A First World War Remembrance Walk
This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.
| Date | Option | Post | # | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, | Kingham to Moreton-in-Marsh via Adelstrop | 3 | dry and overcast day | |
| Sun, | Kingham to Moreton-in Marsh | 4 | ||
| Sun, | Sunday Walk – Remembering the First World War | 4 | overcast blustery shower | |
| Wed, | Midweek day walk - Kingham to Moreton-in-Marsh via Adlestrop | 10 | fine warm and sunny weather | |
| Wed, | Kingham to Moreton-in-Marsh | |||
| Sat, | Kingham to Moreton-in-Marsh | 20 |
Intend going.
3 of us on this enjoyable walk, muddy terrain in parts as to be expected for the time of year on what was a dry and overcast day ; stopped for a leisurely lunch at The Horse and Groom, Upper Oddington.
Just 4 of us on this long trip to the Cotswolds. We did not enjoy the languid summer weather immortalised in Edward Thomas's Adelstrop poem but rather w= cloudy-with-a-few-showers-and-quite-humid conditions.
Nevertheless the countryside looked splendidly verdant as we set off through grassy water meadows (completely dry) covered in buttercups, daisies, meadowsweet and other flowers. A fawn was spotted. We stopped to admire the lovely church of St Nicholas and amazingly it was open and we were able to admire the medieval wall paintings of the Doom although after the 1970s restoration they were fairly faint. We stopped briefly for refreshments at the Fox noting a number of swifts swooping over the village before we set off for Adelstrop and the gorgeous grounds of Adelstrop House. we stopped at the St Mary and Magdelene Church for lunch and this church too was open and we could admire its splendid interior where Jane Austen worshipped when she visited relatives at Chastleton.
We ambled through the deserted village noting the open village shop and soon reached the Adelstrop railway station sign by some covered seating. Here one of our number gave a splendid rendition of the famous poem entirely from memory.
We reached Chastleton House and its adjacent church where we enjoyed further refreshments provided by volunteers. One of the walkers, a National Trust member. decided to visit the Jacobean Grade 1 listed country house whilst the rest of us ambled through the misty countryside resting briefly at Evenlode before the final stretch to Moreton in Marsh. Here two of us enjoyed a drink at the Bell before catching the 18.16 train.
A wonderfully evocative day out in the quintessentially English countryside far, far away from the grubby political mediocrites now contending for souls.
Yes, i remember Adelstrop
Table for 5 booked at The Fox for 12.45 (The only slot I could get). Please do not increase the numbers on this booking as you will simply be given a different ie much later time. One place for me, and so 4 more please.... on a first come first served basis.
The Lunch Monitor
Apart from the poem, Adelstrop also reminds me of Shropshire lad - I see it as a similar yearning for bygone days
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.
I am welling up
Unfortunately we missed the memorial service for Edward Thomas which was held at St Mary Magdalene Church in Adelstrop on 9 April the date of his death. But do try to visit this lovely church if you can. I will unfortunately not be coming as that day I'll probably be ambling around the Duomo in Milan, a fairly impressive cathedral I believe.
Enjoy your day and hope the weather stays fair.
Now that the rainy weather is scheduled to arrive on Thursday I hope to do this walk. On 22.8.15 Anon! wrote some very useful comments and highlighted an alternative and slightly longer route from Adelstrop into Chastleton along the top of Adelstrop Hill. If you print off the walk's OS map you can see the public rights of way (s)he/they took. It looks a lovely ridge path offering superb views and I hope to walk this and have tea at the church. If it works I will incorporate walk details and add the route to the gpx file. All welcome to join me.
Two tables of 4 booked for lunch. If you did not RSVP on walk post or to Lunch Monitor, there is no guarantee that the pub will accommodate. There are only two places available for those who did not RSVP for the lunch just in case you want to pack a snack it's a long hot walk to the tombstone tea.
10 alighted from the train at Kingham station 20 minutes late, but given FGWs general uselessness this probably counts as a result.
We set off in fine warm and sunny weather along rock-hard bumpy trails near the river Evenlode, the terrain underlining just how difficult this stretch of the walk would be in wet and muddy conditions. Three of us had a picnic lunch in the blissful calm of St Nicholas Church in Lower Oddington which sadly was closed due to recent vandal/criminal activity! The epicures ate in the Fox which is pricey but very high quality. (The plaice looked so delicious that even as a veggie I was tempted! But you won't get much change from £20 for a main course.)
After lunch we ambled on to Adelstrop where we then explored a new and wonderfully scenic "higher" route to Chastletown for tea and delicious home-made cakes at the "volunteer-run cafe at St Marys Church. After this break we set off for Evenlode enjoying the eerie countryside quiet of a sun-drenched August afternoon. Five of us rested on the village green whilst two pressed on to catch a 6pm train.
At M in M we had a drink and rest before catching the 19.26 train. A superb day out and many thanks to tartan rug for booking the tables at the Fox and for the return home "provisions" on the journey home.
PS. I will be up-dating and amending the walk directions and gpx file to include the new Adelstrop to Chastleton route