Seven Shires Way Day 2 - Tuesday 28 July Traitor’s Ford to Farnborough Park

Walking 6.15am to 6.30pm

Distance walked 20 miles
Distance left 191 miles

My Thermarest has sprung a leak, only a small one but I had to blow it up three times in the night.

It was a lovely morning as I made my way up Ditchedge Lane. The field edge where I overnighted last year is now rutted with vehicle use so I’m glad I stopped when I did last night. I met a friend who lives nearby walking his dogs and stopped for a chat.

Through Epwell and across to Upper Tysoe, a large village with a decent little supermarket. I refilled water from an allotment tap. Across fields and then quite a climb up to Edge Hill and through Ratley.

The view west from Edge Hill

At Shotteswell I went into the church. The organist came in to practice. John Profumo used to live in the village.

From there, I headed for the M40 pedestrian bridge. On the other side, the path was next to and parallel to the M40 for the best part of a mile, not pleasant as, apart from the noise, the path was overgrown often to shoulder height.

Mollington looked very nice but it didn’t detain me and I followed field paths northwards to Farnborough Park. I had hoped to get beyond Claydon but I’m suffering from possible shin splints which is a little painful. Perhaps twenty mile days is a bit ambitious. I’ve found some nice woodland to spend the night in and I’ll decide what to do in the morning. Having had shin splints before, the remedy is rest. The problem with stealth camping at this time of year is that I tend to walk until late and maybe that’s a bit too much.

Seven Shires Way Day 1 - Monday 27 July. Cornwell to Traitor’s Ford

Walking 9.50am to 7.40pm

Distance walked 21 miles
Distance left 211 miles

The SSW is a 232 mile circular walk, more or less following the boundary of Oxfordshire. I joined it at Cornwell although the guide book starts it at the Four Shires Stone, about a mile east of Moreton-in-Marsh.

From Cornwell, I followed a single track road to cross the A436 towards Chastleton, the path crossing Chastleton Barrow, an ancient fort, although there’s nothing to see. Then down the lane past the church and NT Chastleton House. My navigation went rather haywire near Chastleton Glebe and when I met a road I managed to turn right instead of left.

The Four Shires Stone has a county name engraved on each side - Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. This was originally where the four counties met but the Worcestershire boundary is now quite a distance away.

I had a lunch stop on a bench in a tiny, well cared for fences paddock  In it is the grave of a local farmer who died in 1994 aged 30. There is also another grave, possibly of his mother who died in 2015. A beautiful spot.

Field paths and a track took me to Barton-on-the-Heath. High deer fences protecting a deer farm. I took a photo of a magnificent antlered stag. He was sitting only a few yards away and looked at me disdainfully.

On to Little Rollright comprising a tiny church and a Manor House and associated buildings. I stopped to talk to a chap on the path who happened to own the manor. The Rollright Stones were nearby although I only saw the Whispering Knights before entering the beautiful Neolithic Echoes sculptured woodland.

Skirting Great Rollright, field paths to Ascott and then some quiet road walking. I had planned to camp along Ditchedge Lane, a long bridleway but it came on to rain heavily so I dived into woodland just before Traitor’s Ford to pitch for the night.

It rained on and off for much of the day but the forecast is better for the rest of the week.