Bends Toward Justice

Arguably, more than 50% of our trip could be characterized as walking up and down hills in sheep pastures, going through a gate or over a stile, then repeating.... I posted a photo album of gates & stiles on FaceBook, but here it is in slideshow form:

We’re home now. Near the end of our trip we sat in a London Pub and tried to recall all the pubs we visited. Here’s the list we made: Day 1 in London We met at the Sherlock Holmes Pub lunched at The Albert Trafalgar Inn in Greenwich Day 2 in Stratford-upon-Avon Cox’s Yard Garrick Inn, the oldest pub in Stratford-upon-Avon  We drank Shakesbeer Still Day 2 in Chipping Camden before we started walking 8 Bells Inn for dinner Volunteer Inn beers and a Jameson's nightcap. Some patterns were formed during our walk.   We're all comfortable with casual pub food.  With few exceptions we dined in pubs, or bought lunch food in convenience stores and ate it sitting in fields along the way.  The Jameson nightcap grew to be a consistent practice also. Day 3 in Snowshill and Stanton Snowshill Arms.  Another pattern formed here.  I was trudging right past this place, when Meg and Jan wondered aloud what was the matter with me....

Near Bath, on the Kennet and Avon Canal system there are aqueducts carrying the canal over the river. Also, restored tunnels. We spoke often about renting bikes and riding the towpath. Recently we found a piece of literature that describes the ride as one of the most scenic in Britain.  The bike rental company is also a narrow boat rental company. Bikes rent for £15/day, not expensive, but if we only want them for a couple hours 🤔🤷‍♀️ Bruce is enthusiastic about a narrow boat vacation some day. Jan is doubtful. Meg’s a little nervous for her knee if we ride bikes. The knee has swollen up more this week. We decided we’d get to the Roman Baths soon after they opened to avoid the line that develops each day. Then we’d give the bike ride a try. The Baths are wonderful. The museum well set up. You get an audio device with admission. Some spots have commentary by Bill Bryson, a bonus as far as Meg & I are concerned. I tried the spa water. I’ve had worse. Like every m...

Hill Farm to Bath Hill farm is actually a mile out of Cold Ashton proper and right on the Cotswold Way. After breakfast, we said goodbye to Lucy and just walked across the driveway and down the hill. We liked Hill Farm. It was quirky, with Meg and I having single beds in The Trough, while Jan and Bruce had a trundle bed in the shepherds hut. Lucy was thoughtful, and the view was great. We talked some about the places we stayed. Meg liked this one about the best. Jan said she preferred the B & Bs to the Inns. I liked that we had some variety. Meg noted the Dog Inn was about the cleanest we stayed at. Bruce said none of them were actually dirty, just run down, which he expected. The Volunteer Inn was the most run down, and the most like a real neighborhood bar, that happened to have an Indian restaurant, and rooms, attached. Our way was briefly down then sharply up. After about an hour we were walking across the ridge and regularly passing markers to do with the batt...

We’ve been anticipating our visit to Dyrham Park for a month or more. Last night, at dinner in the Dog, we tried to figure out just how we’d get in. If we had to go through the main entrance on the A46, we’d be risking our lives. The thing that makes today’s walk different from past days’ is a bunch of road crossings, even this one death defying. Eventually we decided we’d have to call to know for sure. The first leg, to Tormarton, differed from average only in the number and vehemence of admonishing signs.  I didn't take pictures of the signs because they tend to show lambs that have been savaged by someone's pet dog.  On this day there many others telling walkers to keep off fields that looked just like the fields we were walking through. There was a great church and churchyard in Tormarton, which I’ve begun to take for granted. When I called Dyrham Park, I learned we could go in a gate in Dyrham Village, straight off the Cotswold Way. We did that. Up thro...