SPRING IN OUR STEP

Wayfarers Walk 5

Here we are at the start of this leg - where we finished last time.  I put this in because it was such a lovely morning and such a contrast with last time, when it was miserable, cold, pouring with rain and flooded.  You can see the sandbags still there in the background.

And we didn't even get round to seeing the village last time.  It is a pretty little place, birthplace of Sarah Ferguson.  The Queen Inn is the pub where she and Andrew used to meet (and maybe canoodle).  Here's one of the thatched cottages.

 

A local craftsman building a new bus shelter.

After crossing the M3, 

 

we found we were three quarters of the way through our journey.

 

But, although it was sunny and warm, and although the way was lined with daffodils and primroses, and there was vernal blossom in the hedgerows,

 

 it could still look autumny in the fields.

And, although the storms seem a thing of the past and the floods are receding, we still found our way blocked at the next village, Deane.

 

Which was a pity because, from a distance, it looked pretty.

We eventually found a way past.

Some blossom on the outskirts of the village.

 

 Cottage with weasel and crocodile.

Some more blossom.

The path from here was not very distinct.

An Iron Age fort and tumulus.

 

From here we decided to deviate from the route and walk along the ridge.  It was just such a glorious day with views across tens of miles of open country.

 But the drop down the other end was rather precipitous.

But this path led to a nice walkway through trees along the side of the road

 

into Kingsclere, where we stayed the night at the old Swan Inn.

  

This is the dining/bridge room.