26 April 2021 - Day 1 - Home to near Westwell

Walking 9.30am to 6pm

Distance walked 16.25 miles

Really good to be out again, three days, two nights. Lovely spring weather with a reasonable forecast. I joined the D'Arcy Dalton Way, one of my local long distance footpaths, and went through Churchill and the Sarsden Estate, Merriscourt, Lyneham and then across the golf course to Bruern. On to Fifield where, as I've done a couple of times before, I tested the water tap set in a little niche by the road opposite the church. It's still working.

The Way then entered the Barrington Estate and some way past Tangwell Farm I passed a small tree lined field where I overnighted in about 2016. After a while, I stopped to make tea as I had time in hand. Then through Great Barrington and Little Barrington, both well cared for estate villages. Crossing the A40, I passed a belt of trees and considered stopping for the night but I thought I could do better so walked on. After about a mile I came across a young area of woodland not yet shown on the map and it's perfect. A muntjac ran by not far away a few minutes ago.