The Seven Shires Way - Stage 1

Moreton-in-the-Marsh to Great Rollright - 3 August 2012

The Seven Shires Way

A 234 mile walk around the county boundary of Oxfordshire using public rights of way.

 

So here we go again - back into the Cotswolds well Moreton-in-the-Marsh at any rate. We are following the walk set out in the book The Seven Shires Way by Elaine Steane and decided to start from Moreton-in-the Marsh (which is actually in Gloucestershire). Last year (2011) we started out on the other walk compiled by Elaine Steane The Roman Way which we completed in June 2012.

Moreton-in-the-Marsh is a convenient spot for us as there is a train from Reading for T and Oxford for N (with a connection from Didcot for P) which helps in our aim of using public transport to and from the end of the walk. Actually as we read about the walk we realise that public transport isn’t going to be so easy. Perhaps when the book was published in 2002 book the assumption was to use shared cars beginning and end. Also as P pointed out the path tries to keep to the county boundary so there are no bus connections and more to the point not that many towns and villages on the boundary hence the opportunity of finding a pub on the way is limited.

It is just over four years since we last passed through Moreton-in-the-Marsh (30 May 2008) when we were doing an early stage of the Oxfordshire Way (Bourton-on-the Water to Henley-on-Thames). To fit in with a bus connection we finished the first stage of this walk at Great Rollright (we caught the Stage Coach 488 to Banbury and then trains home).

For those of you who like to keep a record of such things the distance walked was 11.1 miles but that is because we detoured to Little Compton to find a lunchtime beer (more later). The walk from Moreton to Gt Rollright should have been 8.8 miles. We set off at 10:05 and arrived in Gt. Rollright at 16:45, including total stops of 2 hours giving an average walking speed of 2.4 miles per hour. For planning we always assume that we will take one hour to do 2 miles. This one was slow at 1.67 miles per total walking day because we had to stop for rain, and made slow progress through several fields of wet long grass headlands between Barton-on-the-Heath and Little Compton (T also took the wrong path.)

After a long walk out of Moreton on the A44 we came to the Four Shires Stone marking the boundary of Gloucester, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Oxfordsire though these days it should be renamed three shires stone as the Worcester portion disappeared some time ago. Most of the day we were in Warwickshire on rather poorly defined paths and poorly maintained stiles. One in particular (Grid Ref: SP256321) between Barton and Lt. Compton was completely overgrown with brambles.

To the north of Lt Compton the sun came out and dried us off. Was the pub indicated on the map open? So many times we have been caught out finding that the marked public house was closed, only open in the evenings, turned into up-market housing or a balti road-house or high-end dining establishment. So N’s mobile broadband service came in handy to find the pub in Lt. Compton and a quick phone call established that the Red Lion (Grid Ref: SP267302) was indeed open. For one fleeting moment they thought we were a large party of walkers seeking refreshment and lunch. Their hopes were dashed when it was explained that we were a thirsty, tired party of three who would only detour to them if we could be assured of a pleasant pint or two. The detour was made and the Donnington Ale was good. We rate pubs from 1 to 10, this one was a 6.

An aside on pub rating. Too many are being rated between 4 and 7. We need to be bolder to reward excellence and be very clear when we are disappointed. It’s a combined score relating to the beer, comfort, welcome, general feel (very subjective). We know what we like but it is hard to define it. We don’t like sticky Formica tables, or establishments with fancy art and menus or places who admit that they don’t sell much beer or who call their lavatories funny quirky names. The Red Lion, Little Compton lost a point because the toilets were called Standers and Sitters though the beer was good, and they were open after all and friendly.

Back to the walk. Late packed lunch in a field over-looking a modern Cotswold house, along the county boundary (missed out the down hill and then uphill section to Little Rollright we had visited there before on the Shakespeare Way (3 September 2010). Past the Rollright stones and then to the Whispering Knights and then a straight forward quick walk to Great Rollright and the pretty village green to wait for the bus on a “welcome seat”. The pub detour added 2.8 miles to the stage.

Summary: Tired, wet and very muddy early on and hot towards the end. Falling asleep on the bus to Banbury but stayed awake to enjoy the village of Hook Norton (look forward to sampling that ale as we progress northwards next time.) CrossCountry train back from Banbury to Reading via Oxford.