South Downs Waywards

Saturday 26th November 2022 began with a teeny-tiny mishap. An innocent little error that anyone could have made. Who was to know that there was more than one 'Cadence Cafe' nestling along the South Downs Way? Not us. A wrong postcode was given. Some intrigued conversations about the strange route took place. Sat nav duly pronounced our arrival. We sat for a moment, bemused, not recognising our surroundings from where we left off a month ago. 'Upwaltham' instead of 'Cocking'. It's an easy mistake. There were furious observations from Chauffeur Gooda, who 'didn't have time for this' and needed to 'get to work, not gad about country lanes.' There may have been some swearing. There were certainly dark mutterings about taxis. We felt it best not to say very much.  Instead, we did what we should have done from the start, and resorted to the tried and tested method of navigating by the stars pubs. We discovered that we were about fifteen minut...

 And we're back! The Waywards Return After multiple aborted attempts we finally made our return to Exton to continue our walk last Sunday, the 25th April; nearly five months after the first leg. (The less said about our last minute realisation at the beginning of April - that even though we could walk together under the two households rule, we couldn't actually travel in a car together - the better. Who needs to know that we were unceremoniously dumped at the side of the road a mile from home?)   Pounding the chalk paths once more   This time it was all smiles. There was the Shoe Inn, and the stream and all the lovely cottages of Exton that we remembered, and now bathed in warm spring sunshine. It was all worth the wait: we had picked the perfect day to carry on pounding the chalk paths of the South Downs Way. Who cares that we weren't entirely sure which way out of Exton we should head?  View of Old Winchester Hill And this walk really was spectacular. I had no idea...

And we're off! It turns out that if you make a spreadsheet and put some dates in the calendar, things actually happen. To be precise, walking has happened: the South Downs Waywards are on their way.    Last weekend was a washout so our original plans for tackling Stage 1 of the route had to be postponed. A rare 'upside' to Lockdown means that calendars are fairly empty right now; thus it was easy to rearrange for this weekend.  Husbands were bribed for drop off and pick up, and we put our best feet forward for a 7 am start along Winchester's River Itchen.  Rookie error: may have set off too early It was not quite light as we set off; In her determination to guard against  any possibility of wandering the Downs in the dark, Hearth-mother may have over-estimated how long it would take to walk 12 miles (actually 13 by our count). Wooded weald The A272, the A31 and the A3 all cross cut the chalk ridge trail and the gentle hum they generate is barely perceptible...