Ridgeway 2013 day 1

Tuesday 13^th August 2013 Ivinghoe Beacon to Wendover

It was with a niggling sense of trepidation that I started the Ridgeway walk.  I had stayed in a B&B overnight near Ivinghoe Beacon, one of the two most expensive during this holiday.  Admittedly the bedroom was huge, and the bathroom sported a clawfoot tub (that I took advantage of this morning before breakfast, just because I could).  I was unsure how “healed” my ankle would be, and whether it would not only hold up to, not only, a full day’s walking, but 6 days in a row.

The B&B owner was kind enough to drive me up to the start (well, for most people, end) of the trail, and left me to my own devices.  I guess a bit of an explanation is in order, as the route guides and websites for the Ridgeway all suggest starting in Avebury and ending at Ivinghoe Beacon, however I wanted my walk to a) get more interesting as I went, and b) to have a “big” finish, and Ivinghoe Beacon is a far stretch from a big finish.  In fact, I can not comprehend why you would start a walk in a popular place with many things to see, and end on a low hill in the middle of nowhere.

My diary for this day gives little in the way of explanation, mentioning “hills and ridges, flat areas, high sheep meadows, woods interspersed with roads, and farmland”, but I’d also written a rather comprehensive list of where the photos were taken (something I got very lazy at quite quickly over the years and holidays and, in hindsight, realise I should do more often), so I guess photos are going to have to tell more of the story.

Incombe Hole

I saw this sign only AFTER I had walked through the section it was warning me about.

A nearby chalk pit

Tring Park

Lunch spot in Bull's Wood

I wish this were MY driveway!

St. Mary's church graveyard

Hampdon Pond

Arriving at Wendover

I ended the day in Wendover and had to collect my bigger pack from the local pub as the B&B owner and my baggage transfer company do not see eye to eye.  There was no one home at the B&B, so I sat outside in the rain recording what photos I had taken that day.  Oddly, dinner that night was a cold steak and kidney pie I bought in the local shop and ate on the side of the road.

I was glad my ankle had held out, even though it was aching a little when I retired for the night.  I guess I was on the mend!

Day 2