Length: 17.2km (10.7 miles) / 32.5 km (20.2 miles) 29.4 km (18.3 miles)
Toughness: 2 out of 10
Catch the 9:40 9:46 from London Marylebone arrives Banbury 10:36 11:01.
This is a map based walk, so there are only basic directions included, with more detail in certain sections (Deddington option) where it is not so obvious.
Standard walk: The recommended pub The Black Boy Inn, Milton is
currently closed
Lunch at one of the pubs in Bloxham.
Longer walk option via Deddington: Lunch at one of the Deddington pubs, 12km into the walk.
Fast return trains: xx:05 xx:41, then final slow trains at 21:46 and 22:16
3 comments:
That train seems to have disappeared....
Thanks for pointing that out Pete. (On the off chance any further timetable changes catch the first train on or after 09:40.)
There was a perfect 6 of us at Banbury station, so we didn’t have to shout at people to split into groups or anything. Five opted to do the longer walk and the sixth (me) acquiesced. I had not done this walk before and am a noted sceptic of the virtues of rushing off into the flatlands to the north of the Chilterns to do walks, but this was a very pleasant outing, with lovely rolling hills, an endless procession of eye-wateringly pretty villages (but are they happy?), and fine views. A fair quotient of arable fields that would be a muddy hell in winter, but who even thinks of the possibility of winter on such a w=gloriously-sunny day?
We lunched in the delightful garden of a pub in Doddington, after some had inspected a supposedly fascinating castle ruin that bore an uncanny resemblance to a football pitch. The pub seemed to have one member of staff, a cheerful youth who was manning both the bar and the kitchen. The menu was thus limited to fish, chips and burgers, but they were fairly upmarket ones - good enough for a certain local MP to feed to the Chinese president, if he had a mind to.
Somewhat awkwardly a seventh walker joined us at lunch, sparking a major social-distancing crisis. Luckily one walker elected to set off ahead, muttering something about going outside, and maybe being some time. But still, there is no getting round the fact that technically, for a brief period, there were n=7 of us. Don’t tell the rozzers.
During the long afternoon I got somewhat held up by the spectacle of some 40 green-veined white butterflies feeding on thistle on a field edge. I took a short cut down a main road to overtake the others. We had a drink in Bloxham and then yomped in the gathering gloom (nights are drawing in!) towards Banbury, speculating about what trains we were about to miss.
Then somewhere near Banbury, Lord, I let them slip away, looking for the pub I hope they found, while one of the party gave me a lift home.
A great day out. Will it be the last for a while? We await our fate.
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