Luckington to Ford Friday 3 November 2017
There has
been a break of nearly four months since we were last in Luckington. The autumn
colours were now well developed and many leaves had fallen. We were treated to
hollowed-out Halloween pumpkins that had been tricked into sitting on door
steps for over a week now and were looking a bit forlorn in the mist.
Nevertheless here we were again in a brand new taxi travelling from Chippenham
station to the village of Luckington. Having picked the short straw, A was in
the front listening to the driver discussing the merits of various vehicles and
holiday breaks!
For those of
you interested in the travelling arrangements we had been on the “usual” train
from Didcot (09:42 departure) taking advantage of train split fares to make the
journey affordable. N got a good deal from Oxford but we suspected it was one
of those super APEX tickets that weren’t actually valid for the train he was
on. Anyhow let's draw a veil over that and get back to the walk.
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| Blasted Oak |
The path
followed the Macmillan Way out of Luckington across pasture fields wet with dew
and recent rain. Our trouser legs were soon wet though N was fine as he was
wearing shorts (it couldn't have been that cold). After about a mile and a half
we realised that we had strayed from the path due to a combination of chatting,
and the farmer ploughing up the path. We doubted the direction so a combination
of compass bearings, GPS coordinates and close inspection of the map meant that
we had to track around the field that was being ploughed as we stood there. A
(we think) was impressed with our navigation! We crossed another field of
winter wheat and were rewarded with the Macmillan Way sign on the next footpath
post at Hebden Leaze (Grid Ref: ST8268 8230)
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| Unblasted Oak |
Having
re-established our route across an open field (even though the path had been
ploughed up) the chat turned to catching up on family news and foreign travel
(business and leisure). By the time we had downloaded the sun had burnt off the
mist and we dropped down the slope to go under the railway to the east of
Badminton. “Pity the station at Badminton closed it would be a really useful
stop for the southern Cotswolds”. We
waited a bit to see if one of the new bi-mode trains would pass but nothing
came along.
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| No train : bi-mode or otherwise |
We climbed up
the slight slope through attractive, small pastures surrounded by old hedges
and oak trees.
As we
approached Littleton Drew, the sole on A's boot left close-company from the
rest of his boot. However, he engineered a solution with the laces to keep his
boot in reasonable order for the rest of the day. (He is an engineer after
all).
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| All Saints church, Littleton Drew |
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| Village library |
It was
lunchtime so we took advantage of the posh bench in the middle of this small
village opposite the church, to have our sandwiches/rolls/sushi! This was a
pretty village though there was no obvious shop or pub.
The village phone box
had been converted into a lending library. The village was quiet apart from the
constant rumble of traffic from the M4 which was about 0.5 km away.
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| Posh bench |
After lunch
our path followed the road under said motorway and after crossing the B4039 we walked
down the lane to the attractive mill at Goulter's Mill Farm (ST8326 7908).
There was a bit more confusion with the route on the other side of the valley.
We opted for the path up the hill and came out correctly at the Lugbury Long
Barrow or what remains of it, (ST8307 7856).
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| Lugbury Long Barrow |
The path took
a dog leg and then passed over the line of the Fosse Way at Lugbury Farm. Here
was our first sign of the goal of our walk – Bath (see below).
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| Bybrook river, Netherton Mill |
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| Welcome to Castle Combe |
Another lane
took us downhill to Netherton Mill on the Bybrook river, (ST8335 7755). It looked like the buildings had been
renovated and turned into holiday lets. The scenery had changed and we were now
in the well-manicured landscape of a golf course. There were several golfers
around driving their buggies and swinging their drivers (plan was to say
something witty here).
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| Market cross, Castle Combe |
We passed several walkers and then climbed a short slope
up though a wood to come out above the village of Castle Combe (lower village).
This is really a strange, unreal place, perhaps because it has been used as a
film set and location for various TV costume dramas. It is a popular
go-to-destination for Chinese and Japanese visitors. We passed a small group of
those nationals waving their selfie-sticks around.
There are
stories about how the locals were not at all happy about the 1960s production
of Dr Doolittle (Rex Harrison version) and sabotaged the set.
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| St Andrew's Church, Castle Combe |
Opposite the
Market Cross (ST8420 7720) the White Hart was open so we went in and had a
drink. It was warm and there was a lovely fire in the snug, on the basis of
beer and service 7 out of 10. We decided to take our drinks outside into the
paved garden. It was starting to get a bit chill, “Time for another drink?” “Let’s
have a short” - so whisky and brandy all round. Great idea - the next two miles
flew by.
The path
through the wooded valley was a blur (probably due to the spirits) and we soon
emerged at Long Dean, crossed the river and headed up hill. It was time to
phone for a taxi. “Can't do anything for an hour, Guv”. “Um, OK we'll try
someone else”. Unfortunately by the time we arrived in Ford and stood by the
A420, (ST 8425 7487), we had not found anyone else. We have found from bitter
experience that trying to get a taxi between 3 and 5pm is difficult (school and
college runs). T tried the first company again, success, “Be there in 15
minutes”. We finished off our snacks, N put his trousers on and we had time to
reminisce about Mike Leigh films (not too sure how we got onto that as a
subject).
We were whisked
back into Chippenham in a very comfortable Mercedes and were just in time to
catch the rather full train back East.
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| Soon be in Bath |
