I was attacked in the middle of the night. I was getting up to perform my usual sentry duties. I started to put my sandals on but felt something soft with my left big toe. Someone, no doubt a Russian operative trying to expand the conflict, had placed an English assassin slug in my shoe. Lucky for me, I’m 7/8 German by heritage so I withstood the slime. Whoever it was also went after Sassy. We’ve got to watch ourselves.
The loop backs continued today. First off was the Oliver Cromwell memorial stone. This stone commemorates siege of Gloucester. Other than that, I’ll leave it up to an history teacher I know to fill in the blanks. All I know about Cromwell was that he was a military leader who rose from a wealthy family. He was against the crown in the English civil war in the mid 17th century which eventually lead to King Charles getting beheaded.
Next up was the Haresfield Beacon which is located on a triangular outcropping similar to Crickley Hill which we visited yesterday. Now I am doomed to think of every steep sided outcropping as a potential hill-fort site.
Just one more feature on the loop back. It was the Hartsfield Topograph. The English are big at placing compasses at high observation spots. Usually, the compass points out features on the horizon. This one was a three dimensional layout of the area.
Three highlights in the first 2 1/2 miles. This was a lot for us. On most days we would have encountered a cafe by now. We couldn’t expect any assistance there until 7 miles in today. Bear and Sassy started their chanting for coffee. Bunny and I were about 50 yards ahead when I saw a flag ahead. I turned around and yelled “we’re saved!”
After the intercession from Heaven (and Nigel), we had much more energy. The caffeine and sugar from the muffins was just what we needed. We entered into another section of woods. The couple we met yesterday and mentioned they never expected to hike in so much woods in the Cotswolds. Today was another day of tree shade for us. There’s nothing better than hiking through an old forest (in my opinion). We were full in the groove and almost missed the money tree.
With full wallets from the tree, we were really ready for some food. The plan (there’s always a plan) was to head into Dudbridge for some lunch and a stop at the grocery store. A woman came running past us on the trail. She told us to come into Stonehouse for more options. Stonehouse isn’t on the trail, but is only about a half mile off. It’s also outside of the Cotswolds. We figured it was worth a look.
The return from lunch gave us the opportunity to walk along one of the canals. Bear and Sassy had met another couple at our first coffee break who have been living in a long boat on the canals for the last 5 years. They had just made up their minds to sign up for another 5 years. We got to see a few boats, but traffic was being interrupted by work crews dredging the canal.
This is where the slippery slope starts. We had walked way more than a mile off trail. When the canal and the trail intersected, there was an official alternate to the trail. The alternate is a little over a mile shorter than the main route (and we skip a decent climb). Peer pressure led to my downfall. My purity is gone. We took the alternate.
Bear had managed to find us a B&B in Dursley while we were eating lunch in Stonehouse. Not that we needed any, but this gave a sense of urgency to keep moving after lunch. We just had bed and showers two nights ago, but this B&B is special. Not only will it get rid of our acquired urine/poop smells which identify us as long distance hikers, they will do laundry for us. Bunny gave it her all, today. This ended up being her longest day of hiking on the new hip.
The danger with entertaining items on a slippery slope is that you keep getting pushed further and further. I agreed to the bypass, heavily motivated by laundry and personally justified that we’ve put in the miles to cover it. I got slammed with another one. I’ll admit, I was tired. My knees were hurting. I was thirsty and hungry. My stomach was a little upset. The heat was getting to me. I was a little delirious from everything. My companions sensed my weakened state and pounced.
There was one hill between us and Dursley. A hill in the middle of an ancient flood plain. It was almost 600’ tall. We have climbed up and down from 200’ to 800’ all day. There wasn’t anything significant on this hill. No forts. No barrows. No monuments to narcissistic pricks from days gone by. This was trail over a hill for no reason other than to test the purity of the hiker. My purity had already gotten shot 5 miles earlier.
In my weakened state, they all ganged up on me. Bear threw the first punch. He said he noticed an alternate route which was the same distance but avoided the climb. Bunny jumped on my back and said she was in. She placed me in a choke hold. Sassy grabbed hold of my arm and started twisting. They only stopped when I whimpered a “mommy” just before passing out. There’s no doubt about any of us having any purity left. I tried to stay strong, but, in the end, it’s the company you keep.
EFG
There are many layers to the onion of Cromwell and the English Civil War both before and after the beheading of the king. Protestantism vs Catholicism still rampant. The English Bill of Rights, a precursor to our own. Pilgrims and Puritans. It is pretty fascinating.
It’s all confusing and overwhelming. It’s much easier to understand a country’s history if it’s only a couple centuries. We’re dealing with 5-6,000 years here.