Nine hardy souls plus one well-behaved dog called Cookie met at Watlington car park on an overcast Sunday morning for a 14-mile trek to Ewelme and back. Our group included two newcomers.
We started with a pleasant short stretch through town then headed uphill through fields and woods to the highest point of our day at Cookley Green. A convenient nine-person tree-trunk provided seating for our coffee stop here.
It was then downhill all the way, through a variety of landscapes, following The Ridgeway for part of the journey. Highlight of this segment was a forlorn sheep stuck in a water trough. No matter how hard it tried, it could not free itself. Up stepped valiant Keith who had clearly watched too much Countryfile judging by the skilful way he hauled it free. Our hero of the day.
After dodging some cows which were grazing appropriately enough on Cow Common, we soon reached Ewelme with its delightful pond and street-side stream. The watercress nature reserve with its benches and tables became our lunch-stop before a unanimous vote saw us head to the nearby Shepherds Rest for a quick beer.
Refreshed, it was off again to see the second part of the watercress beds before visiting the charming almshouses at the other end of the village as well as Jerome K Jerome's gravestone. We walked alongside a large pig farm admiring some well-fed specimens before scaling Swyncombe Down to pick up The Ridgeway again. This led us the rest of the way back to our start point. See our route on Google Maps.
Many thanks to Colin for leading this walk and for writing it up.
Return to volume index