I don't have a lot of photos for this part of my journey - I know, unbelievable eh? Well, here's the thing - as I was walking along I decided to videotape my walk with my wee camera and although I had to start and stop a few times due to checking my map and other walkers happening along they turned out pretty good. So once I'm done with my regular photos I'll be posting a few short video clips. EXCITING, I know! You can walk along with me!
So these few photos cover the portion of my trek from Blockley to Moreton-in-Marsh - not a long distance and most of it now on film.
Goodbye Blockley!
And here's my stile, conveniently located at the top of several fields and hills so that I can sit, have a drink of water and eat an apple. Once my snack was finished I had my last map problem. We (my fellow walkers and I) were given a new page of instructions to replace a change in the route. However, when I looked at the new instructions they turned out to be word for word the same as what was in the booklet! So, we had to figure out the next few steps on our own. Well, my friends had some canine help, I wasn't that lucky!
Where I was supposed to turn left there was a large pile of rocks and the field gate was smashed to the ground. And no path. Obviously this was not the way to go. I checked around to see if I could find another path - no luck. Then, off in the distance I see a couple of people walking up yet another hill to my right. I decide to throw my luck in with theirs. I went over to where they were walking and within about 20 minutes I find a landmark and get back on the right path.
Later at dinner with my walking friends from the Boston area and Quebec I hear how they were helped by someone's farm dog. While they were looking at the same pile of rocks and smashed field gate and wondering what to do a dog ran past them and went a little ways up the hill, it stopped and barked at them. The dog barked a couple of times and they realized the dog wanted them to follow it, so they did. It stayed a little ahead of them and kept turning and barking. Once they were at the top of the hill and had found the path they needed to be on the dog ran back down the hill! Wow! What a great story!
The rest of the walk was pretty uneventful. It was a Sunday and there were more people out walking than usual.
Surprise!! More sheep - these guys look friendlier :)
And back to the Redesdale Arms where I stayed on my first night. I had a different room, but just as nice. I sure wished I liked the free sherry! This is the back of the hotel and the entrance to my room is on my right. Once I showered and changed and relaxed for a bit I headed over to the White Hart Inn for a final dinner of lasagna, garlic bread and a couple of pints with the folks from Boston and Quebec. We discussed the reasons we had for going on such an adventure - mine to build up my confidence by "finding my way" from place to place. I was pretty proud of myself at this point and so glad I completed my adventure - there were times when I felt pretty homesick and not up to the challenge but I kept going.
WE DID IT!!
I DID IT!!
