Time for another walk from my house, straight up the hill towards the Ridgeway. The ground is still quite dry even though there has been some rain. The landscape is changing as crops have been harvested and the next stages are beginning again. As soon as the top of the first rise is reached an enormous landscape suddenly comes into view. In the far distance is my initial destination.
Not as much birdsong today but still things to catch the eye.
Having reached the road to Newbury my paths turns sharply to the left and then equally abruptly to the right and I have a direct line again to the Ridgeway.
This part of the path is next to the Point to Point course usually organised on Easter Monday. A good viewing place if you don’t wish to go into all the stalls etc. After a while the path goes across the last field to the top, empty today other than a man with a camera in pursuit of ‘Wheatears’! I turned to look back at the view, and take a breath, and noticed the cross cross markings/mowing on one of the fields below.
As I reached the top and came up onto the Ridgeway I noticed that it was 4.6km from my house. This is the start of one of my son Alex’s running routes and he doesn’t stop for breath !!!
My first destination is the monument. This is dedicated to Lord Wantage.
Brigadier General Robert James Loyd-Lindsay, 1st Baron Wantage, VC, KCB, VD (17 April 1832 – 10 June 1901) was a British soldier, politician, philanthropist, benefactor to Wantage, and first chairman and co-founder of the British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War (later the British Red Cross Society), for which he crucially obtained the patronage of Queen Victoria.
He also with his wife set up the villages of Ardington and Lockinge as social enterprises and was careful to look after and organise jobs for their inhabitants.
I decided that this was a good lunch stop and sat in some glorious September sunshine.
Luckily I don’t always have to climb the hill to see this view, even if it has a more wintry hue.
The path has tracks of chalk and it is a long time since I have been along here walking in an Easterly direction. Only met two walkers, a cyclist and a rather large horse just as we were both adjacent to a field with a tractor and cultivator! Luckily he stopped as the horse went passed. Quite good to hear that mechanical, agricultural sound in this open space.
There are several routes back down towards the villages near Wantage and I’m aiming for the furthest one before the tarmac road up from Hendred or the track that runs along the edge of the Harwell Atomic Site. I plan for a more picturesque route!
Before I need to turn off I can see the woods surrounding Scutchamer Knob – an ancient burial mound – and favoured wild camping spot!
I haven’t camped there but I have next to the track for a small local ‘music event’. I remember Jack wearing a very bright ‘hippy’ jumper – he must have been about 3/4 and not wanting to go to bed because he was also enjoying the live music. We were envied a little in the morning when I produced cups of tea and bacon rolls on my Trangia stove – not quite so rock and roll!
Well it took a while to find the path that didn’t exist on the ground! Luckily the crops had been cut. The path leads down between a split clump of trees between East Ginge Down and Knob Down.
Having trudged across the field and noticed how flinty and chalky the ground was, I soon reached the track that led steeply down between the trees and on towards East Ginge.
Highlight – I saw a buzzard circling in that calm, silent way overhead. It made a pleasant change to Red Kites. Just as I was having this thought the Buzzard disappeared towards the trees and two of the other species came circling round accompanied by their familiar cry.
On the map above Ginge there are several disused pits marked. Local myth would have these designated as ‘treacle mines’. Could it be that soldiers were stationed here before the Crimean War and buried left over barrels of black molasses, as have been discovered in other areas of the country?
Ginge as with many other local villages has a strong relationship with horse training and this line of trees marks a track from the Hendred Road to one such yard. Quite a striking display of planting.
As I approach the village the path splits to the left and narrows, somewhat overgrown, which I’m now very used to! Four partridge are scuttling along in front and divert to the right – first time seeing any of these on my travels. As the path gets narrower I’m aware of something in front – at I first I thought it was a rabbit and then realised that it was one of the partridge – well disguised and eventually rejoining his group as the calls got louder.
A short section of road through the villages until a track leads off northward from West Ginge to eventually lead to a path on the West side of Ginge Brook. This is high up above the water and I’m struck by the onset of autumn amongst this group of trees.
The path leads sharply down to the brook and crosses with a little bridge. The water is so clear at this point and quite fast flowing. Now on the other side of the water it doesn’t take long to reach a wonderful meadow and some new gates on to the newly refurbished track way to Harwell, but first some more beautiful trees to admire.
Having crossed back over the brook again via the new bridge I turn west. And along a familiar track towards Lockinge. Today though I’m going to turn north again, half way along and skirt passed the edge of Roundabout Hill!
As I’m walking down this track I can see parts of Ardington nestling in the trees. Ardington house is now used as a wedding and celebration venue. As can be seen from the sky the weather has been amazing today and much warmer than expected.
Highlight – just as I’m about to stop for a snack I see my second Buzzard of the day which comes to rest on top of a telegraph pole and as if this wasn’t enough another bird of prey swoops out of the trees – by it’s colour and shape of the wings I think it must be a Hobby.
Feeling refreshed I decided it was to good an afternoon to go the quick way back to home and decided that after walking through into the village and passed the church I would go up hill and walk parallel to the road through Christopher’s Wood.
As I got to the Millennium Stones the sun was shining on them in a wonderful way BUT too much using my online OS app plus Fitbit and photos had used my battery – nothing left at all.
The route map shows where the battery ceased, so I had to measure the remaining section manually. Therefore I didn’t finish the walk in the middle of a wood but back at my house. The total for this walk was 18.3km. A great walk in the sunshine which I really enjoyed.
Marion's 50 Walk Challenge 