One thing I forget to mention yesterday was the glorious walking down Smeathe's Ridge from Barbury Castle to Ogbourne St George. Halfway down there was a seat with a plaque in memory of Bert Toomer, chairman of Wiltshire Ramblers from 1976-1988. From the seat you could look ahead to the ridge between Ogbourne St George and Liddington. Today, once we had climbed up from Ogbourne onto the ridge we found another seat, this one giving a view back to Smeathes Ridge. Sadly not to remember another rambler but in memory of a 33yr old man who loved the countryside.
At the start of the ridge we had seen lots of wild flowers .. Bluebells, celandine, violets, speedwell and others we did not know the names of. Even the fields of yellow oilseed rape look nice this time of year and the smell isn't yet overpowering. The birds we singing all around us, buzzards were soaring overhead and the path was quiet. We saw other walkers, some horse riders and later on a group of motorbikers. But they we soon lost in the distance and peace and quiet returned.
There is a nasty stretch of the path that follows the road from Liddington Castle to Foxhill. We had to walk on the narrow verges and we we glad to get over the M4, past Foxhill and back up onto the hills. I would love to say it was peaceful but for a while we had the noise of a scrambling meet to contend with. However, we eventually got far enough away for the noise to subside.
The ridge we were walking along was now passing villages such as Bishopstone and Ashbury. Lunch was taken sat on a grassy bank looking out over the vale below. A lady passed us .. She said she would be back .. A little later she did wander past in the opposite direction. She said we would see her once more. Sure enough, when we started walking again our paths crossed for the third time. I checked .. She was training for the White Horse walk in July between Marlborough and Devizes.
We passed by Waylands Smithy long barrow and were met by my friend Alan. He was going to meet us at Uffington but had decided to drive a little nearer to see if he could meet us earlier than planned. He transported our rucksacks so we could do the last mile more comfortably. He walked with us for a bit then went back to the car and we met him and Diana near Uffington Castle and from there he drove us down into Woolstone where we were staying for the night. Alan and Diana stayed on and we had a lovely meal with them.
For the stattos amongst you today's stretch of the walk was 12 miles bringing the total walked to 23 miles.
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