Category: 2020 Walk

A Couple of Days After

Now the walk of 143 miles is over, our 11th walk! – the weather was kind to us – In fact it was perfect. A couple of last thoughts. If I am denounced for expressing my views, I shall of course demand ”counselling”: apparently it’s all the fashion these days. I was told that my …

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Day 15 – Blenheim

The last leg had us chasing around Stonesfield, through Blenheim and what a beautiful estate it is, particularly in September sunshine. We talked about “racism”. What, we wondered, is a fair definition as the word is so often hurled about in argument as a terminal insult? I like Martin Luther King’s hope that people should …

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Day 14 – Cornbury Park (Charlbury)

Off we start. The penultimate day and with a delightful new group of walkers including one couple who have walked with us – and map read with great accuracy – nine times. Two dogs with us again, so Moses runs at least twice the stated distance. More glorious weather. The lunch at a middling pub: …

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Day 13 – Stonesfield and Finstock

Happy Shambling I shamble up to Stonesfield, as old as sin and not two pounds of me hanging straight. Then the day looked up as the group gathered together some of my favourite people in my world, Darling Jane and beloved daughter Rev Clare Hayns; son in law, and ZANE close chum, John Hayns. I …

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Day 12 – Chadlington

A great day for walking and our company was blessed by some old friends and new. We booked in to “The Chequers” in Churchill and what an excellent choice it turned out to be. Fresh, and an interesting menu of food.   As we walked, inevitably, we talked about Brexit.    Sound and Fury Are you still …

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Day 11 – Leafield

Slightly less humid and thank goodness for that. Three delightful walkers – two young women and their Mum. The last mile was a chore for the greedy toad of a farmer had ploughed up the path, and you know how hard that can make walking. Our friend David Cook turned up, which was a real …

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Day 10 – Noke

Anatomy of a tiff! Last night I told General Jane that she couldn’t map read for toffee. She told me that I was less than supportive – in fact, what she said was rather less ladylike than that. She referred to my ancestry and she listed some of my less than savoury habits. She then …

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Day 9 – Bourton on the Water

ZANE and the Art of Motorcycle… Another red hot day: we were met by four delightful ZANE supporters who walked the entire route with us. At lunch, we were greeted by Ralph Fergusson Kelly, who motor biked from Monmouth to meet us, bless him. Hume Truths Some of our walkers are Catholic. I reminded them …

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Day 8 – Chastleton

Benyon’s Rule A scorcher of a day for mid-September. A great walk with four loyal supporters so we were just about legal! Our walk muscles are hardening as day by day we squeeze out some of last year’s evil living. The validity of Benyon’s rule of pain is proving itself yet again: that is, if …

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Day 6 – Rollright Stones

Already Arrived A great gathering… old friends and new: one is Christopher Turner, 90 years old and very distinguished past Stowe headmaster. A perfect day for walking through some of merrie old England’s finest Cotswold countryside. When such flawless beauty is right here, why does anyone want to crawl off in a muzzle in a …

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