Saturday 14th January ’23 - DH, RW, TO, PCL, DL, DCL, Sully & Scrumpy
Half way through January already, but it seems like it’s not stopped raining all month. We always knew it would be a wet one today with rain showers forecast along with strong winds, so it was a well prepared group of regulars along with Phil’s youngest David, that met up in Mere car park ahead of the 9 o’clock meeting time. It took a few minutes for waterproof trousers and boots to be put on and hat type to be decided on, so as the church clock chimed nine we were already on our way. This week the route was an anti-clockwise circuit heading out through the fields which we use of our return leg after our Mere and Wolverton walk, although previous walks have always been in better weather. No sooner had we entered the first field that the severity of the situation became obvious, this was going to be a wet walk! As we splashed through the numerous puddles in the grassy fields it wasn’t long before we entered one with less covering and just a muddy pathway through the middle of it. Talk of Somme like conditions and the severity of life in the trenches was discussed. Sully was in his element and he was soon performing his usual morning roll, as we made our way southward with a fine driving rain coming across from the west.
Last time we walked this route I remembered walking along a narrow track with high hedges either side, so it was somewhat of a shock when on approaching this area we could see there had been a lot of the hedges cut down and a tracked vehicle was working on digging out the ditches either side of the old hedge line. With so much rain having fallen the last few days, the new ditches had filled with soft mud as water ran down to a large pool in the corner. With the public right of way clearly impassable the only option was to cross the banks and ditch into the undisturbed area of the adjoining field. Sully led the way and with four legs and no care for how muddy he got made it through quickly, however with more trepidation and less dexterity the two legged walkers didn’t fair so well. The leading pathfinders were soon attempting to cross but each footstep into the mud sunk in further than the last and it wasn’t long before the mud was over the boots and the only option was to make a quick go for it. On seeing this those following decided a more controlled approach was required but after some discussion and lots of encouragement from the far bank, there also concluded there was only one option - and also went for it with a big leap! Thankfully no one slipped up and we were soon comparing the state of our boots and trousers whilst cursing the chap in the digger. He must have seen our disgusted looks (hopefully not our gesticulations) and popped out of his cab for a quick chat. He immediately apologised for the state of the footpath and hoped it hadn’t ruined our walk. When asked if we could send him the cleaning bill, he at least had a sense of humour and offered us free use of the washing machine down the road. He also explained that we should be able to get back on track a bit easier at the other end, which thankfully we did. A couple of flooded stile areas and then a duck through a large hole in the hedge rather than over another difficult style and we were at the end of leg one and turned downwind. Thankfully the rain had eased so no wet rear of trousers - at this point.
Taking shelter from the wind behind a hedgerow it was lolly time already, and with a new bag of Dereyks confectionery careful opened by Richard it was swizzlers all round. A decision had been forced onto us that as the usually high levels of morale had taken a bit of a bashing this morning, the optional short cut would be taken at this point, so it was straight ahead and out onto a minor road and a turn left pointing us back towards Mere. The original shorter route would have taken us back into fields again, but to spare more miserable treking through sodden fields I opted for a longer stretch on the tarmac than original planned. It was along this leg that the heaviest storm of the day did its worst. The high hedge offered very limited protection as the wind increased and the rain came in heavy and hard. It was only a matter of a few seconds before drips were running off hats, onto soaked coats and then down the legs to the road. It was a real test of the waterproof qualities of both skin and clothing, the latter failing in a few parts. The road was more like a river as water flowed out of fields and Into the already high level brooks and streams and so when we turned off and onto a grassy track we thought we were over the worse of it.
The path took us between two significantly different substantial properties, on our left Woodlands Manor, a grade 1, 14th century Manor House with a substantial history and with its own chapel. Unfortunately due to the surrounding woodland it was hard to get a good view of it, unlike the property to our right side, a modern salmon coloured late 20th century country residence with large panoramic windows and landscaped gardens, going by the name of Maypole House.
As we passed the end of the property and approached their smaller residential neighbours, with the back end of what looked like a Ford Model T in the garden, the track we were walking along became more of a canal and it was obvious that if our boots weren’t wet enough already, the chances of getting to the end with dry toes was pretty unlikely. Some fancy dancing along the track avoiding the deeper areas and some balancing on the kissing gate at the end, saw us all safely out onto Rook Street, where we were met by a local in wellies with her dog, almost gobsmacked that we had attempted the canal crossing.
Heading down a narrow road we passed by the sewage works, with its accompanying aroma before passing along a portion of fast flowing and very brown river which is normally a lovely slow flowing clear chalk stream coming off the nearby WhiteSheet hills. A precarious bridge was safely crossed and then it was just a steady walk back along a narrow strip of tarmac through the field and between the old and new parts of the cemetery, with Castle Hill getting closer all the time. As we entered Angel Lane at bang on 10.30 we knew that the cafe was just around the corner, and a chance to sit down, get our coats off and dry out a bit as we waited for breakfast at the end of todays 3.3 mile walk.
Last time we used the Angel Corner cafe the chap behind the counter was a bit off and he seems to like his cafe run how he wants it without any perceived helpfulness from his customers. As such despite booking a table for 5 and being allocated the big round one in the corner, any possibility of getting 6 chairs around it was simply out of the question. So having taking Sully back to the car first to give him a good clean before allowing him on the carpet, when we arrived back we had our spot on a table of 2 opposite Trevor, whilst the other 4 had plenty of room on the corner table. It wasn’t too long before pots of tea, then our toast was brought to the table, soon followed by a good plateful of freshly cooked breakfast which went down a treat. Overall a much better experience than last time and when the time came to pay, just 5p short of £10 for breakfast and drink was considered by all a very reasonable price.
Hopefully next week it will be a bit better weather and our boots will have dried out sufficiently.
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