Eydon to Sibford Gower (24 miles)
We depart the excellent B&B in cool and cloudy weather. As exhorted by our host, we make sure to shut the gate as we enter the field where he apparently has several valuable male lambs. None to be seen as we walk through, maybe someone let them out yesterday. Despite the forecast of a belt of rain mid-morning, the day gets steadily brighter and warmer. Easy, rolling countryside as we approach the Cotswolds (it would be tougher in the afternoon!) Yet again, none of the numerous and pretty villages through which we pass has a shop, open or not. I think this must be the first two consecutive days of my adult life spent in England, when I have not seen a single shop – several churches, a few pubs and junior schools, but no shops. No wonder people worry about the decline in rural communities.
Around 1.30pm comes the highlight of the day (other than reaching the B&B and being able to stop, of course) – we actually get some lunch! (See yesterday.) Even then, we are half a mile beyond the pub before we realise that the guide book has misled us, but the walk back is definitely worth it. We get a good, thick sandwich at The Castle at Edgehill, overlooking the site of the battle and with excellent views across the Warwickshire plain. In the afternoon, walking along the top of the escarpment and later down an old track “which dates back to Anglo-Saxon times and possibly considerably earlier and was a major trading route” on the Oxfordshire/Warwickshire border, there are stupendous views to the West, to Bredon Hill and the Malverns and a bit beyond.
The evening destination is Sibford Gower, which is a mile off the Way, and we must either leave the path before the village and retrace our steps the next morning, or follow the path past the village and then walk back. After some discussion, we decide upon the latter option; unfortunately, it becomes apparent that this means going downhill and then climbing steeply up to the village. By the time that we reach the crossroads at the centre of a not insubstantial settlement, we have covered 24 miles and have both had enough. Where is the B&B?? And, if it’s far will they come and pick us up? Paul: “Hallo, we’re at the crossroads, please can you direct us?” Landlady: “Can you see a yellow Volkswagen ten yards away? – That’s us.” A comfortable, 15th century thatched cottage with modern en suite rooms, about 100 yards from a pub with an excellent (and inexpensive) restaurant. Suddenly, the feet don’t ache so much.
Bird of the day: partridge
Tree of the day: lime
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