On Sunday 2nd September, nine of us met up at a car park near Streatley for this walk of about 10 miles.
The walk began with a section of the Ridgeway, with good views across the countryside. The weather was warm and sunny but there were early signs of autumn with many trees and shrubs covered in berries.
Next, we descended into the village of Compton, stopping to look at an old station building, now converted into a house but with the side which would have faced the platform left in almost its original state. We also passed the church but didn't go inside as people were just leaving after the Sunday service.
Another short climb took us to a hillside where we sat and enjoyed the views whilst eating our lunch.
There was then some road walking and another footpath before we arrived at Aldworth and the 14th century village church. This time we did go inside, as the church contains some unusual monuments. These are stone figures of the De La Beche family who lived nearby in the 1300s. They all over 7ft tall and said to be life-size!
The churchyard also has another point of interest - a yew tree which has been dated as at least 1000 years old. It’s a shame trees can’t talk as it would have been able to tell us whether the family really were as tall as their statues!
After all this history it was time for refreshment at the nearby Bell Inn. On leaving the pub it was just another couple of miles of paths across fields before we were back at the car park. See our route on Google Maps.
Thanks go to Keith for leading this walk, to Denise for writing it up and providing the photos, and to Rob H for the GPS recording.
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