DH, BFS, TO, AC, Sully, Bill
T’was the week before Christmas and our last chance to get out before the hastily rearranged Christmas festivities started. The four wise men met at The Queens Arms Corton Denham for a 9.00 start, to return in time to catch one of the takeaway breakfast bacon rolls before 10.30. What we hadn’t banked on would be Brian trying out his new 4x4 on the narrow country lanes to get there. Or more a case of trying out country lanes, in his 4x4 when he wasn’t sure where they took him. Anyway, a few minutes late we headed south out of the village on a clockwise route around towards Corton Denham ridge, the lower portion, not to be confused with Corton Denham hill.
Heavy rains had again made the fields very sodden, Sully was filthy within seconds but enjoyed splashing his way through, especially at the gateway that was more like a river, Bill wasn’t quite so confident.
Turning West up a small track, I once again noticed a very odd familiarity with the houses of the area, they all have extremely high house numbers, we are talking 700+. Having seen this a few years ago dear old Google has been no help at all in solving it, does anyone have any idea why it might be? Were there previously a lot more properties or can it really be sequential numbering on a long road? I await some replies.
On reaching the top of the track, and another crossing of the Monarch‘s Way, the route taken from the Kings overnight stays in nearby Trent was more obvious. Previous walks along the ridge have always been enjoyed due to the grassy nature of the path along the top, but this was a new untested access point, and boy , what an error of judgment!
It would appear we had just missed a visit from the local farmer who had used the time to do a bit of work on the hedgerow, from his tractor. The lane was caked, rutted, puddled, slippy, filthy and just about unpassable. But pass we had to, so finding any suitable location to plant a foot, whilst hanging onto anything else still stood up (and yes for Adrian that included a socially distanced arm or shoulder to lean on) we made slow and steady progress up what was only a 200m long strip, thankfully.
Once out of the quagmir, the slope on the bank was not a lot easier to be truthful and I had visions of at least one of us taking a slide down the hill, but thankfully the style to the track back appeared through a gap in the hedgerow which allowed us to make it off the ridge in one piece. Not great views today across to the Tor, but we could see a heavy shower approaching and were keen to keep going to avoid it. Unfortunately the rain moved faster than us (not difficult I hear you say) and within 10 minutes of the walks end, we were soaked.
However, the icing on the cake was the breakfast roll, as a small group we expected to be in the outside area, but being on our best behaviour we were seated inside, dogs as well.
A really tasty bacon roll and drink, a few festive greetings recorded to our friends the Bulls, (what a coincidence), in Peru and that wrapped up the walks for 2020.
We have had great fun through the summer and autum, had some lovely walks, seen areas we didn’t know about, enjoyed the countryside, the company, the banter, the breakfasts and the friendship of a great bunch of men. Not ideal times, but life goes on, don’t get stuck in the rut, get out, enjoy life and keep smiling.
Who knows what 2021 and beyond holds in store for us all
Take care, stay safe and hope to see you on the other side of Covid!
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