I again followed the Thames River Path - although this time from the south. Saturday I took a bus from Oxford to Shillingford. I jumped off the bus and immediately started walking in the direction we had just come from and quickly found the entrance to the path. Well, I had to jump a fence and cut across a field, but the Thames Path is essentially a worn path on fields next to the river so it was an appropriate way to start the trip.
There were a few differences from the first walk marathon. One, it was colder so I packed a variety of layering clothes including a very good rain jacket as it had been threatening to rain for the past 3 days. Sandwich, water, phone, £15, although no safety whistle.
As I always do, I wore shorts which proved to be a bit trickier as several times the path was covered by the famous English stinging nettles. These feel like a small bite but then the burning starts... and often lasts for 4 hours. But, in one moment of luck many days before, someone had mentioned that next to and often in these nettles another plant grew that could be rubbed on the affected part and the stinging would stop immediately. I am pleased to report that this is in fact the case! I of course looked a little silly running through these patches screaming only to stop and seemingly rub the same plant on my legs as I got through.
Also unlike the Banbury walk, there were several (albeit unused) pillboxes from WWII. Pillboxes are a low-roofed concrete emplacement for one or a few machine guns or even an antitank gun. The windows are shaped so that the person inside has a wide range of motion while only exposing a sliver of themselves to attackers' guns. I must admit, when you aren't expecting them, they can make you jump when you come around a corner to find one at the other side of the field.I also had the good fortune to find a field mouse. Now, these aren't the longish ones seen around the house, but are round, like little puffs of brown cotton. This one was not inclined to leave the path so I squatted down and watched him for a bit. Soon after it realized that the path might not be the best spot for longevity and moved on.
I was also confronted with an unwelcoming bull. There had been a sign several fields back, "Beware of bull and cows with calves" (I was impressed that the plural of calf was spelled correctly). I tried to figure who would put a bull on a public path but about 4 fields later, there he was. Unfortunately, I had gotten about half way across the field when we discovered each other. The bull quickly lined up on me, head (and horns) first. I started backing up toward the fence - about 50 yards away. When I managed to get what I considered a head start, I turned and ran. The bull didn't make a concerted effort but was moving in my direction. To avoid another confrontation, I walked the long fence into the woods and followed the next fence headed toward the river at a perpendicular angle from the first one. Near the end of this fence, the bull noticed me again but I'm sure felt outwitted and let me go.
Update I:
Little did I know but I did discover that this stretch of the Thames was also the setting for Jerome K. Jerome's famous Three Men in a Boat (book version, movie version - with Michael Palin and Tim Curry, no less).
No comments:
Post a Comment