Today our fairly short and leisurely walk took us from Whelford along the southern edge of the Cotswold Water Park to the Thames Path national trail, which we followed eastwards to Kelmscott and the first B&B that we were "revisiting" on this trip: Manor Farm. We first stayed there way back in 2008!
Our breakfast at Townsend Farm was delicious, and Penny discussed today's walking route with Ken, warning him about the possibility of barking dogs early on in the walk. Julian noticed that Ken had an OS map and said that he was glad to see it as he had formerly worked for Ordnance Survey, which was fun to know. We set off in the sunshine at 9:55 a.m., pausing at the junction of two streams of the Coln where there was a mill. It was a beautiful morning and a beautiful scene. We said hello to a woman who was standing outside with her morning coffee, also enjoying the mill, streams, and sunshine.
 | |
| Whelford Mill |
We did encounter some traffic on the road we were walking, and even some on the smaller road that we turned onto. A woman drove up to us, rolled down her window, and asked Ken if this was Dudgrove Lane, and Ken immediately responded that it was. I am always slightly amused at being asked for directions since we are not local—but Ken is well prepared to answer questions with his OS map and carefully planned route. In my opinion, he's the best person to ask for directions, anywhere! We did walk past the compound that warned of barking dogs, but the dogs themselves were not in evidence.
 |
| Only the thin may enter! |
 |
| Wayside wildflowers |
It was interesting to see the housing developments on some of the lakes of the water park, since we are more used to seeing this type of development in North America than in the UK. We went through a fancy but very tight wooden kissing gate onto a gravelled drive in one of the developments, then at the end of the drive we went onto a narrow, brambly path through some woods, which came out onto a byway, a dirt road with puddles. At the end of the road there were men cutting down a tree. We turned left, and went down another road which had a lovely profusion of wildflowers, then onto another forest path on which we met a woman walking her dog. Emerging from the woods, we turned right onto another path, and went over a footbridge at the confluence of the rivers Coln and Thames. It was fun to complete our several days' walk down the beautiful Coln Valley from Chedworth to the Thames. (The Thames and Severn Canal—which accompanied us for most of our first day's walk up the Golden Valley from Stroud to Frampton Mansell—also connected with the Thames here.)
 | |
| Historic Inglesham Church |
At this point, we could simply have turned northeast on the Thames Path bound for Lechlade, but instead we wanted to take a quick half-mile detour along the path southwest to see the beautiful, unspoilt—and mostly unaltered since medieval times—Inglesham Church. (One reason it remained unaltered is because William Morris successfully argued against a major Victorian Gothic renovation in the 1880s, instead funding a careful preservation and conservation of the church's fabric and furnishing. There will be more on Morris tomorrow!). As we walked we saw another couple walking a parallel path along our way to Inglesham. They were slightly behind us as we waded through a field of thick grass and grazing cattle and we could have ended up talking to them, but they seemed to want to keep to themselves.
 | |
| An Anglo-Saxon Mother & Child carving |
We reached the church, now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust, and sat down for a quiet moment to rest and pray as is our practice. Just a minute or so later, a large group of about twenty people from the University of the Third Age ("A movement whose aims are the education and stimulation of mainly retired members of the community—those in the third 'age' of life," according to Wikipedia) came in and began to look around the church. They were doing a walk along the Thames path between the two historic churches of Buscot and Inglesham. We had an enjoyable conversation with the group's two leaders and had a good rest in the church while this lively group of people was touring the church. After a few minutes they all went outside to eat their lunch, and we had a closer look at the church, which felt very ancient with its wall paintings, very old box pews, and a remarkable Anglo-Saxon Mother & Child carving which had originally been a sundial outside the church! The quiet couple came in later to look at the church briefly, as well. When the church was empty, we sang one verse of "Amazing Grace." After we came out, a woman gave us a thumbs up and said she enjoyed the singing. Ken responded that it was our delight to be doing what churches were designed for—singing the praise of God.
 |
| On the Thames Path. Note the coat and gloves: it was cold! |
We walked back through the cows and past a memorial bench full of flowers, and then had a delightful walk along the river to Lechlade, though a cold wind was blowing from the northeast. I wrote in my journal, "Man with a dog whom Ken said resembled Chris Beardshaw," a panelist on BBC 4's Gardener's Question Time. I have had problems with misplaced modifiers in the past, and I should have more carefully written, "There was a man whom Ken said resembled Chris Beardshaw, and he was walking a dog." My apologies to Chris Beardshaw for the poor grammatical choices! [He seems to have a good sense of humour; I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't mind!—Ken]
 |
| Old Father Thames at St. John's Lock, near Lechlade |
It was cloudy and quite cool, and instead of sitting outside at a pub right next to the river, we opted to eat lunch at "The Tea-Chest," a cute ship-like place nearby but a little further away from the river. There was one kind and helpful woman who did everything: take orders, prepare the food, clear up the dishes. I ordered "Oxford Brew" tea and a roast vegetable "toastie" with mozzarella, and Ken had a chicken pesto sandwich. Everything was delicious. The tea was so good we ordered another (it was the best tea of the trip) along with a slice of Victoria sponge and a piece of caramel chocolate shortbread. I was looking at the Cotswold stone houses outside the window, drinking tea, and the phrase "He restoreth my soul" went through my head. I felt like I needed restoring, and found that just sitting there looking at rather ordinary houses and drinking tea was somehow restorative. There was no rush.
We left after 2:00 p.m., and it continued to be cold and windy as we headed eastwards along the river. Despite the cold, this part of the walk along the Thames was simply enjoyable and peaceful. We had some stretches through fields and many more stretches right along the river where we periodically came upon interesting boats, locks, and footbridges. Ken particularly liked the mix of Queen Anne's Lace and yellow wildflowers along the way.
 |
| A typical upper Thames landscape |
At St. John's Lock, there was a man mowing, and at Buscot Lock, there was a man clipping a hedge. It must have been a good day for landscape maintenance at the locks; their gardens were gorgeous. We've noticed on our canal and river walks in England that much pride is (justifiably!) taken in lockside gardens.
 |
| Beautiful Buscot Lock & garden |
Ken really enjoyed this part of the day, though with the path after Lechlade snaking closely alongside the river, he noted that we probably walked four miles along the path when it was likely only two miles as a crow flies to Kelmscott!
 |
| A pillbox near Kelmscott, fortunately never used |
As we walked along, we passed several World War II era pillboxes, the last of which, quite near Kelmscott, Ken went into. It was interesting historically but made him feel very melancholy. On setting out again we were soon cheered by meeting a couple with whom we joked about not knowing on which side to pass. It's obviously clear when one is driving which side of the road to be on, but there does not seem to be a fixed rule about passing on a particular side when walking.
Not long after, we arrived at the turnoff path for Kelmscott village. We passed the Manor and then along a lane with a neat stone slab fence, and soon came to our B&B, Manor Farm Kelmscott. It was delightful to arrive here again after last staying fifteen years ago in 2008. We remembered Emma Horner as soon as we saw her, and enjoyed a nice chat as we got settled into our room. She's fun to talk with.
 |
| The stone slab "fence" in Kelmscott |
[I particularly enjoyed this day: the walk was easy, there were convenient stopping points, and overall was short enough that we never felt rushed. We could take our time to take in the history and take in the views...and we didn't get poured on like we did in 2008. 😀 Excellent!—Ken]
No comments:
Post a Comment