I really wish I had taken a nap yesterday. I’m usually the only one that doesn’t nap when we have the chance. My best naps are when the snooze button is pressed. If anyone said “zero” today, I’m there. Breakfast was at 8. I made it down at 8:01 still in my pajamas.
Ray and Naomi were incredible hosts. They truly enjoy having guests in their house. Ray had shown Ron around yesterday and spent this morning showing me the sauna, the conservatory, the backyard, and the kitchen. He’s got lots of ideas for projects this winter. I’d love to come back and see everything in a couple of years.
While Ray was showing me around, Bear entered crisis mode. He suspects his credit card isn’t working. He borrowed my phone to call the company, but they kept hanging up on him. They must really be pissed at him to hang up. How long has it been since he paid his bill? Has he been buying illegal or illicit services with the card? He has an enquiring mind and wants to know.
To try to find out the extent of their situation, Bear and Sassy headed to the Lidl to buy something. He just wanted to know if his card was working or not. His card wouldn’t go through. He used Sassy’s card and it still works, so they’re not completely without means.
While they were trying to figure out their credit card situation, Bunny and I headed back to the trail via the golf course south of town. I didn’t actually know there was a golf course there. Since I didn’t know there was a course, I surely didn’t know there was a clubhouse. I wanted to get something, but Bunny refused to let me buy anything. I know, if we pass up a cafe, it WILL bite us in the ass.
It didn’t take long for the credit bandits to catch up. It was a steep climb up and Bunny doesn’t do steep climbs well first thing. She doesn’t do them much better at any other time, but first thing is really slow. It was only another mile and a half to the cafe in North Nibley that the couple from Kent told us about. We were all in now that we skipped the golf course cafe.
The Cafe operates on a modified Roman schedule and was closed this weekend. It’s only open Thursday through Sunday. We, mistakingly, thought Friday was inside that open window. They will not be open again until the 16th. As much as I’d love a cafe and pastry, I’m not willing to wait. I sure wish I had gotten something at the golf course, Bunny.
On empty stomachs, mind you, we had another steep climb out of Nibley. It looks like we have to make the climb fed with nothing but our unquenched thirst for history. At the top of the climb is a heretic tower built in the honor of William Tynesdale. He did the equivalent thing of finding an infinite and clean alternative to fossil fuel. The person that does that and breaks the oil companies’ financial hold on the population will surely be burned at the stake.
Burned at the stake is what happened to poor William when he defied the financial barons at the time and translated the Bible to English so anyone could understand the writings. The church was furious. People started questioning the passages that had been told them: “give all your money to the church and live in squalor and be glad for the privilege of life”, “any priest can sleep with any woman to save her soul, but if she speaks of this, she’ll be burned at a witch” and other similar classics that the clergy used to control the population. Not only did they burn him, they condemned him to hell as a heretic. At least with Galileo, he was forgiven several hundred years after his death. William is still toasting away.
Before we headed up the tower to reach the heights of Heaven pool William never will, we started talking to an older couple from Oregon. They have a goal of traveling 2000 miles a year under their own power. They started out biking around Europe in the early 2000s but age has made them switch to walking. They plan on heading to Italy in August to spend a month in the Dolomites.
Hiking down from the tower, we passed a commemorative walled garden. It was originally built to in honor of the victory at Waterloo in 1815. Over time, the trees became diseased so they were cut and burned as part of Queen Victoria’s 60th Jubilee and then replanted. They’re not quite worth burning for Elizabeth’s 70th Jubilee, but since someone has stolen the plaque, it’s time for the garden to be repurposed, again.
This is when and where tragedy befell a member of our party. Bear was viscously attacked by tree. It took him down to the ground. Bunny and Sassy were convinced he was dead. They both got out their poop trowels and started digging a shallow grave (the rocks make a deep grave too much work). I suggested ice cream might revive him. We heard a feeble “I’m feeling better now.” He was wobbly and very nearly bleeding, but he agreed to soldier on for ice cream.
We stopped at the first eating place in Wotton under Edge. Three of us ordered milk shakes in an attempt to ward off Bear’s concussion. Sadly, no one at the cafe knew how to make a milk milk shake. What we got more resembled nestle quick chocolate milk. We ate our meals as fast as possible because Bear continued to fade. The outline of a bump started to appear on his forehead. Sassy was convinced it was terminal and got out her poop scoop again. Since we were in a proper garden behind the cafe, she felt she could dig him a proper deep grave which he deserved (and apparently would be too weak to dig himself out of).
Bear would be under Wotten under Edge had not Sassy first had to go to the toilet. This man’s desire for life (and ice cream) is the strongest we have ever seen (except for, perhaps, my brother-in-law, George, or Bunny’s dad). Not a block after the cafe, we managed to find THREE places selling ice cream. Bear will live to hike another day.
Walking along creeks is one of our favorite types of hiking. We haven’t gotten many waterways to hike along in the Cotswolds. Leaving town we had a most pleasant walk along an old creek diverted for some forgotten mill. It was cool and pleasant and demanded repayment in some form. Ah, yes, a nice steep climb should do the trick.
We still had no idea where we’re going to camp. The camp in Hawkesbury appears to be closed from all information we could find. Naomi had warned us that the area around there is monitored pretty closely for wild campers. We were in a bit of a bind. There was also the question of water.
Not one, but two stream walks today. The trail follows a little stream right into Lower Kilcott. According to our map, this is the last chance we’ll have for water for the next 7 miles. We finally came upon an easily accessible point to the stream in front of a house. I started to get water when Sassy said there was someone watching us from the house. I called up to ask if it was alright for us to get some water.
There was a man sitting on the porch. When I yelled up, he got up and walked out. He had music playing and couldn’t hear what I asked. Bear asked if we might get water. “Do you have a tap?” “Does our house look so old we don’t have water here? Of course we have a tap.” The banter was on.
His wife came out when she saw us all talking. They told us they had lived in Canada for 3 years above Alberta and had travelled all over the states. They knew where we all were from because they had taken 4 months to drive a 12,000 mile loop around the US. They went to places we still haven’t been to.
Wendy talked to us while Malcolm took our bottles inside and filled them. He brought them out on a serving platter for us. Now that is service! As we said our thank you’s, Malcolm asked where we were staying tonight. Bear said we weren’t sure because the camp was closed, yada yada yada. Malcolm turned to his wife and said “What do you think?” and nodded his head. Wendy said “of course.”
Malcolm and Wendy beckoned us through their gate into what could easily be an English Heritage garden. They have lived on this farm for 50 years. Wendy took Sassy and Bunny and began showing them around her gardens. Imagine a multi-room house where each house is a garden. Their yard is a 10 room house and it is in full bloom right now. There were several seating areas in different “rooms” on multiple levels. Wendy said when they bought the place, it was a derelict. They had gone to Canada for work to earn enough to buy the place. At the time, banks wouldn’t give mortgages for derelicts.
Malcolm was a shop teacher. Between them, they have done all the work of restoration and modernization of the grounds. They told us there was nothing here other than the buildings falling down. They did all the tree plantings and landscaping in addition to saving the buildings. They let us chose a spot to camp under a huge weeping willow tree with a bench. It was a lovely spot with lots of protection. There was even a stream running by the hedge we could hear. Additionally, they left a side door to the house open for us to use a loo and get water. This is the prettiest spot we’ve had to camp in.
EFG