Day 7, Easter saturday dawned cool and sparkling and at 8am we were tucking into an excllent cooked breakfast - I had the traditional but John enjoyed scrambled eggs with smoked salmon which were delicious. The fields sparkled with dew in the morning sun and the colours of fields, flowers and the sky were vivid. We walked along winding lanes, descending into one deep coombe where the air was loud with bird song and the ground carpeted with wild flowers; alas I couldnt stop and enjoy it as we are very disciplined about when we stop. This is essential if we are to cover the miles needed to make a dent in this long journey and it is also easier to maintain a rhythm. I am finding that all the aches and pains of the previous evening have gone in the morning after good nights rest and food. As the day wears on, my feet get sore and on a long day I get tired but apart from the odd niggle, my body is coping well. Walking on paved roads is worse for the feet, but quicker than foot paths where there are styles, gates, muddy bits to dodge and always the danger of wasting time through blockages or losing our way temporarily.
The first village on our route as Black Torrington where outside the village shop we came across a group of friendly men who greeted us and chatted and, in the process, gave us £10 towards Precious Lives. They bought their newspapers and then Barry, the shop keeper, came out with coffees for them which they drank as they talked and enjoyed the sunshine.
Many of the road verges were lined with great swathes of wild flowers, mostly aconites, cellandines, daffodils but with many other species between. HOwever you don't see or hear many birds, apart from crows and sparrows, over the farm land. I did see a couple of goldfinches on a feeder in a garden and there are larks, blackbirds, tits and sometimes buzzards rise up, but I have yet to spot a thrush.
No pubs today, but we stopped and ate our trail mix with water when we found somewhere to sit. One of these places was by a little pond which had been set aside by the locals as a place for wildlife and to sit and enjoy the peace: it was very pleasant although we saw none of the frogs with which a sign said the place abounded. Leaving this pleasant spot, we were on a filthy track that trailed up past a small quarry and which got increasingly worse, with greenish brown smelly gunge coating it to about 5 inches of thickness as we approached the farm - quite disgusting and the remains stuck to our boots for the rest of the day in spite of attempts to clean it off. Farmers can be very careless!
We joined the Tarka trail in the afternoon which followed the route of an old railway line alongside a stream which is now wooded for its length, which gave us a pleasant easy descent to the River Torridge. There followed a steep climb into Great Torrington, our destination, and a pint of beer followed by a warm welcome at our B&B. I had carefully booked accommodation for the Easter weekend, but it seems to have been unnecessary as there are many places with vacancies. 19 miles again today.
No comments:
Post a Comment