The Walk

I actually managed to have an ok sleep last night. That being said I still woke up tired; the upcoming day’s rest will be very welcome I can tell you!
I didn’t rush around this morning and had a nice relaxed breakfast, looking out the window at the view and the falling rain. I wasn’t too worried about the rain as I hoped it would help to cool the day down a bit. The last two days in the sun had been extremely draining, so a break from that would be very welcome indeed.

It actually ended up being quite a late night last night by the time I’d eventually got the day’s activities updated on the site.
One reason for this was the fact that I had a good chat with a few people on the phone last night, the funniest of which was with Steve – Hag. I say funny but what I should have said was interesting. The little bugger contacted his local BBC office about me, telling them about the walk and pointing them to this site. I know he’s dead proud about what I’m doing but this, well, what can you say? I suspect nothing will come of it but you just don’t know do you? I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything.

Knowing I had a long day ahead of me I was up and about early this morning, even before my alarm went off at 7am. All packed I was sat eating break by 7:30am, unfortunately it wasn’t the best breakfast I’ve had on this little adventure so far. As I’d not had breakfast the day before, due to lazing in my bed for far too long, I was a little disappointed, especially when you consider the cost of the place – £70 a night for bed and breakfast is not cheap and I expected better. Overall Blorenge House wasn’t too bad, the room was perfectly serviceable and the en-suite looked pretty new but I still wouldn’t say it was completely worth the asking price for a night.

After the late posting last night I managed my typical five hours sleep before waking up. I did however manage to doze a little bit afterwards so that was good as I wasn’t in the mood for rushing around after yesterday’s efforts! To be honest, when I first started to potter around this morning I wasn’t sure if I’d be walking today or checking to see if the room was available for another night. As it goes, after hobbling up the road for breakfast, which was a lot better than the day before, it felt like the pains would ease. So, I packed up, checked out and hit the road with just over seventeen miles ahead of me.

The time spent at the Horse and Jockey was a tonic to my mood yesterday. When I went back for dinner and some drinks it was great just to sit and shoot the breeze, it just eased the mood away. Well, I suppose a few pints of Thatcher’s Gold cider may have had something to do with it too? Walking back to the B & B I certainly felt the effect of the cider that’s for sure. It was a great evening though and well needed. As I never made it to my intended destination yesterday, I had a couple of miles extra to make up today. With that in mind I was up and about quite early, slightly thick headed after the cider the night before, but not feeling too bad. Fed and watered and settled up I hit the A37 and made my way to Old Down at 8:40am.

As it goes, I didn’t sleep too badly on the make-shift bed last night, certainly not any worse than any night so far on this walk. Yes, I woke up early but a lot of the aches and pains had gone by the time I started to potter around. My feet still hurt a bit but I didn’t have anything planned so a day without the boots on was looking good. Besides, I had yesterday’s blog post to sort out seeing as it didn’t get done yesterday. I struggled most of the morning battling my tiredness, trying to write up yesterday’s walk. I couldn’t believe how tired I felt. I got it written and posted eventually though which is the main thing I suppose?

I had a great night out with Stu and his brother Ryan last night. Stu had promised me a steak dinner when I made it in to Bath and as I could hobble along a bit better after a day of not walking we went a little further afield than just round the corner. After a nice bottle of cider in the flat we went and met Ryan and headed to the Volunteer Rifleman where we sat outside and enjoyed a nice pint and a chat.
Pint drunk we made our way to Hudson Steakhouse Bar and Grill, a short walk away, for a lovely meal. Tempura prawns to start followed by a wonderful 8oz fillet steak cooked perfectly. More beer and some very nice red wine helped to wash it all down. I didn’t go in for the sambuca as I’ve never been a fan but Stu and Ryan couldn’t resist.

Last night was a little bit more of a subdued affair after the night before. Yes, Stu and I went out but it was just round the corner for a very nice pizza – my shout to say thanks for being so great and letting me crash a little longer than planned – and then it was back to the flat to watch a film. We watched Ninja Assassin which as it goes was a pretty good film if you like that sort of thing if course. Great fight scenes for sure. Once that was done I sorted my stuff out ready for the morning and tried to get some sleep. I guess the walk ahead was playing on my mind as I lay there until well gone midnight, wide awake and not able to switch off.

Fortunately the torrential rain from yesterday evening had dissipated and this morning was a clear, fresh – almost cold – morning, just right for walking.
After a good breakfast I was on back on the Cotswold Way at 8:35am and attacking the first of many hills of the day, and that was just getting out of Old Sodbury! Soon after the hill up past the school in Old Sodbury I was back in the countryside and making my way to Little Sodbury and Horton, navigating yet more cows, but getting some great views.

Knowing that I had a shorter distance to cover today I clearly decided subconsciously to take an easier start to the morning. I struggled to get out of bed and even then everything seemed to take twice as long to sort out and pack. As I said, as the distance to be covered was shorter, I wasn’t too worried about it. Would I pay for this procrastination later? I guess we’ll see. Vicky laid on a cracking breakfast, one of the best fry-ups I’ve had so far, and full to the brim I grabbed my gear and settled up for the night. We chatted for a bit about why I was doing the walk and she very generously donated £5 of the night’s charge towards the charity. She was a really nice lady so if you ever find yourself in Cam, stay there. Oh hang on, it’s the only place to stay in Cam!

Painswick is definitely somewhere I’d like to visit again. The little stroll/hobble round last night didn’t really do the little place justice so I’d like to go back again some time. And the hotel, well, it was fantastic! Ok, you have to pay for it but again, it’s definitely somewhere I’d consider going for a quiet weekend away some time. Glad I decided that a little luxury was needed last night. It’s funny but sometimes when I’m absolutely exhausted I just can’t seem to get off to sleep. That happened last night. I was exhausted from the day’s walking and wiped out from getting the blog post written and updated, but do you think I could get off to sleep? Not bloody likely!

I didn’t realise when I booked the room at the Station Hotel that the bar downstairs turned into a bit of a club over the weekend and the noise from the sound system filtered up to my room without too much trouble. Knowing that I had the day off today I didn’t worry too much about not being able to get to sleep too early though so I watched some TV and then put my iPod on until I dozed off. It was early when I woke up and in my half asleep state I thought I could hear water dripping. Had I left a tap running last night? Was I hearing things? I switched on the light to investigate and after checking the bathroom I could indeed hear water dripping…in my room!