Kerne Bridge to Brockhampton

The River Wye has changed colour, back to normal. Yesterday, with all the rain, a farmer's newly ploughed field was washing into the river, changing its colour to bright orange. Needless to say, we didn't stop for photos. This is Kernes Bridge with another field. Makes a different backdrop from the usual English green.

The Priory with Goodrich Castle in the background.

Allan and Graham reluctantly agreed that, considering the shocking weather and resultant pathway conditions of yesterday, that they would ride the bus today from Kerne Bridge to Ross on Wye. The first five kms today are through the woods with a good climb and descent which would make for a very treacherous beginning to the day. So another highlight for us walkers; we rode the bus.

We got stuck in a traffic jam on a busy country road. We were so close to the truck on the other side of the road that we could have shaken hands with the driver. As the passengers were picked up they greeted each other with 'Alright' with an inflection on the end of the word suggesting a question. Just loving the accents along the way. The bus stopped in Ross on Wye and everyone on the bus stood up at exactly the same time, like they had been choreographed, so we thought we'd disembark also.

We enjoyed our stroll into the market square and Allan immediately found Truffles Deli, the perfect place to purchase lunch.

After morning tea the decision was made to split up.

The men continued the walk across green pastureland, through woodlands and country lanes in good weather (except for a big five minute downpour), arriving at Falcon House BnB at 3:15, expecting their wives to be waiting with a hot cup of tea and ready hands to massage weary feet.

Some of the scenery while the men walked. The ladies remained in Ross, enjoyed a walk along the river and around town

where we found many street bollards decorated with knitted items, we think in celebration of the king's coronation.

Much time was spent looking for the library, where we thought we could sit for a while and type blogs. We found lots of signs for the library, pointing in many different directions. Eventually we enquired of a couple walking by and found it, only to discover it was closed on Wednesdays. So we headed back to Truffles for a cup of tea. We had several taxi phone numbers which we rang but no-one could come until after 4pm. The very kind lady in the deli let us sit and wait in her delightful deli. As we chatted quietly, a man walked past and suddenly his phone began to sing, 'The wheels of the bus go round and round..' He turned to us and began talking about his lad who had just bought him this new phone with all these songs on it. He went on and on, telling bad jokes about his lad. I guess it helped fill in some time. Anyway, that's why we weren't at Falcon House when the lads arrived. Peter, Barbara and Nathan hosted us beautifully in their lovely home. Barbara is a keen collector of lots of things, including owls. One of the owls 'talked' to us in a very deep voice. Numpy had bright pink eyelids and is very friendly. He had been owned by a man who ran a 'bird of prey park and the Numpy's job was to greet the people when they arrived. When the park closed, Numpy was sent to a bird avairy but became very depressed so Barbara was asked if she would care for him along with all her other owls. Apparently he has thrived since being at Falcon House. I took some video but it wouldn't load into the blog so you will just have to believe me! This isn't the talking owl.

We were staying a couple of miles from the pub so Peter drove us there and picked us up when we finished our meal (for a fee).

The Moon Inn served a very nice meal in a very quaint pub.