How Much Do You Like Cheese?

Would you risk life and limb for it?  Some  apparently would.  This is Cooper's Hill...

Doesn't look like much from the bottom.  But from the top I'd be hard pressed to walk down it.  And yet every year there are those willing to run down it chasing a whole round of cheese.  The prize for catching the cheese?  The cheese.  Yup, that's it.  Oh, fame for sure, but definitely no fortune.  Unless you really really REALLY like cheese.

I like cheese, but not that much.

It was a glorious day of walking from Birdlip (yeah, that's a place) to Kings Stanley.  Nothing but sun, sun, and more sun.  Less muck.  YAY!  As a muck connoisseur, it could best be described as sandy muck.  Much less oozing. The majority of the day was spent on paths wending their way through wooded groves of beech trees carpeted with leaves and blue bells.

The rest of the day we were rewarded with stunning views from atop the ridges where we climbed.

This was our view during our lunch stop.  Doesn't get much more idyllic than that.

Interesting side note -- as we walked across yet another golf course, we fell in with a dog walker.  The golfers have to yield to the walkers and the golf courses have to close at noon on Sunday.

No wonder so many Brits headed off to the colonies.

Beer du Jour - Hussar Pale Ale and Pedigree Classic Burton Bitter.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

This has got to be a first -- being led through the snow in near white out conditions on a short cut to find the way marker to start our day's walk...by a blind man.  Seriously.  We awoke to a mini blizzard and ventured out via the instructions of our host.  Problem is -- directions mean zippity-do-dah when you can't see a bloody thing.  Then along came some dog walkers, including a friendly bloke with an innate sense of direction.  He was totally blind in one eye and had about 5% in the other, a mere pinpoint of light.  And damn if he didn't guide us right to the spot we needed to be.  

The day proceeded from the ridiculous to the sublime and back to the ridiculous.  The sublime?  The sun came out, the snow melted, and it was the clearest day yet -- all the way to Wales.

The ridiculous?  Yesterday, when we thought we'd seen all possible forms of muck, well, it turns out we hadn't.  We had not yet seen cow pasture muck. Muck so deep, in a swath so wide, there's no possible way to pick your way through.  So you just say, 'sod it' and wade on in.  

And despite what most of you are probably thinking, it was an amazingly awesome day.  If you're not totally into walking there's no way to explain it.  I will admit, this is a totally tougher slog than any day on the Camino.  But sometimes you just stop, make a 360 turn and remind yourself where you are -- walking across a beautiful section of England, seeing things you'd never see in a car.

And mud washes off.

Eventually.

Beer du Jour - Old Hooky Bitter.  Oh, and today's traditional cuisine? Beef and ale pie.  OMG.

Oh...Muck!

Defintely the theme for the day.  Slipping, sliding, boot-sucking muck. Splashed up to our knees in it muck. Takes forever to get anywhere muck. Especially when you have to retrace your steps through it because you miss the way-marker.  Or there is no way-marker.  The Cotswold Way is a little more difficult to navigate than the Camino.  But there's something rather freeing about getting that filthy and not caring.

Our 21 km trek today was closer to 30 (according to my Fitbit anyway) and took us from Stanton to Cleeve Hill, the highest point in the Cotswolds. Despite the muck, the scenery was fantastic.  Despite the closed in weather, (notice I didn't say rain) the vistas were amazing.  Another day of promised heavy rains turned into a few light showers early on and a bit of drizzle, but dry from the sky for the most part.

To add some interest to the day, marauding farm animals.  Okay, only the sheep were marauding, charging towards us, young 'uns included, bahhing their fool heads off.  Never heard a sheep growl before.  The horses just stood quietly blocking our access to the gate we needed to pass through and forcing us over a fence.  And the bull from the 'Bull in Field' sign did not materialize.

On a cultural and historical level, Belas Knap, a 5500 year old long barrow, a burial chamber for prehistoric peoples.  When excavated, this one contained the remains of 38 people.

We ended the day in our usual fashion -- beer and food in a local pub.  I'm eating my way through classic English cuisine -- a curry the first night, fish and chips tonight.  Throw in a full English for breakfast and that about does it for the day.  And nothing tastes better than that beer at the end of the day.  It's a little reward for all our effort.  

For all that muck.

Beer du Jour - Jouster, locally brewed in Winchcombe. 

Living Up To Its Rep

The trek through the Cotswolds is described as a walk through "pretty England."  Picture this -- quaint villages nestled amongst rolling green hills. And these same green hills are bordered by low stone walls.  Now picture walking across said rolling green hills and they are populated with frolicking baby lambs.  Yeah, that kind of sums up my day.

             

Okay, we had our share of muck too. The kind that sticks to your boots like glue and renders them like skates.  But the predicted heavy showers only materialized when we were under cover having a tea break, again just as we arrived at our accommodation for the night, and once more when we were safely ensconced in the pub partaking of some very fine ales and burgers with chips.

Our route today took us from our starting point in Chipping Campden, through Broadway, and finally to Shenberrow Hill B&B in Stanton, a village that is truly the "hidden treasure" it is advertised to be.  This 16 km route morphed into 22 km when we opted to detour to Snowshill Manor, a country estate from the 1500's that can only be described as weird and wild.  Purchased in 1919 by collector Charles Paget Wade, he used the home to house his collection of 22,000 random items. 

Eccentric?  Perhaps.

Nutter?  Definitely.

Beer du Jour - Donnington's Best Bitter, my new personal favourite and Donnington's Gold Pale Ale.

A Day With The Bard

On what can only be described as an utterly perfect day in all ways -- weather, company, destination -- we stopped enroute to the starting off point for our walk at Stratford-upon-Avon.  As is often the case when you live somewhere, you don't always see the sights like a tourist would do.  P&A have attended the theatre in Stratford but never visited the buildings associated to William Shakespeare.

After a quick stop off to view the exterior of Anne Hathaway's house (Bill's wife)...

...we opted for the pass that would allow entry to Shakespeare's birthplace, Harvard House, and Hall's Croft.  If you ever find yourself in this neck of the woods, it is absolutely time and money well spent. The guides at each sight giving you a mini history lesson are clearly passionate about their subject and bring the period to life in your mind's eye.

Shakespeare's birthplace, home and family businesses

Hall's Croft, home of Bill's daughter, Susanna, and her husband, Dr. John. Hall

(my personal favourite)

No visit to all things Shakespeare would be complete without a visit to Holy Trinity Church to pay your respects at his gravesite...

Rumour has it his head is not in the grave.  Perhaps the thieves could not read the epitaph which concludes..."And cursed be he that moves my bones."  

The stuff of, say...Shakespeare?

Beer du Jour -- North Cotswolds Windrush Ale (personal fav so far) and Atlantic Pale Ale

Slumming

The English weather is proving to be much like home -- if you don't like it, wait five minutes and it will change.  Yesterday (yes, I'm already a day behind in my posting) we ran the gamut from clear, damp and chilly to showers (sometimes heavy) to beautiful clear blue sunny skies.  

When the skies broke late afternoon, we decided to pop round to the Duke of Bedford's for a spot of tea.  Apparently he wasn't receiving guests and we were left bemoaning the fact that we hadn't packed our rifles to bag ourselves some supper.

Instead, we were forced to opt for a pint at The Old Ale House in Woburn.  I'm attempting to become schooled in the many craft beers available in the local pubs and so I will be including a daily feature here called "Beer du Jour".  On occasion there may be more than one...if 'on occasion' translates to 'every day.'  It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

We then headed home for a sumptuous salmon dinner and to put the finishing touches on our packs and suitcases in preparation for the start of our walk. Happy to report the No Jet Lag pills have proven successful once again and I've suffered no ill effects from the 9+ hour flight and the 8 hour time difference.

Beer du Jour -- Triple Goat IPA.

Beer And Borrowers

Welcome to the picturesque town of Leighton Buzzard, some 70 kms northwest of London, home to my hosts, Camino alumni and future Cotswolds walking partners, P&A.  It is beyond lovely being picked up at the airport and whisked away from the hustle and bustle.  Jet lag doesn't stand a chance after a good cup of tea and stroll into town for a Scotch egg and beer.  

A hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, breaded, deep fryed and served with mustard relish and a pickled onion.  With a pint of a fine Cotswold beer.  I think I could get hooked on these things.  And of course, atmosphere is key. What wouldn't taste good here?

And to add to the delight of the day, how cool is this -- the home of Mary Norton, author of The Borrowers.  I loved her books as a kid and shared them with my kid when she was growing up.  As did everyone who read the books I'm sure, we had Borrowers living under our floors too.  Her home is now a school, but I wonder what lurks beneath the floorboards?

One last interesting note, on the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard is the railway bridge where The Great Train Robbery took place in 1963.  I just love seeing a place that conjures images of an event so indelibly imprinted on our collective memories.

Not bad for the first half day.