Day 13 Avening to Sherston

Avening to Sherston

10 Miles

This was the shortest section of the walk and also one of the easiest to navigate. There was also a choice of routes. I could keep to the orthodox Macmillan way or take the longer route through Tetbury. The only possible benefit of the longer route was that it passed through part of the Highgrove Estate and the potential long-shot opportunity of seeing Charlie talking to his plants. As His Royal Highness had not invited me for lunch I took the short route instead which overlooked part of Gatcombe Park which is his sister’s estate

The highlight of today’s walk was the section that passed around the edge and then finally straight through the middle of Westonbirt Arboretum. For

Macmillan Way

walkers there is a special entrance and permissive pathway that took me all along the

Broad Drive

through Silk Wood, the major part of the arboretum. Provided I kept to the path I did not have to pay!

The last time I was at Westonbirt was for the glorious spectacle of the autumn season when the park was ablaze with the reds and yellows of the changing leaves. Then it was packed full of people but today I passed a mere handful who had paid their entrance money.

It took me ages to get through the park. This was mostly because I kept sitting down at the many seats to absorb this wonderful parkland. The trees were not all yet in full leaf but there was still virtually every shade of green on display. Under the canopy of branches the ground was a swathe of bluebells, while alongside the more secluded pathways the tang of wild garlic floated in the air.

Secluded woodland at Westonbirt Arboretum

Eventually I set off out of Westonbirt through the open countryside to the village of Sherston. This was the largest place that I had been through since Oakham which was 130 miles ago. This was me destination for the night. A stop over at Carriers Farm, which is an “organic” farm and B&B. No fry-up on the breakfast menu so I ordered the ham and cheese and went off to find some of my more normal “healthy food”.

In Sherston I found the Raddlebone Inn. Even at 6.30 it was filling up. It was a proper village pub and there were all sorts of people in the bar and restaurant. I sat at a small table in the bar and ordered rump steak and settled with my beer. In very short time half a cow and a mountain of chips and vegetables appeared before me. It took ages to get through but I did it. Marvellous! Who puts their sound-track together? It was every sequence you could want. The Who, Stones, Springstein and Cream to name but a few. You just knew that if you stayed long enough the Kinks and Lynard Skynard would be on. Before I had finished my meal they were.