If you go down to the woods today..

Thursday 17 May – Painswick to Charlton Kings, Cheltenham

While southern England does not usually convey impressions of lots of woodlands, there are some exceptions, and today was one of them.

We spent close to two thirds of the day walking through woodland, on a mix of footpaths and lanes. For one stretch of over four kilometres there were just the trees, the lane, us, and one solitary house halfway along. Much of it was open, conveying a light, airy and spacious feel, quite unlike the dense bush we are used to in northern New Zealand. It was absolutely delightful.  At one point we were quite high up and looking down a wooded escarpment, only to see a wild Muntjac deer roaming around below us, quite oblivious to our presence.  Wild deer are cherished here rather than being the infernal pest they are in New Zealand.

At other times we were walking along escarpments, high up in the hills overlooking Gloucester and then Cheltenham, with stunning views out and over to the Brecon Beacon mountains in Wales, nearly 80 kilometres away. Best of all, yesterday’s cloud had cleared to a beautiful, sunny day. In the entire day, we passed through not a single village, an oddity indeed. Mind you, the relative peace was shattered halfway through the day when we had to cross an extremely busy A road, a real assault on the senses! It was a relief to get back to the Way, high and peaceful with just the birds calling.

We had a lunchtime stop for hot drinks and a slice at a pub with the unusual name of The Air Balloon.  And we have to get used to talking to each other again as we had said cheerio to Mary in Painswick – sadly she had to go back to work in Worthing, though she really would have liked to walk further with us.  It has to be said she chose a great section to walk.

We arrived in Charlton Kings, essentially a village suburb of Cheltenham, and spent a very enjoyable evening with our friends Mary and Stewart, who had kindly driven up from East Sussex to meet up with us.

Distance today: 23km