3 April 2013: 30km. Started 08:30. Arrived Not sure!
As mentioned yesterday, the veritable breakfast feast preparations had begun the previous evening and my hostess was up at 06:00 to complete everything ready for me to arrive at 07:30. The immaculately laid table was a sight to behold; unfortunately I have no record as I think this was before the days of it being usual to photograph food before eating it.
Some of the choices were: freshly squeezed orange juice, pineapple with blueberries, smoked salmon with scrambled egg, a variety of toast, Welsh cakes and preserves. Everything was top quality – for example Wilkinson’s tomato ketchup.
Having dragged myself away from my feast, I took a footpath to Kings Stanley and was back on the main Cotswold Way. The path continued to be undulating and there were a lot of beech and birch wooded areas. However between these, I glimpsed some excellent views.
I met another long distance walker coming from the north along the Cotswold Way – he was backpacking with full camping gear and accompanied by a dog. Nonetheless he was completing 25-27 miles per day – about the length of my longer days but well above my average.
All appeared to be going well as I was approaching Painswick where I caught up with an elderly lady and her two terrier dogs. I slowed briefly to chat before overtaking. At that moment, one of the terriers moved in and became very snappy before taking a chunk out of the outside of my trouser leg, grazing my leg and running off down the path across a field. She was seemingly unperturbed: “He is inclined to snap at trouser legs but doesn’t usually bite when he’s out.” I tried to warn two walkers coming in the opposite direction and they told me to put him on a lead. I agree but it wasn’t my dog! So with a ripped trouser leg I approached the very affluent looking village of Painswick. By good fortune, my skin was only slightly broken or I would have undoubtedly spent the next few hours seeking an antibiotic prescription and potentially jeopardising my planned arrival dates at accommodation I had already booked for the next few nights.
The churchyard is famous for its ancient yew trees and described by the architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor as “the grandest churchyard in England” in his 1974 book “English Parish Churches as Works of Art”. Unfortunately my earlier incident with the dog was still rankling and compounded by the fact that I couldn’t find any convenient café where I could recover with coffee and a cake, I only took a couple of photos and proceeded rapidly onward.
The rest of the walk was without incident – more mixed woodland and open land with views, including a long stretch over a golf course. I was early so I took a detour near Birdlip to look at the remains of Great Witcombe Roman Villa, one of the largest known Roman Villas in Britain. It was rediscovered in 1818 when some workmen were digging up an old ash tree.
The hotel I had booked was very pleasant – of course less personal than my previous few nights, but at least that meant that I wasn’t interrogated over the hole in my trousers. However I managed to make several onward bookings including Youth Hostels. My miniature sewing kit in my wash bag from a previous hotel stay in the distant past served me well to make a functional although not aesthetically pleasing repair to my trousers. Fortunately these were relatively old trousers and not my best walking pair which I was reserving for the more demanding parts of my expedition.
I had expected to be able to buy lunch for the next day in Birdlip – unfortunately not, so I would be on reserve rations for lunch until I could find a convenient shop.
Where's Kathryn? 