4 April 2013: 27km. Started 09:15. Arrived 16:00.
Following my ordeal with the dog and knowing that I had a shorter walk, I opted for a late leisurely breakfast. This was fortunate. Unbeknown to me, my joint credit card had been “blocked” because of “suspicious and unusual activity”. In fact this was due to the payments made over the phone to reserve youth hostel beds. My husband received the call at home and verified the activity – meaning that I was oblivious to the problem and able to pay with my credit card on leaving the hotel, about twenty minutes after he had sorted it out. If I had tried to leave at my usual early time, then I would have suffered an embarrassing problem with my card. Having said that, it is reassuring to know that “unusual activity” is managed so effectively and promptly by credit card providers.
The weather was dry but once more there was a cold east wind and there were some flurries of snow as well as some remnants of settled snow – the first I had encountered since I had walked over Exmoor. The path along the ridge crossed much open ground with stunning views across agricultural land dotted with villages and small towns.
I passed a “headland” crowned with a prominent hill fort, meeting a dog walker (dog safely on a lead). There was a well signed path diversion and I passed the impressive limestone rock formation “Devil’s Chimney” above a disused limestone quarry near Leckhampton. There were further good views in this area.
From there, the way led to Cleeve Hill – a large open upland common area. There was a very exposed looking golf course – but no-one playing on this cold and windy day. Indeed for a while I thought I was the only person on the common, but later I saw two couples. The views were stunning over expanses of rural Gloucestershire and Worcestershire to the distinctively shaped Malverns and therefore into Herefordshire.
My first long walk was a double traverse eighteen mile walk over the Malverns when I was in the first year of secondary school and so I have a soft spot for this area. It was a sponsored walk in aid of the Commonwealth Society for the Blind and I was accompanied by two enthusiastic teachers who subsequently supervised me for Duke of Edinburgh Award Expeditions. One went on to teach me “A” level biology and so I am doubly grateful. They certainly inspired me and instilled a lifelong interest in walking and expeditions.
Moreover, I was approaching a part of the country where I had lived and worked for about fourteen years including the first ten years of my daughter’s life. Of course, returning to an area is always a time of mixed emotion stirring both positive and negative memories. There is also the risk of disliking the inevitable change – just like my walk through the town centre in Keynsham on the morning of day 19.
I made my way down the hill to the small village nestling below. By some miracle, I had managed to contact a colleague from my previous work in the area (well actually one of my “bosses”). I had suggested that we might meet the next evening when I would be in Broadway but in fact it was more convenient for her to meet me at Cleeve Hill where we enjoyed a meal together and spent a lot of time catching up with several years worth of news. It was an enjoyable evening which ended all too quickly. I was even pleased that she noticed my wisps of grey hair which I had no plans to hide after enduring years of people saying “you look to young to be…”. Actually nowadays, seven years further on, the wisps have increased and I probably deceive myself to think that I look too young for anything.
Where's Kathryn? 