Jurassic Way, Part 3: Chipping Warden to Hinton-in-the-Hedges, November 2014

Well, a slightly delayed start due to Alan being convinced we were walking in Oxfordshire, then  the local hunt arriving along the road at the start of our walk. Less than a mile into the walk and we had the excitement of passing by old military remains, including an air raid shelter. Half way up the hill on the other side and we noticed the hunt now coming round the side of the woods that we had just left so we stayed to watch the spectacle unfold beneath us, encouraging a hare to run fast to get to the next field ... he did.

Several wobbly stiles later, we came to a little wooden bridge and found our first ever Official Geo-cache. I left a (clean!) tissue in a plastic bag...the best thing to hand, but left the party blower and toy car behind. A refreshing lunch, on the damp benches in Hinton, gave us enough energy to walk,back to the pub, The Griffin, in Chipping Warden. It would have been very easy to have a little siesta there!

A very enjoyable walk of about 9 miles, with 9 walkers., and I didn't go wrong,once. Some photos may follow when I have acquired some from Fergus as I forgot my camera!

Jurassic Way, Part 2: Chacombe to Chipping Warden, October 14

Well, it was definitely a case of Margaret's Muddy Miles today - I hate to let anyone down! We met at the George and Dragon, again, at Chacombe and headed north across fields. We were soon flummoxed by a rather large ram who seemed to be very inistent on stopping us from crossing over a stile - and was being watched by a herd of cattle with young calves. This was enough to distract the walk leader from paying sufficiently close attention to the map, so resulted in the first of several slight deviations from the originally planned route. Sometimes it is very hard to believe that I actually go to the effort or pre-walking these routes! Most of the newly planted fields we crossed had no indication of where the footpath might be; no signs, no clearing of crops, nor previous footsteps, so even with the use of the compass and magnifying glass a few errors were made!

Despite the route variations, we had a great day. The weather was perfect for walking with just a fine drizzle to cool us down then a warm refreshing breeze all day. Coats were soon stuffed away in bags, although waterproof trousers or gaiters helped keep the mud at bay.

The manor house at Wardington and then Edgecote House gave us plenty of ogling opportunities, and  all four villages visited had an abundance of beautiful stone thatched cottages. Sadly I took hardly any photos so may have to sneak some in from the pre-walk!

A bit of light entertainment was provided at our picnic stop at Chipping Warden when a young lad was busy texting in his broken down car, when his dad arrived to try to get the car going. Dad tried everything, but all the youngster could do was text! How will he learn from the experience!! Eventually, the problem was sorted by Richard and Martin bump starting the car - by this time the rest of us had found another pub and were having an enjoyable drink.

The walk back took us very close to the route used for the outward journey as there are few footpaths in this area going from north to south. At times, we used the roads as the fields were so muddy, and unmarked.

A good day out and about 9½ miles walked.

Richard's new friend.

Edgecote Manor

Jurassic Way, Part 1: Banbury to Chacombe, September 2014

The first section completed during a lovely, warm day. The rain held off just giving a threatening sprinkle a couple of times. We parked at the end of our walk and shared transport to get to the start, to avoid walking through Banbury twice. Starting in Spice Ball Country Park, we followed the canal through Banbury to find the very insignificant start of the walk opposite the bus station.

The start of the Jurassic Way.

We followed the towpath until we had left Banbury then turned left to head North. Crossing over the River Cherwell, under the M40, over the mainline to London and along an unforgiving stony track to Warkworth. This was an interesting hamlet with no remains left of the once dominant castle. The isolated medieval church, approached only by field paths or a small track, provided suitable benches and tree stumps for our picnic stop. We explored the church and read up on the history. An unusual tombstone with a skull and crossbones grabbed our attention.

Returning to the field, we were soon at the back of Overthorpe, but opted to walk in front of their houses rather than between the newly erected high, wooden fences that dominated the footpaths and made us feel as if we were being herded along in a required direction. 

Middleton Cheney felt like a major city compared to the peaceful hamlets that seemed to be fast asleep. I am still not quite sure why a young girl was leaving the Sports Club driving a tank, but it was causing a lot of entertainment as we passed.

We were within one mile of our finishing point when a lack of concentration on the map and a total lack of signs caused us to miss a sharp left hand turn in the middle of a field, but team work sorted it and Chacombe was soon in sight, with a refreshing pint awaiting my attention, once we had reunited all cars with the right drivers. 

Thanks to my fellow Spicers for another great day out.