New Bridge - Radcot
15.64km / 9.72 miles
3:34:40
1,037 calories
Cumulative total: 252.09km / 156.65 miles
Today turned out to be the shortest day of the trip, mainly due to successfully catching the bus down from last night's campsite to the path again. It would have been a horrid walk on a busy road so I'm glad I discovered the existence of the bus!
It was a pretty idyllic day. The weather was glorious (even slightly too hot to be honest) and after a brief chat with a chap in a deckchair by the start at New Bridge I didn't see anyone for a full 90 minutes of walking. After that there were only a few people.
It's hard to believe that the river I'm walking along now is the same river that rushes through the capital city. Here, it's winding and slow and becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. Barges are the main traffic, with a few small motorcruisers that can fit through the small bridges. The bridge at Radcot, where I'm staying tonight, is especially narrow; I'm not sure you could get a sculling boat through it without having to pull in your blades.
I took my time over the first couple of hours, enjoying the peace and quiet and scenery and the fact that my legs felt reasonably fresh again. I kept going past the time I'd originally thought about stopping for lunch, and then had to walk another kilometre or so as I found myself on a quiet but paved road down to Rushey Lock.
Luckily, Rushey Lock had a bench that wasn't fenced off for social distancing, so I plonked myself down and investigated whether the wrap and tub of mango I bought yesterday morning had survived. They were a touch squashed but edible! I watched as a barge, which I'd largely been keeping pace with all morning, came through the lock. Up here, the locks are the old-fashioned types with the big lever arms to open the gates, quite different from the automated ones downstream where you just press a button.
After the barge came through a kayaker paddled in - he was in the early stages of kayaking the length of the river, having walked from the Source to Cricklade and taken to the water there, where it becomes navigable for small craft like kayaks. It looked like quite good fun going through a lock in a kayak!
Before 10 miles were up I found myself at Radcot. Just before I arrived a wasp decided to try and get into my shoe, between my shoe and my sock, and then stung me. It hurt like anything and while I was getting my tent up I started coughing, which I think must be a reaction to the sting. I do tend to react to insect bites so it's not a total surprise, and an emergency anti-histamine seems to have taken the edge off. At any rate I've mostly stopped coughing!
It was only early and it is a lovely day, so I rented a kayak from the pub that owns the campsite I'm staying at and went paddling for an hour - thoroughly lovely even though it's pretty windy. Now I'm having a pint and using the pub WiFi and feeling like I'm on holiday, rather than an adventure! Maybe they're the same thing.
15.64km / 9.72 miles
3:34:40
1,037 calories
Cumulative total: 252.09km / 156.65 miles
Today turned out to be the shortest day of the trip, mainly due to successfully catching the bus down from last night's campsite to the path again. It would have been a horrid walk on a busy road so I'm glad I discovered the existence of the bus!
It was a pretty idyllic day. The weather was glorious (even slightly too hot to be honest) and after a brief chat with a chap in a deckchair by the start at New Bridge I didn't see anyone for a full 90 minutes of walking. After that there were only a few people.
It's hard to believe that the river I'm walking along now is the same river that rushes through the capital city. Here, it's winding and slow and becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. Barges are the main traffic, with a few small motorcruisers that can fit through the small bridges. The bridge at Radcot, where I'm staying tonight, is especially narrow; I'm not sure you could get a sculling boat through it without having to pull in your blades.
I took my time over the first couple of hours, enjoying the peace and quiet and scenery and the fact that my legs felt reasonably fresh again. I kept going past the time I'd originally thought about stopping for lunch, and then had to walk another kilometre or so as I found myself on a quiet but paved road down to Rushey Lock.
Luckily, Rushey Lock had a bench that wasn't fenced off for social distancing, so I plonked myself down and investigated whether the wrap and tub of mango I bought yesterday morning had survived. They were a touch squashed but edible! I watched as a barge, which I'd largely been keeping pace with all morning, came through the lock. Up here, the locks are the old-fashioned types with the big lever arms to open the gates, quite different from the automated ones downstream where you just press a button.
After the barge came through a kayaker paddled in - he was in the early stages of kayaking the length of the river, having walked from the Source to Cricklade and taken to the water there, where it becomes navigable for small craft like kayaks. It looked like quite good fun going through a lock in a kayak!
Before 10 miles were up I found myself at Radcot. Just before I arrived a wasp decided to try and get into my shoe, between my shoe and my sock, and then stung me. It hurt like anything and while I was getting my tent up I started coughing, which I think must be a reaction to the sting. I do tend to react to insect bites so it's not a total surprise, and an emergency anti-histamine seems to have taken the edge off. At any rate I've mostly stopped coughing!
It was only early and it is a lovely day, so I rented a kayak from the pub that owns the campsite I'm staying at and went paddling for an hour - thoroughly lovely even though it's pretty windy. Now I'm having a pint and using the pub WiFi and feeling like I'm on holiday, rather than an adventure! Maybe they're the same thing.
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