Category: England

Travelling back to Hampshire on possibly the slowest train in existence gives us the chance to reflect on the last week and what we have achieved. According to the guide book, the Ridgeway is an 86.5 miles (139km) National Trail going from Avebury in Wiltshire to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. We are told: “Walking the… Continue reading Ridgeway: Summary

Start: Penbury Manor, Tring Finish: Astor Court Hotel, Fitzrovia Walking Distance: 10.75km Total Time: 6 hours Drugs taken: Ibuprofen 6 tablets, Paracetamol 2 tablets Our final day has arrived. After a rather ‘meh’ corporate hotel breakfast, we set off on our final adventure – the Ivinghoe Beacon! We left in good spirits from the hotel… Continue reading Ridgeway: Day 8

Start: The Red Lion, Longwich Finish: Penbury Manor, Tring Distance Walked: 27.5km Total Time: 9.5 hours Drugs Taken: Ibuprofen 12 tablets, Paracetamol 6 tablets. We knew we had a lot to do today and as the Red Lion didn’t really offer breakfast, we left as soon as we were packed up and got a pastry… Continue reading Ridgeway: Day 7

Start: The Fat Fox, Watlington Finish: The Red Lion, Longwich Walking Distance: 24km Total Time: 8 hours Drugs: Ibuprofen 12 tablets, Paracetamol 2 tablets Breakfast at the Fat Fox was perfectly nice, if a little pedestrian compared to recent days. We both had eggs and bacon. Our host Rob was a pleasant young man, though… Continue reading Ridgeway: Day 6

Start: The Swan, Streatley Finish: The Fat Fox, Wallington Distance Walked: 27.5km Total Time: 9 hours Drugs consumed: Ibuprofen 12 tablets My laptop died today ⚰️. It has had the same reaction to five days of walking as my feet. However, unlike my feet, I can just send it back to Dell to be fixed!… Continue reading Ridgeway:Day 5

Start: The Bear, Wantage Finish: The Swan, Streatley Walking Distance: 26.5km Total Time: 8.5 hours The Bear was a pleasant hotel, located in the market square in Wantage, it had clearly been a coaching inn for centuries, albeit with several makeovers. The rooms were probably overdue for another one, though it still had a guest… Continue reading Ridgeway: Day 4

Start: The Royal Oak, Bishopstone Finish: The Bear, Wantage Walking Distance: 24km Total Time: 7.5 hours Breakfast at The Royal Oak this morning was unsurprisingly pig focussed, but very tasty. Craig had a Bacon Bun and I had a Bacon Omelette. Then, we headed back up to the Ridgeway. We passed through an interesting little… Continue reading Ridgeway: Day 3

Start: Inn with the Well, Ogbourne St George End: Royal Oak, Bishopstone Walking Distance: 19km Total Time: 6.5 hours The day began at the Inn with the (impressively deep) Well. We both had some delicious Eggs Benedict Royale for breakfast which unfortunately didn’t stay around long enough to be photographed!😋 😋 Day 2 was the… Continue reading Ridgeway: Day 2

Start: Thistle Express, Swindon Finish: Inn with the Well, Ogbourne St George Walking Distance: 22km Total Time: 8 hours Day 1 started fairly smoothly, after a rather inspid takeaway breakfast (Covid precautions) we left the Thistle Express. A little run-down but clean, and really pleasant staff. We then proceeded to Swindon Bus station to catch… Continue reading Ridgeway: Day 1

Start: Home End: Thistle Express, Swindon Walking Distance: 4.5 km Total Time: 3 hours Day 0 for our Ridgeway Adventure! This trip was originally designed as a motivator for Craig to get fit after his chemo finished in February, but unfortunately that didn’t altogether go to plan 🙁 The two test walks we did, (42km… Continue reading Ridgeway Day 0