Ridgeway Trip VII: A Short Walk

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 After a fairly unsatisfactory breakfast and being unable to find anyone to pay the bill to (someone finally appeared to Teresa at the last moment, after the rest of us had left), we took a long, beautiful footpath up to the Ridgeway.  There was relatively little up today, and more down, as we headed into the Thames valley.  We passed a gallops -- there were so many gallops along the way, and we were disappointed never to actually see any galloping, because they do it at 7am and it took us until 9 to get up there.  

We are extremely bad at taking selfies

Getting up to the track


We crossed over an old brick and concrete bridge that covered an overgrown gully, which was in fact a dismantled railway.  Then we went up a stony track to more beautiful farms and fields.  We did pass two of the most beautiful, expensive horses I've ever seen in my life, being ridden by a couple of women in their 30s.  We also met a local fellow wearing a cheerful Mexican belt, so Kim asked him about it and they chatted about Mexico for a little while. 

Old railway gully, one side of the bridge is brick

...and the other is a wooden fence

Somewhat steep and stony track

We passed a steep-sided valley that was just lovely and full of farm stuff.  As we got down closer to town, there were houses and the occasional car.  We were on the lookout for a bench that was supposed to be just across from a golf course, and it was a lovely bench!  We had a nice lunch and were almost to Streatley by then.  We got to the B&B fairly early -- much earlier than official check-in time -- but Teresa was already there so we were looking for her, and allowed to come in and rest.   We'd only gone 7 miles, but I was feeling very tired and enjoyed a fabulous nap.  We met our hostess, and arranged to be driven into town for dinner because of Teresa's ankle.  We even got to go into a pharmacy just before it closed and get a few much-needed items.  Then we had a massive and delicious Indian feast dinner, got picked up, and came home.


Our friend, the bench

There were ponies in this daisy-filled field

We still had plenty of time to sit in our hosts' absolutely beautiful garden.  They were quite surprised that we headed straight for the shady side of the house; one thing about being from California is that you always look for the shade, while British people appreciate the sun while it lasts!  


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