Something happened last night that could never happen in America, at least not without getting the police called on you or a gun pulled on you. We left the restaurant without paying. “She who must be obeyed” came out to the campsite about 9:30 just to make sure there hadn’t been a mistake. I offered to go pay and she said “don’t be daft. We’re going to bed. We’ll take care of it in the morning.” Back home, the cops would have watched us run the card then ask if the restaurant wanted to press charges.
It rained most of the night. That was fine until the lightening started around midnight. To her credit, Bunny didn’t scream and cover her eyes and ears like she usually does, but she did flinch about a foot off of the pad with each flash of lightening. It makes it kind of difficult to sleep with that much commotion 2” from you.
Our tent fly and ground cloth were completely soaked when we rolled them up. The tent itself was still pretty dry. I’m glad we have reservations to sleep inside at a B&B tonight. Maybe we can dry everything out. Here we are, 3 days into the Cotswold Way and we’re only 15 miles in. If we continue at this pace, this is going to be a 3 week trail.
The day was a bit brisk. We all had to wear our rain coats out of camp because of the rain and wind. To make the point that nature has the upper hand, we crossed a couple of wheat fields in the first two miles. Had this been the South Downs Way still, we wouldn’t even have noticed anything different. Up here, they actually soil. With the rain, the soil becomes mud. Mud on hikers feet equals foot weights. Every pound on your feet equals six pounds on your back. We were all carrying 80 pound packs until we got to Winchcombe.
It was only three miles in, but Bunny and I were ready for a break and a hot drink. I’m at that age where I hate to pass up a cafe or a bathroom. I’m going to regret skipping either within 10 minutes of doing so. Bear and Sassy didn’t want anything, but they agreed to stop with us. After our coffees, Bunny and I hit the toilets. Bear didn’t. It wasn’t 10 minutes later, but it wasn’t 30 either and Bear had to go prove that he was potentially Catholic.
One of the highlights today was an archaeological site known as Belas Knap. It a barrow that was used as a burial vault for several centuries over 5000 years ago. It’s over 180 feet long and as much as 18 feet tall. There are multiple entrances into the barrow, but they’ve been blocked off. Some of the base stone work is exposed demonstrating a high level of craftsmanship which I wasn’t expecting to see from that far ago. It shouldn’t surprise me, though. These are the same people that engineered and built Stonehenge.
Just before the final climb to Belas Knap, I made a premature right turn down a road. Bear caught me before I went too far. Now, two miles later, I stopped and asked if anyone remembered my near mistake. If they would like to see the area again, it was just 1/4 of a mile down the road. We had walked over 2 miles to come a 1/4 mile. I don’t know if the AT route planners were involved with the Cotswold Way, or Vice versa.
We were only 4 miles from our B&B. We passed by a huge estate and entered Cleve Hill. The former estate is a 15th century manor house now known as Postlip Community. It is a cohousing community that shares 14 acres. I’m supposing it is a sort of commune. There are eight families living there.
Cleve Hill was probably once a part of the old manor. Now it is a scientific, nature research area. This was one of the largest tracts of forested land we have crossed. On top of the ridge has to be one of the most interesting golf courses I have ever come across. The course comes with an unusual ground crew which lives “on site.” Hundreds of grounds crew are constantly maintaining the fairways and regularly fertilizing through organic methods. They are so integrated to the course that they are regarded as course obstacles.
The crew consists of rabbits and sheep. I don’t know what to call the large number of rabbits I saw, but I’m going with gang. I saw well over 30 rabbits cross the trail in front of me and drop into what looks like used to be a quarry. The sheep were busy maintaining the fairways and tees. Their job description doesn’t include green maintenance. The greens all have electric fences around them, but several go getters managed to jump the fences. As I’m sure I’ve conveyed, the sheep are slowly taking over England. When they set their sights on a piece of land and/or job, they will stop at nothing to get it.
The gold course has a restaurant that allows non-members to access. We stopped in for a late afternoon snack. Even though we had food, we all wanted a break from the chilly day. We were the only ones in there other than the manager and bartender. They had a huge TV set to the Queen’s Jubilee celebration in London. There are events planned all week and it’s fascinating to observe how much has happened under her reign. We sat and watched for almost an hour as the musical trends progressed decade by decade before us.
Sadly, the Queen couldn’t make the event. She is 96 years old and can’t handle being forced to maintain a stoic presence for hours on end like she used to. The rest of the Royal Family, including the next 3 kings were in attendance. It would have been nice if they had intermittently shown the Queen watching events on TV while reclining and being fed grapes (or whatever is the standard practice for resting monarchs is).
The final mile or so, we walked with another American who was originally from Montana but currently lives in Singapore. His wife is an executive for a Geneva based bank. He’s a retired lawyer. She’s had to go to the home office for some meeting, so he came over to hike the Cotswold Way in four days until she can join him later this week. This is his first day and he’s already passed us on our 4th day. We go intentionally slow.
We parted ways with him at the turn to our B&B. We consider ourselves lucky to get this place for the night. The chance of rain tonight is over 80%. I’m praying for heavy storms. After tonight, the chances of rain are greatly reduced for the next few days. We might make some miles. Bear and Sassy’s youngest son will be joining them in Ireland on the 16th.
Upper Farm B&B is simply gorgeous. They screwed up when they allowed me to stay here. The original farmhouse was built in the late 18th century with an addition made in the 1840s. When the current owner bought the place 30 years ago, the house was considered derelict. Now his investment is worth we’ll in excess of a million pounds. They only have between 3 & 4 acres, but it’s a beauty.
They don’t offer suppers here, but they did make reservations for us at a pub in town. As part of the package, they take hikers into Cheltenham and drop them off for supper. They then pick us back up at a prearranged time. Our dinner place used to be a Catholic school but is now a restaurant. I know what you’re thinking—Henry VIII again. Not the case this time. This is a much more modern building. I’m pretty certain this city didn’t even exist when the crybaby king was alive. Now it’s an incredibly affluent city of 117,000 people.
EFG