Thursday 15th June was a hot day, reaching 29°C during the afternoon. It had only dropped to 25°C by 7pm when we meet up in Mortimer Common for an evening walk. Maybe it was the heat, or perhaps it was the short notice (I had added it to the programme only a couple of days before) but only three people turned up. At least we didn't need a back-marker.
Crossing the recreation ground opposite the Horse and Groom pub, we briefly followed Windmill Road before taking a footpath into woodland. The shade was much appreciated. We passed Bridge's Farm, with it's frequent use of old baths as water troughs. I reckon the farmer is friends with the local plumber. They were out of date styles and some still had the taps attached!
Soon we were in Starvale Woods and then in Wokefield Common. First passing an unnamed pond and then Pullen's Pond, we left the shade of the woodland for a wheat field at Wokefield Farm. Someone coming the other way warned us about the path ahead being infested with nettles. We were wearing shorts! It really was overgrown, with tall grass hiding the brambles and nettles. It took ages to escape it for another wheat field. It was a relief to be out of that jungle!
The relief didn't last long as we were soon following a path around the edge of a field at Mann's Farm. This time it was mostly thistles, with nettles and brambles hiding within them. The tortuous trek through ferocious flora also took too long. Finally we escaped onto Nightingale Lane.
The rest of the walk was just a matter of crossing a couple of fields and through some woodland, taking us back to the recreation ground where we'd started. See our route on Google Maps. After the walk, a couple of us stopped off at the Horse and Groom for a refreshing drink. The sun was setting and it was still quite warm as we sat in the beer garden.
Thank you to Sue for providing photos of Rob's walk
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