Our bid to stride out around the countryside in 2012 continues…
A few weeks ago we were pressed for time, so took a slightly lazy approach to a wonderful viewpoint on the Cotswold Escarpment. Uley Bury is an iron-age hill fort that offers terrific views in virtually every direction.
It lies immediately above the village of Uley, which is beautifully nestled in a gorgeous valley, and also home to a fine local brewery. I Reckon the best and most satisfying walk starts in the village, climbs steeply up to the plateau before returning down through the woods for a well-earned pint. But we were stretched for time, so instead parked close to the top and walked around…
It was a stunningly clear winter’s day with great visibility down to the plain of the River Severn and beyond. Even the slightest breeze up there has a keen edge at this time of year, but wrapped up warm it was wonderful to breathe the fresh air and appreciate the undulating landscape all around.
Another recent outing was from our front doorstep. We had been invited to lunch with friends who live in Avening, a village just a few miles from Tetbury, so had planned ahead. We dropped off a car at their house in advance, intending to walk across the fields to them, then drive home afterwards. The day itself was foggy and proper winter cold, but with no wind. Together with a friend and her three girls we set out, the children often running ahead, narrating their own stories and adventure scenarios as we went. Despite a brief navigational issue when we realised that dense fog and a fairly featureless landscape made navigating quite tricky, Google Maps on my phone proved we actually were where we thought we were, and we made it safe and sound. It was less picturesque than Uley Bury as visibility was no more than 100 yards across ploughed fields with only occasional hedgerows to break up the murk, but the shared experience was still fun.
I made this using mapmyrun.com
By the end the kids were getting tired and a bit cold, not to say hungry, but after 3.5 miles they deserved the excellent lunch.
Last weekend wasn’t a winter walk, but instead a fantastic hour or so of late-afternoon sledging at Batchwood Golf Course in St Albans. The snow was firmly packed and pretty icy, perfect for sledges, there were enough families there to make it fun but not dangerously crowded. The fairway slope was just long and steep enough for our kids to have a great time going down either with us or by themselves, and the grown-ups had a ball too. Given the weather forecasts, that may be our only sledging day this winter…
