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.