A stile-ish walk!
Venue: The Oak, Warnham
Venue: The Oak, Warnham
Walkers: Farty, TB, 12 legs and Mrs Provincial. Our two invalids, Sally and Clatters joined us for lunch afterwards. Windy at the hospital with Ma, Lil somewhere in the Channel in a boat, Registrara on her 'on' week and Hootsmon probably aviating.
Distance: 10.6k/6 1/2 miles
Time taken: 3 hours, not including a coffee/tea stop at a pub and another for a quick rehydrate
Weather: HOT! very muggy with no air, so we felt the distance and time taken quite an achievement!
Find of the walk: Nothing I'm afraid
We set off just a tad late due to yours truly hitting roadworks on the A272 - well, it's the summer holidays so of course the councils decide what better time to dig up the roads! Today's walk was to be a 'lollipop' walk, and we headed out of the village and into a field full of linseeds. We also passed through a wooded area where some very exotic (and alien) plants were growing - Himalayan balsam, giant hogweed and a plant which I tried to identify from my book and think is some type of vetch - it had very pretty blue flowers.
We decided to stop again for a water break - it was such a hot, humid day so our water levels needed topping up. We also decided that the RARAS need a flag so tour leader can lead the way! Much discussion ensued and we thought that our Clat, being somewhat indisposed at the moment, might be
able to knit us a cupcake to sit on top of the flagpole! . . . no pressure there of course Clat!
Distance: 10.6k/6 1/2 miles
Time taken: 3 hours, not including a coffee/tea stop at a pub and another for a quick rehydrate
Weather: HOT! very muggy with no air, so we felt the distance and time taken quite an achievement!
Find of the walk: Nothing I'm afraid
We set off just a tad late due to yours truly hitting roadworks on the A272 - well, it's the summer holidays so of course the councils decide what better time to dig up the roads! Today's walk was to be a 'lollipop' walk, and we headed out of the village and into a field full of linseeds. We also passed through a wooded area where some very exotic (and alien) plants were growing - Himalayan balsam, giant hogweed and a plant which I tried to identify from my book and think is some type of vetch - it had very pretty blue flowers.
We soon came across the first of what was going to prove to be an awful lot of stiles - some wonky, some high but all a real obstacle on such a hot day. Soon the title of the walk was decided upon!
The path took us directly east and towards Rowhook where we stopped at the Chequers pub for a very welcome stop and refreshments. ( http://www.thechequersrowhook.com/). It's a gastro pub and looking at the menu we could see why - lovely menu, not perhaps the cheapest but we felt it could be a possibility for a future walking venue. We sat outside on the terrace and soon a very large group of walkers came into view . . phew, fortunately not heading the same way as us!
We set off again and the next part of the walk took us
down part of the old Roman road, Stane Street. No chariot tracks to be found I'm afraid!
down part of the old Roman road, Stane Street. No chariot tracks to be found I'm afraid! We had a slight hiccup when we found a signpost in the middle of a field lying down on its side - Chris very kindly obliged and posed with it for a photo but I'm sorry, for some reason the photo I took didn't come out! No David Bailey this girl, TB does a far more professional job! Anyway, we twirled the sign and took an (un)educated guess as to which way to head and were soon back on track. 
Some lovely houses en route so a fair bit of gawping went on. We passed through a field chock full of sheep and their lambs who are growing apace, and then came to a large farmyard with a number of empty sheds - well, empty apart from two small bulls looking very lonely in the corner of one of the barns. We reckon the rest of the herd must have just been sent to become pa
rt of the menu at the pub . . . just as well none of us are veggie then!
rt of the menu at the pub . . . just as well none of us are veggie then!We also came to a field with these two gorg
eous gals Mum and her very pretty foal. Aaahhs all round!
eous gals Mum and her very pretty foal. Aaahhs all round!We decided to stop again for a water break - it was such a hot, humid day so our water levels needed topping up. We also decided that the RARAS need a flag so tour leader can lead the way! Much discussion ensued and we thought that our Clat, being somewhat indisposed at the moment, might be
able to knit us a cupcake to sit on top of the flagpole! . . . no pressure there of course Clat!We rejoined the path across the field of linseeds and 20 minutes later arrived back at the pub where our two invalids, Sal and Clat, hobbled over to greet us, both sporting matching fitflops - very snazzy! We settled inside and o
rdered our food - TB had been positively salivating most of the walk about his giant steak pie and it certainly didn't disappoint today! Such a magnificent specimen deserved a photo . . . and happy to report that he did i
t proud, not a scrap left on the plate! Much catching up to do, Sal and Sue comparing notes on knee ops and Clat telling us that she is going for cortisone injections. Good luck Clat, we all hope that this works and sorts the hips out once and for all. It would be lovely to have you and Sal back walking again soon - we miss you!
rdered our food - TB had been positively salivating most of the walk about his giant steak pie and it certainly didn't disappoint today! Such a magnificent specimen deserved a photo . . . and happy to report that he did i
t proud, not a scrap left on the plate! Much catching up to do, Sal and Sue comparing notes on knee ops and Clat telling us that she is going for cortisone injections. Good luck Clat, we all hope that this works and sorts the hips out once and for all. It would be lovely to have you and Sal back walking again soon - we miss you!We started to leave the pub for home, but not before setting up our own version of a mini market from the boots of our cars - Mon with bags of goodies for Polly Possibly-Non, bad taste cuttings for Mrs P, jam jars galore for Clat, damsons for Clat from Farty, Clats' wonderous damson jelly for all, eggs for Sal, muesli bars for the invalids, a BCal first class silver tray for Clat . . . was there anything not being traded/bartered?!
No plans afoot (sorry, awful pun!) for next week I believe - we did discuss whether to suspend operations during August as people are away and/or busy, but think the jury is still out on that one. So, wait for a text message . . .
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