The Seven Shires Way - Stage 21

Coleshill to Little Faringdon - Friday 31 October 2014

This was one of those rare days when we couldn’t use public transport very easily. The shortening hours and paucity of good bus connections meant that T&P drove from home and rendezvoused with N at  T’s Mum’s house. Everything went to plan and we then got a lift, courtesy of T’s Mum, to Coleshill for a 10am departure from Church Lane (Grid Ref: SU2357 9376).  The weather was just right for a walk - dry, sunny and mild. In fact later that day it was confirmed to be the mildest Halloween day on record. 

Leaving Coleshill

We headed north from Coleshill, with the sun warming our backs, across fields and then onto a minor road towards Buscot. Distant guns of a shoot, presumably in Buscot Park, and dodging onto the verge to avoid fast cars and the bus that we would catch later than day (pause for hollow laughter – you will see why) were the only interruptions to a pleasant stroll.

Leaves have fallen

The path turned towards  Broadleaze Farm and then headed northwards to  the small estate village of Buscot. Before 1977 this was actually in Berkshire.

 

Buscot village hall

Cotswold roof detail

Most of the buildings were constructed from warm, sandy-yellow, Cotswold stone.  Research  later revealed that most of the village is owned by the National Trust. Passed a small tea room and onto the lock, the penultimate one on the River Thames (going upstream).

Thames downstream of Buscot lock

Crossed the river and back into Gloucestershire (back to the first county “shire” of this walk). Had our elevenses sitting on a bench by the lock (SU2304 9810) and then headed east on the left bank of the river. Actually it was only generally east as the river meanders quite a bit and the path follows every twist and turn of the water course. We couldn’t take a short cut as the Thames path was fenced in with electric fencing. Our discussion then turned to meanders, river hydraulics, and regime theory and led to P giving a lecture on the Lacy formula. The discussion then moved onto a discourse on consequent and subsequent rivers from T.  The upper Thames and its tributaries is a prime example for the geographers among you.

It whiled away the time and before we knew it we were able to turn away from the river and double back to reach the village of Kelmscott. Our guide book takes this detour to see Kelmscott Manor (SU25109889), home of William Morris - Arts and Craft movement and friend of many of the pre-Raphaelite painters.

Kelmscott Manor

William Morris - what a relief

The manor house was closed so a picture of the front and of a stone relief / representation of the man himself had to suffice, (Grid Ref: SU2499 9902). We also saw the stone panel fence mentioned in the guide book.  A quick chat and photo opportunity with a pony in a nearby field and then straight into The Plough for a couple of lunchtime drinks, (Grid Ref: SU2491 9908). 

Stone panel fence

Nice pub,  didn’t see much of the inside as it was warm enough to sit outside, if you were in the sun. We decided to rate it 7 out of 10.

The Plough, Kelmscott

The path then headed west north west, across several arable fields, mainly kale, probably winter feed for sheep. Then turned down Mill Lane towards Lechlade Mill (which we never actually saw) on the River Leach, a left bank tributary that we will follow later back into the Cotswolds. The path then took a dog leg to follow the actual county boundary between Gloucestershire and  Oxfordshire and we eventually arrived at another quiet lane leading to Little Faringdon. Time to finish off our remaining sandwiches and snacks before heading along this quiet lane with grass and moss growing in the middle of the road.  It didn’t remain quiet for long though as “Postman Pat” came bowling down the road to make a delivery to Crossing Cottage, (SP2344 0053).

Intrigued pony

Investigations later showed that this was the site of one of the few level crossings on the East Gloucestershire Railway a branch line from Oxford via Yarnton junction,  Eynsham, Witney and Lechlade to Fairford, closed in 1962. T somehow had a booklet about the old railway at home.

A bit more road walking and we rocked up in Little Faringdon. The village seemed to be dominated by the development of a house (part renovations and part new construction).  Apparently Kate Moss  (model) now lives in Little Faringdon – was this her ten-bedroom house? Perhaps moss growing in the middle of the road was appropriate? A large bonfire was under construction in the paddock opposite the church – the phrase “bonfire of the vanities” springs to mind. As there was plenty of time to wait for the bus we had a look around the small church (SP2262 0141) one of a combined parish of about ten other local church parishes.

Little Faringdon church

Then a long wait on the side of the A361 (SP2229 0169) for the Pulham’s Coaches number 64 to Carterton that never turned up. After half an hour we gave up and N phoned for a taxi from Carterton to come and pick us up. Good planning as he had already loaded the taxi number. Fifteen minutes later we were being whisked along in comfort to the said large village to meet T’s Mum again. “Sorry, a bit late. B***** bus”. 

Blasted oak near Little Faringdon

Then the drama began. P realised that he must have left is glasses in the taxi. Luckily were weren’t far away and a phone call to the taxi driver and the use of the map app on a smart phone meant that T & P could find the taxi driver’s house in Carterton and reunite P with his glasses. Quick cuppa chez T’s Mum’s and eventually home. 

Many thanks to T’s Mum who supplied apples and snacks and a welcome cuppa and probably drove her last car journey as she is giving up the car at the end of November.

In summary: Another pleasant and mild day (is this climate change?) Managed a bit further than last time and clocked up 8.8 miles. Dare we call this K day? - kind weather, Kelmscott, kale and Kate who we never saw. (Didn’t see the bus either!)

The Seven Shires Way - Stage 20

Bourton to Coleshill - Friday 10 October 2014

Before we start to relate the story of a walk in early October we should point out that we were meant to have done this walk on 29 August. Read on to see what happened?

29 August, morning, Reading Station: T received a text from N to say that he wasn’t well and in view of overseas travel the very next day he would have to call off the walk. T’s ticket was already purchased so a quick call to P who was waiting at Didcot and it was agreed that P&T would proceed to Swindon and find something to do by way of a gentle walk and lunch at a pub.

Swindon Bus Station - where else?

After checking on bus possibilities at Swindon bus station we had a leisurely coffee and then took the C90 community minibus out to Bishopstone via Swindon Hospital.

Swindon Hospital

"City" of Bishopstone

We got into conversation with several of the occupants of the bus who were very keen to suggest variously that (a) we were on the wrong bus (we weren’t), (b) that we shouldn’t start from here or there and (c) that if we had more time we could follow so and so routes from Wanborough or Hinton Parva up onto the Ridgeway and back to Bishopstone. Our problem was that a walk of any length would curtail any opportunity for a bite of lunch and a drink so in the end (because it looked like it was going to rain) we opted to discover the parts of Bishopstone that, in our rush to get to the pub, we missed last time. 

Garden city gent

In the end the weather was fine and P&T took a short walk around the springs in the middle of the Bishopstone called “The City”. Narrow paths twisting between hollyhocks, garden ponds, neat lawns and roses-round-the-doors thatched cottages. Quiet delightful.

There was what looked like a small house for sale right in the middle of the village. On internet investigation later we discovered that it was quite large, at least three floors, and was the old Mill House, offers invited in the region of nearly £700,000. “Yes but it isn’t practical, look how infrequent the buses are” and “What must these narrow lanes be like in winter?” With the estate agent tour done we returned to the Royal Oak pub, sampled some delightful roast beef open sandwiches, had a couple of beers, reaffirmed our rating of 9 out of 10 and headed back on the early afternoon C90 bus into Swindon for an early return home where T for one then consumed his packed lunch!

Royal Oak at Bishopstone

Not really a walking day but we made good use of the time and were able to take stock of how far we had already come. 

Back to 10 October. A brisk walk between the railway and bus station in order to catch the X66 to Bourton Turn, just to the west of Shrivenham. The plan for the day was to head roughly northwards to the River Thames and then turn off the route to Lechlade to catch the bus back to Swindon.

Westward Ho! (to Swindon at least)

It was already 10:40 and delays and cancellations on First Great Western required the brisk walk that we were currently engaged upon. We made it onto the bus and got started at around 11:15 by retracing our steps to Bourton and then out towards the west to cross the A420 and go under the main railway line.

Old Spot at Roves Farm

The weather was kind, good for walking, some risk of showers but they seemed to be either to the south or to the north of us. The track passes Roves Farm which is now a show farm, pet farm, and garden centre / organic produce sort of place. Gosh, already 12:15 so we stopped in the tea barn for a 20 minute cup of coffee. Reasonably busy with a mixture of “yummy mummies” with young children, grandparents with young children and three out-of-practice walkers with no children in tow. Lots of “reading material” – well, notices at any rate, in fact notices for everything - “don’t do that”, “please do this”, “apologies for the unisex toilet”, “now wash your hands”. Anyhow it was nice to stop and catch up on family news, after all it was over two months since we had last walked and talked together.

Actually, the fact that we hadn’t been walking for a few months was beginning to tell. By the time we arrived in Sevenhampton, having discussed the leadership of the Labour party and the Scottish referendum, we realised that there was no way we would get to Lechlade in time for the bus so change of plan. Press on to Coleshill, have a drink and see what happens – as ever we hoped the plan would become clearer as we neared our new destination.

Windmills in the sky

Packed lunch overlooking the Thames Valley to the north, possible sighting of Lechlade church spire and the wind turbines of Watchfield to the south. This modern landmark had often been espied from on top of the Berkshire Downs.

The showers still held off so we plodded on along a country lane towards the  border of Wilshire (now Swindon unitary authority) and Oxfordshire, marked by the course of the River Cole, (hydrological note; right bank tributary of the River Thames.) Just before the village of Coleshill we checked out Coleshill United FC ground complete with dug outs for the home and visiting team managers though the ground seemed to be firmly under the grazing control of a flock of sheep. 

Coleshill in the distance

Sheep may safely graze at CUFC

Coleshill as the name implies is on a bit of a hill rising up from the valley of the river Cole. The warm sun on our backs and the warmth reflected off the Cotswold stone buildings on each side and the slight climb added to our sense of weariness. The village looked like an estate village and many of the buildings seemed as if they originally accommodated the estate workers and domestic staff from nearby Buscot Park (we are guessing this of course).

Oh good, is this the Radnor Arms? “Is it open?” Known for its in-house micro-brewery. Why Radnor Arms? What is the connection to mid-Wales? Time to call it a day and have a rest and a drink or two (or four as it turned out).

Coleshill at last

In the end we rated this pub as 7 out of 10, pleasant enough and the beer was good but in a home-brew sense. We decided that as there was no bus back from Coleshill and we were so out of practice we would call for a taxi and were eventually whisked back to Swindon railway station. Fare was reasonable as the taxi had been in Highworth. T forgot to tip the driver – sorry.

This could be the last time we see Swindon for quite a while as next time we approach the walk from the Oxfordshire side and don’t expect to see Swindon on the Seven Shires again.

In summary: A pleasant day and short walk, in fact our shortest leg so far, 6.54 miles! The day of the (three) Rs; Railway delays, Roves farm, Radnor Arms and recognition that when we don’t walk every few weeks we get rusty! (That’s more than three.)

The Seven Shires Way - Stage 19

Tuesday 29 July 2014

Ashdown House to Bourton / Shrivenham

Ashdown House

“A Tuesday?” said in a Lady Bracknell kind of voice. It wasn’t being careless, just pressures of work and family holidays meant that the only day we could manage was Tuesday 29 July. Well, it was different and quiet.

We had to get back to Ashdown House, we were last here on 17 April (see stage 16). Luckily there is a community minibus C90 that runs from Swindon to Hungerford right past Ashdown House. So an early start and expensive return tickets to Swindon from our respective bases of Reading, Oxford and near Didcot. We met up on the 09:13 departure from Didcot and arrived in Swindon at around 09:30. After a coffee we assembled at Swindon bus station and had time to reminisce about the previous, many times we had stood here. The minibus departed on time and took us out to the Berkshire Downs via Swindon hospital. Quite a long journey and we didn’t set off walking until 10:45.

Ashdown House from Alfred's Castle

The weather was fine - sunny, blue sky, and luckily breezy as it was hot in the sun.

Walked through the parkland to the north of Ashdown House stopping several times to take pictures and then took the wrong path which meant we had to walk around Alfred’s Castle (iron-age fort at Grid Ref: SU2774 8223). Bit further on we didn’t turn off the path (distracted by a tractor and spray) so ended up walking around a wood at Grid Ref: SU2754 8170. Eventually we were on the right path as it slowly climbed up the dip slope towards the Ridgeway.

Above Bishopstone looking north

We reached the Ridgeway above Idstone at Idstone Hill (Grid Ref: SU2636 8354) and turned west. It was getting hot so we stopped for a quick bite (late elevenses) just about on the Oxfordshire-Wiltshire border. Actually it was fairly busy on the Ridgeway with several couples moving along with the aid of walking poles. We carried on west so as to see the famous strip lynchets (medieval terraces) above Bishopstone. 

Strip lynchets from above

Strip lynchets from below

We were now in Wiltshire our seventh county. We missed the path down through the historical terraces so had to climb a fence before making our way down the hill, through the sheep grazing on the scarp face of the Downs. Goodbye chalk land,  hello flat clay land.

Walked on into the pretty spring-line village of Bishopstone and found the Royal Oak pub, (Grid Ref: SU24498374.) According to our guide book this is the first public house that the route passes since West Ilsley over 30 miles away,

What a great pub, definitely a bit quirky, selection of books to read and games to play. Beer on offer was mostly Arkells, started on Wiltshire Gold but soon gravitated to the slightly stronger Moonlight. P was feeling good about the place, we all were, so we decided to sample the food - locally produced bacon, sausages and goat cheese in a variety of open sandwiches. Excellent. Pub rated 9 out of 10 on our very subjective scoring system.

After probably one pint too many we set off  back towards Idstone, back into Oxfordshire. Talk turned to recent holidays in the Ardennes (Belgium), and France (Calais), and strangely the BBC radio programme The Archers. It’s amazing how easy it is to get back into the story of “simple country folk”. We think that was the strap line. Of course none of us admit to following the long-running serial though if pressed could probably recall major events throughout the decades that the show has been running. The walk was becoming a bit Archers like - we had to make way for a herd of milking cows being driven along by a quad bike and then after ducking under various electric fences and clambering over rickety stiles came across the challenge of the day.

Featherbed Lane

Despite being marked as the footpath, with a proud Oxfordshire sign, the path from Idstone to Bourton, Featherbed lane - became totally overgrown between Grid Refs: SU2483 8514 to SU2471 8598.

Overgrown path

We gave up and moved into the adjacent fields. It looked like earlier walkers had done the same. The third field contained some bullocks but they were some distance away so we moved smartly along the fence line. Then they saw us  and decided to investigate at full stampede.

We made it to the gate in the corner of the field just in front of the excitable steers. Damn, the gate had been tied shut with baler twine – a farming tradition of not trusting walkers to shut the gate so tying it shut to start with.

No problem in the end, though we could have done without the enforced 30m dash.

Are we going to complain to the footpath man at Oxfordshire County Council? Is the path the overgrown route or now diverted through the adjacent fields (probably to the dislike of farmers and walkers alike)?

We walked on through the stables and horse paddocks of Fern Farm and on to the road to Bourton. The recommended path then continued through some rough land (yet again overgrown) so we prudently choose to walk along the lane into Bourton and took a break on a bench in the churchyard, (Grid Ref: SU2337 8678), to eat the remains of our packed lunches.

Summary: Another delightful day, the “Ashdown, Arkells and Archers” day. Fairly easy walking, though the footpath bashing and heat towards the end of the day meant we were all fairly tired by the time we returned to Swindon. Mileage was 10 miles.