Thu 31st May - Lechlade to Cricklade

Another day, another 9 miles under our belts and the total mileage now stands at 173 miles. For the first time in days we had grey clouds and a stiff breeze this morning. It was quite novel feeling cold and by the end of the walk I even had to put my fleece on!

We have just over 15 miles to go now but today's walk started with a bus ride. The path follows the river out of Lechlade but because of problems with access it has been diverted and uses the A361 for a mile. Its a fast road with narrow verges so signs tell you (if you hadn't already guessed yourself) that the sensible option is to get a bus or taxi to Upper Inglesham where the path heads back towards the river.

The river did not meander as much as yesterday and once were past the initial stages where some small diversions took us away, we stayed close to the riverbank. We had to negotiate yet another field of cows - it was only when we were halfway across we noticed a bull amongst them! Once again the pub we had picked for our rest stop was closed so we had lunch on a lonely stretch of riverbank near Water Eaton. This was one of the most remote stretches we had seen and we hardly saw anyone all day. As before with remote stretches, the ground underfoot was rough and the path was very overgrown in places.

The river has narrowed considerably and in places, it was only 10 metres wide - we have left behind the pleasure boats and narrow boats and even the amount of wildlife has decreased. By the time we reached Cricklade, the river was down to as little as 5 metres wide and even less in some places.

We were speaking after today's walk about our expectations before the walk. I said I had expected to finish but wasn't sure as there was always the chance I might injure myself .. Margaret on the other hand, said she was convinced she would not finish. We both agreed we had no idea beforehand what to expect and just wanted to experience the river. Sue said she had been sure she would finish - apart from anything else, she wanted to prove her doctor's prediction wrong that she wouldn't last a week.