Monday February 05, 2007

Two walks in winter sunshine

After a frost Saturday promised to be full of sun and no wind. Having forgotten the camera there will be no pictures of Saturdays walk. We started mid point round the walk at Warren Row off the A4. We parked by the now private house which was once the Red House pub. We walked into Cayton Park the ground here was covered by large snowdrops Here we carried on upwards to the summit of Bowsey Hill all 460ft of it. We joined a narrow road by houses after passing through a gate where a large holly bush usually prickles one of us as we go through. We then went along a wide path and under trees with blue sky overhead. As expected we could not take the proper path and were diverted to the path used on the return leg of the walk. Down the path we went then which then become a narrow lane by houses. Eventually meeting the A4 by the Five Stars pub. We took a detour of our own and turned right for a short distance and had lunch at the refurbished Old Devil Inn now much smarter with friendly service. A Ham sandwich salad and chips at five pounds ninety five pence is pretty average price for around here and was nice. We then went back along the A4 and took the path up past the Five Stars and Star Works now a gravel works and rubbish pit. Past us without much warning sped four motor bikes of the trail variety ridden by young lads. Initially I was annoyed by this intrusion but they were soon gone and I suppose it is better them doing this rather than something less desirable. The path meandered along under more trees and we were back to the starting point

On Sunday after a severe overnight frost we drove to Benson once known as Bensington when it was an important coaching Inn stop. Today it has an RAF station which houses the Queens flight. Here before the walk we had refreshement at the Waterfront Cafe which was very busy. We left the cafe, and walked down a little lane towards the lock of Benson.

We crossed the weir first then the lock. From here it was a steady and very muddy path all the way to Wallingford. During the walk we saw several Pill boxes built in the Second World war to try and stop the river being used to an advantage by an invasion force. On the banks there were several fishermen. Not far from the town we passed by the back of HR Wallingford where I used to work years ago. It has its own boathouse and its boat called Florinda II was moored by the bank. Eventually we reached the town and after facing its bridge over the Thames we headed into the town itself. It is said that the bridge over the river here was the first to be built and the current one is 900 feet long only fifteen feet shorter than Old London Bridge. A few fragments of the original bridge are still visible.

We had a wander round the old town - most of it closed for the Sunday. It has a pretty church with a Open Fluted Spire.

This church was built in the 18th century on the site of a former church that was destroyed in the civil war. It was paid for by a William Blackstone a famous judge during those times. His commentaries on the Laws of England were a major influence on the American constitution. He was also responsible for the line of Thames Street being moved so he could enlarge his garden. The town itself is Saxon and at one time had its own Mint, much larger than Oxford . It fell into decline however and at one time shrunk to only forty houses. It recovered however and became an important market town. After a break we retraced our steps and headed back to the bridge.

On the return leg however we were to pass along fields away from the river bank. To do this we passed by the entrance of the town's castle now a ruin. The castle was the site of many momentous affairs of English history much of which is documented here . However Cromwell had it torn down after it took his troops sixteen weeks to break into it. Our path took us back to Benson and the car park. Two nice three mile walks.