The Seven Shires Way - Stage 3

Stage 3: Middle Tysoe to Mollington Friday 19 October 2012

We three again (P, N, and T) all met on the 10:07 train from Oxford to Banbury. Due to the lack of buses to Middle Tysoe at a civilised time of the morning we had booked a taxi (A1 Cabs in Banbury) to meet us at Banbury station and take us to Middle Tysoe.

Spring Hill looking NW

Spring Hill looking NE

Set off NE towards the scarp slope of the Cotwolds and immediately into mud. Reached the ridge and not long after were rewarded with a splendid view northwards from Spring Hill (Grid Ref: 322324).




 
Thereafter we followed the path along the ridge and through pleasant woodlands until reaching the Castle Inn at Edgehill.







At long last an open pub actually on the route of the walk! This one certainly ranked 8 out of 10. The pub looks like a castle and offers views to the north across what once the Egdehill battlefield. The Hook Norton Mild  was good and we each took a turn buying a round (yes that is a 3 pint lunch). Reluctantly left the pub and followed the path south towards Ratley stopping for ten minutes to eat packed lunches.

The Castle Inn, Edgehill

 Criss-crossed the border between Warwickshire and Oxfordshire (the Sor Brook) encountered more mud – makes you appreciate what it must have been like on the Western Front and eventually made it through a field of cattle including a bull (isn’t there something about not keeping bulls in fields with public footpaths? Oh I forgot this is frontier country!) to Shotteswell, Warwickshire. 

According to the book this is pronounced “Satchel”. Starting to get tired. That’s the problem with visiting a pub at lunchtime when you still have seven miles to go.

Shottewell is one of those pretty ironstone villages around Banbury. According to Wikipedia, John Profumo lived here when he was MP for Stratford-upon-Avon. Village was very quiet apart from the rumble of the traffic on the M40 to the east. The village appeared dead - presumably only occupied by commuters at night and at weekends. Many signs up around the village proclaiming great pride in defeating the proposal to site a wind energy farm nearby. P pointed out that the ambiance of the village had already been ruined by the M40 motorway and its ever present traffic rumble.

Plodded across a couple of fields to cross the M40 via  a foot bridge (back into Oxfordshire) and then followed the line of the Motorway until heading across sheep fields to Mollington. The village boasts a pub The “Green Man” but it is one of those establishments that only open in the evenings. It started to rain as we finished off the coffee and packed lunch and waited on the main Leamington Spa to Banbury road (A423) for the 66 bus and a 12 minute ride into Banbury and our Cross Country train to Oxford and Reading. 

Summary:  Lots of mud and mild.