 |
| Fun on the Clarendon Way near Buckholt |
For an OS map of today's walk click
here.
Today was Susan's first day walking. Today and tomorrow we would follow the Clarendon Way, named after a ruined estate we would pass along the way. We got swiftly out of Salisbury and into a bowl-like valley. Soon afterwards we climbed onto a ridge and then saw the ruins of Clarendon Palace—really very little left, and what was there was overseen by llamas.
We made a pit stop in Pitton, buying food for lunch. We also looked at the church and sang "Amazing Grace" together, which sounded even more beautiful with Susan's voice now added.
 |
| Rest Stop near Broughton |
We ate lunch sitting on some steps at the foot of a path in Middle Winterslow, enjoying the warm sunshine which has been with us for several days now. We then walked on a Roman road ("course of" according to the map) for some time; it was almost always straight as an arrow—sometimes in the form of a path and most times in the form of a modern lane. Later we entered some woods. Susan fell a bit behind, and joked that it could be like a horror film in which we turn around and suddenly she isn't there. Just after, we heard the ominous sound of a creaking door, which must in reality have been two branches rubbing each other. It creaked again. A little further down the path, there was a crow just sitting on the path. It didn't move as we got closer. It was alive, but it didn't move as we went by, just sat there. It was rather eerie, so we dubbed it the Hitchcockian Woods.
When we got to Broughton, we sat at a picnic table outside of the Greyhound Pub. It was nicely decorated inside, with wonderful "book" wallpaper. We had lemonade outside (Ken decided not to pour any in his pack today), and while we were sitting there, we saw a greyhound dog from a house on the corner walk into the Greyhound pub. Makes sense. Many pubs allow dogs inside, but not unaccompanied. A minute later a man emerged leading the dog out, using his own belt as a collar and leash, and took him home. Then the man returned to the pub. We enjoyed watching village life passing by. [
When planning the trip I had hoped to find a place for us to stay in Broughton, as it is a good 11 miles from Salisbury—plenty of miles for Susan's first day walking. Unfortunately one B & B was full and the other only had room for two people, so we then had an extra three miles of walking to King's Somborne; though at least that shortened the next day's walk to Winchester.—Ken]
 |
| Crossing the River Test |
Near the end of the walk we got to cross the water meadows of the beautiful river Test, complete with ducks and ducklings. Our path was rocky underfoot after that, and onto a lane first up and then painfully downhill to Kings Somborne. Thankfully, our B & B host Sue greeted us with homemade elderflower cordial, carrot cake, and shortbread, which refreshed us. Though it was hard to walk more after a long day of walking, we struggled to the village centre and the Crown Inn, which served us a good dinner in homey surroundings.
 |
| The River Test Looking North |
Susan was amazing, going on such a long walk for her first day's walking. It was really nice to have her company to share in the walk!
42,829 steps, 32.121 km, 1326.1 cal
OS getamap measured distance: 15.99 mi (25.73 km)
Susan's GPS: 16.43 miles, 26.45 km
According to the dictionary oak apples are "a spongy spherical gall which forms on oak trees in response to the developing larvae of a gall wasp." The interesting part is that the galls were boiled to release the tannin, and mixed with iron sulphate and gum arabic to create iron gall ink, which was used in manuscripts from Middle Ages on.
ReplyDeleteSo they aren't acorns after all. Growing up, we called them puff balls, if I remember correctly, since if you stomped on them they let out a puff of something. There were also thin-skinned "pop balls" that also grew on oaks. I haven't thought about those in years....
Delete