Day 9: Wotton-under-edge to Old Sodbury

Yesterday was our longest day for the whole walk and we all felt that we pulled up reasonably well, considering all the climbs and descents we did. This morning Allan wasn't so sure about tackling today, another big day, we just know there will be more ups and downs waiting for us. The promise of several pretty villages to walk through and perhaps stop for a drink and lunch helped to get us up and heading out the door.

We enjoyed another pretty view from our bedroom window.

As we walked along the street we saw this amazing little crooked house and another interesting sign hanging overhead.

The houses here have very thick walls and really wide window sills. We've noticed most window have small decoration sitting in them making it very tempting to look in. We saw this doll's house sitting in a window this morning. The detail was amazing.

A short visit to the pretty church of St Mary the Virgin was our last stop before leaving Wotton. The stained glass windows were lovely, as were the banners which sat in the front of the church.

As we were walking down another cute little laneway leading us out of town I was struck with the thought that the Cotswolds truly are the heart of farming England. We passed terrific veggie gardens, ducks and geese, a horse with a brand new foal, a country stream and out into the fields filled with crops. We had been walking for several hours when we had an awful "Oh No!" moment. We rounded a bend and saw a tall monument just like the Tyndale Monument we'd visited yesterday. Surely we hadn't been walking round in a circle for the morning. I was beginning to feel like I'd hit a wall. This was turning into a tough day. Fortunately it was a different Monument. Phew!

The feature of today's walk was open, rolling fields, interspersed with the occasional tract of woodland, a few heart pounding climbs but no villages to walk through. The trail skirted the edges of Alderley, Hawkesbury, Hillesley, Horton and Little Sodbury but when you are as weary as we were today, you don't walk one step more than you have to. The other feature today was the wind, sometimes blowing a gale and other times just blowing the trees. I recall one field was filled with tall grass shimmering in the wind, it was very pleasant walk, at that moment! This is a pretty walk. A pretty TOUGH walk. We came to an interesting little tower at a farm. It was built for swallows and owls to nest in because they like to nest in structures.

Walking into Old Sodbury brought us through the grounds of St John the Baptist church, where we had a quick sit down before heading into the village. There was a small box with a sign, 'please take one'. The leaflet had a prayer for the walkers of the Cotswolds, very reassuring at the end of a long and hard day.