Something new to post about which I don't think I've blogged about before. The English looooove to go on "walks." And not just walking around your neighborhood after dinner.
But get in your car and drive somewhere, park, and go for a walk. We would probably call it nature walking. Or even hiking, sometimes.
Even yesterday, we spent a wonderful day with some English friends at a manor house which has opened its property to the public (for a fee) with a play place for children. We spent the morning playing with the children on the wooden pirate ship, the "Death Slide" and the obstacle course. After a picnic lunch, our English friends naturally guided us through a walk around the grounds and lake at the manor house. We spent at least an hour walking.
There are tons of books you can buy with "walk" maps. We have several of these. One that we have is a book of walks especially for children which has lots of walks no longer than about three miles.
We recently inherited another book of walks. We have done several of these walks because - well, we are here to experience England, and we like to be outside! It's a great family activity, and our kids have really learned to suck it up and just hike. Even Aidan now will walk for about an hour and a half before insisting his legs are tired and he needs to get on Daddy's shoulders.
This past weekend we decided to do one of our walks. Patrick found a map of one relatively nearby (about 1/2 an hour drive away) that was only a little over 2 hours long. Which was perfect for our little family.
Boy was everyone ready and pumped for this hike! We were going to go through some good farmland with amazing views of the Cotswolds as well as a big fruit farm where we promised tea as a treat afterward.
We started off well enough, following the map and the map directions.
Now, if you are a regular blog reader of mine, then you have read the instructions from the coffee grinder. Map directions read much the same way. Let me share some quotes from the map directions we were following:
"The main route ascends the pasture from the lane. Cross to a gate at the end of a fence, then via a stile head up into Cromwell's Clump, the monument at the north-west corner of Beckbury hillfort."
And how about this one:
"Follow the waymarked track along a strip lynchet shelf (terraced hillside), past a Dutch barn to a double gate. The route proceeds by gates through a short section of woodland, following the contours to Little Farmcote Farm. Through the iron gate keep right, round the new barn, before walking up through the farmyard and right on to the concrete road."
Really? REALLY?
Seriously, try following the contours to Little Farmcote Farm.
The first go, we made it about 1/3 of the way through before we realized that we had lost our way. We used our best instincts and found our way back to a point about 1/2 an hour into our starting point. This was the first hour and half. I, being the stubborn hiker that I am, refused to just go back down the way we came up. We had to continue on and try again!
So off we went, and did quite well again, but again, alas, we ended up in Cotswold countryside chasing sheep and jumping barbed wire fences.
Fortunately, in this country, it is commonplace for walkers to traipse through farmland. Using proper etiquette, of course. It is expected that you will have to climb fences, gates, and stiles. There are a few arrows which point the way, but there is no guarantee that the arrows point to the particular hike that you are taking.
There are no "hiking trails" as you would find in the States. Many of the trails lead through farm lands where you end up dodging sheep poop, cow poop, and who knows what all kind of poop. All this poo was of particular interest to our inquisitive 4-year old.
We did see sheep poop, cow poop, rabbit poop, and horse poop. We also saw a deer! We walked with the sheep, gazed at the cows, and once again, ended up at the same spot as we did after our first failed attempt. Aaahhh. We tried.
We ended up hiking for over four hours. Very satisfying, I must say. We did end up at the fruit farm for tea, and we brought home fresh fruit and Cornish ice cream, to boot.
