1st June
I hate decorating! When you think about it, sticking coloured paper on a wall is weird…worse when you increase the degree of difficulty by adding walls that aren’t true and patterns that are unnecessarily complicated. Every time I do this I promise it’s the last, next time I’ll pay someone. Well, somehow I’m doing it again!
We need a break so return to South Oxfordshire. This time we plan to walk to Mapledurham by way of the wonderfully named Gallowstree Common and Kidmore End and return via Cane End. The last time we visited Mapledurham was 1992 and the intervening years have dulled my memory. The house and watermill are only open on Bank Holidays and Sundays and arriving at lunchtime the place is deserted. So much for the ice cream I’d been promising myself. We eat a rather forlorn lunch (cheese and crackers) in the graveyard before heading back. In spite of the gloom induced by decorating and choosing the wrong day, the weather cheers us up. This is the warmest day this year…as it turns out, we HAVE picked the right day for a walk and, by and large, the walking is easy and the company is always good. We arrive back at the car by mid afternoon, not bad for nearly 12 miles…and without ice cream. We stop off on the way home for Magnums and all is well with the world!
West Wycombe picture gallery (more pictures on Flickr):
Distance: 11.9 miles ; Difficulty: Moderate
Coordinates for Satnav: N51° 31.944′ W0° 59.735′
Where Angells Tread! 