow lines are in the fields. My neighbor in Hampstead, NH use to chide me for not mowing the grass in a nice pattern. He would be proud to live next to any of these farms. Turns out, the farmers use a GPS to guide them, but prior to that, farmers took great pride in the straightness of the plow lines.

I also learned that the average farm is about 3,000 acres, explaining why I saw farm buildings but not farm houses. It also explains why the fields are so large.

There was a team race today throughout the Ridgeway. For 87 miles, runners ran cross-country. The 25th Ridgeway Relay Race started on Ivinghoe Beacon near Aylesbury at 7.30 A.M. and attracted 47 teams. The race finished at Marlborough Leisure center later on during the afternoon. I was amazed by the number of older runners and the number of females entered in the race.20140615_143617 The Cherry Tree 300

Our estimated seven mile day turned out to me slightly more than eleven, but we managed to arrive at The Cherry Tree in Kingston Blount at 2:30 P.M. Just in time, we were the last served.

Wednesday, June 11, Ogbourne St. George

20140611_085044 vegetarian English breakfast 300Our B&B hostess treated us to a savory vegetarian English breakfast…fuel for the miles to come. Afterwards we visited the Sanctuary, a prehistoric site on Overton Hill. The site consists of six concentric rings of timbers erected around 3000 BC. In 1930, excavators found 162 postholes, some with double posts. It is believed that he timbers may have supported a roof of turf or thatch and had been a ritual site or mortuary house where corpses were kept. There are also two concentric stone circles. To the right is an interpretation of what the Sanctuary might have looked like (taken from an information panel.)20140611_105639 representation of Sancturary 300

Across the street from the Sanctuary is the start of the Ridgway Path. Most of the path is packed earth, sometimes grassed-over, and the walking is easy. (After working out the kinks, I managed to develop a good pace in spite of my injured foot, and without a heavy pack)

We walked along one of the most important geological areas in England, the Fyfield Downs with its dry valleys and sarsen stones.(sandstone blocks). People have lived and worked in this area for more than 7000 years.

20140611_122703 Berwick Bassett Dewpond 300We passed one of the Wiltshire white horses, chalk hill carvings. It was not visible from the Ridgeway, but we did see it on our bus ride back to the B & B.

We passed the Berwick Bassett Dewpond, with its lovely flowers and dragonflies. In the area are a series of dewponds which form “a necklace across the downs”. These ponds attract wild flower, insects, and are habitat havens for wildlife. This one is enclosed to prevent cattle from destroying it.

20140611_133012 Burbury Castle Race track 300We were running low on water and looking forward to getting to Barbury Castle. After we passed the area for the Barbary Castle Horse trials with all the jumping gates, we could see impressions in the earth and a flat top hill–Barbary Castle, an iron age hill fort. All that is left of the 11 acre fort are two deep defensive ditches and rampart. The Ridgway runs through Barbury Castle. The panorama from the top, made the steep climb worth the effort.20140611_135259 Burbery Castle

It was a gentle descent to the valley of Og and to the town of Ogbourne St. George. As we walked to the bus stop, the bus arrived. We could not have asked for better timing.

In all, we walked about 15 miles. Tomorrow we will do the same, but with packs.