13th April
This walk comes courtesy of UCL! Christmas and Easter Holidays are sandwiched by additional ‘College Days’…a great idea and today it gives us a chance to get out whilst most people are still working. It’s a special feeling knowing that you’re enjoying yourself while everyone else has to work. I imagine this is what it feels like to be retired. The footpaths are quiet and there are times when birdsong is all we can hear, including the mewing of Red Kites. The good weather has them out in numbers, wheeling and swooping over the Ridgeway.
We’ve covered sections of this walk before when we walked on Christmas Common and Ibstone but even so we have difficulty remembering the exact sections. We stumble upon the first Bluebell show of the year in College Woods, near Pishill. It will be a week or so before they’re out in force. Nevertheless they brighten up our walk.
At Britwell Hill, just outside Cookley Green, we meet a lone walker. She is 65 if a day, equipped with hiking poles and rucksack and she’s just climbed up onto the Ridgeway. She is barely out of breath. Respect! We both agree that when we’re that old we’ll be back to prove we can do the same…although I secretly doubt I will be able to…
This is our third walk in the last 6 days and I’m feeling the 11.5 miles this time. Besides, we’ve walked around this part of Oxfordshire a lot recently. It’s time for a change.
Maidensgrove picture gallery (more pictures on Flickr):
Distance: 11.5 miles ; Difficulty: Moderate
Postcode for Satnav: OX49 5BD
Maidensgrove walk profile
Where Angells Tread! 
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