Ascent/Descent:
250m
Net
Walking Time: ca. 4 hours, Toughness: 4 out of 10
Take
the 09.40 Birmingham Snow Hill train from Marylebone (change
Banbury 10.36/10.44, direction Marylebone), arrives Kings Sutton
10.50.
Return
trains:
15.57 (via Banbury), 16.50, 17.57 (via Banbury), 18.50
and 20.20 (from 76 minutes).
This
circular walk through the mildly undulating Northamptonshire countryside passes
through four small Cotswoldy villages each with a good pub serving real ale,
and passes plenty of interesting buildings.
Walk
Option:
you can extend the walk by starting or finishing at Banbury (better train
service), this adds 6 km.
Lunch:
Cartwright Hotel &
Restaurant
(4.2
km) in Aynho, The Fox (6.7 km, food
to 14.30) in Souldern, The Blackbird Inn
(10.9 km) in Croughton or The Rose & Crown (14.2 km, food to
15.30) in Charlton.
2 comments:
SWC, what's going on? 27 on the urban walk today, 12 on this, the country walk (the joint highest attendance in its history), so 39 in total. On a Sunday! Without sunny weather! New Year's resolutions kicking in? Keep it going...
We lost 1 of the 12 within minutes as one of her boots disintegrated in the first serious mud, and with more mud and some standing water to come, retreat to the station was the sensible option (not one of us had duct tape on them, quite an amateur error really!). The usual noise from the nearby motorway stayed with us a bit longer than hoped for, all the way to Souldern really (leafless trees the culprits? wind direction?) and the starting stretch to Aynho also had plenty of mud, some of the sticky variety, but none too deep thankfully.
We considered lunching in Souldern, but preferred a pub further along beyond halfway, so after a phone call ensuring space was available, we marched on to Croughton and The Blackbird Inn. Our table for 8 was set, the (all female) staff were amazingly friendly, the food quick and tasty, all in: a basic pub, but a very good place.
The picnickers (and the lagging SWC Photographer) had joined us, and we moved on together, reaching KS in good time for the 15.57 train.
4 though chose to sit out that train at The White Horse for a convivial bottle of bubbly by the fireplace, later joined by the lagging SWC Photographer. 16.50 train for us 5.
The sun never broke through, so n=12 w=overcast-but-dry
...which, incidentally, makes it exactly 100 walkers across the 5 weekend walks. a record?
Post a Comment