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| A Tale of Two Lambs |
For photos of the day, please look to the links on the right -->
He said:
We had a 9 mile walk today from East Meon to our stay in Petersfield, whereas, if we had been driving, it would have been less than 5 miles; that's progress. No wonder the waitress at the Ye Old George Inn breakfast was skeptical when we said we had 9 miles of walking today. East Meon was quiet and peaceful in the bright sunshine as we started our walk of 1.25 miles back to the South Downs Way, even the primary school was quiet with all the students inside learning something I hope. Once back on the official South Downs Way path, we had a gentle but steady climb up to the 'masts' or communication towers on the ridge. The shade gave way to full sun as we approached the masts, and then passed them heading down to a lonely farmhouse.
On the walk, we thought of some silly lyrics about Meon, which is named for the group of Danes that invaded the area centuries ago.
"We are the Meons, but you're the Peons, and that's why we always get our way.
And for Eons, we're still the Meons, so let's just get on and have our day."
The weather was perfect for walking with a sun and cloudy mix and a temperature that was still a bit on the cool side. We passed by an old Navy area called HMS Mercury, which closed in 1941. This area right at the top of the ridge has now become an area filled with upscale homes and green ways. We passed by the highest point on the SDW at 270 meters, Butser Hill, and then descended to the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, which has a large area of forest of the varied kind that used to cover Britain. We saw other walkers that looked much older than we are, but are probably typically walked twice our average daily distance. British walkers seem to like to walk at least 15 miles a day, probably feeling that a mere 9 miles is not really worth it.
We walked out of the Queen Elizabeth County Park, and away from the trail down to the village of Buriton, from which we had arranged to be picked up. We wandered around, passing by the pub and finding the small village green with duck pond next to the church. After chatting with a couple of the locals, we ambled around the small lanes then deciding to call for our ride, an hour ahead of schedule. After finding no cell phone reception, I walked further out of town away from the hills that border it, and finally got a signal to call the taxi. Petersfield was a few more miles away from the South Downs Way, and we had no good map to get there off the busy roads. Again the cell phone worked, and we were happy.
We were whisked away to our Inn in Petersfield, the Old Drum. After the usual laundry chores, it was off to the grocery, which is this larger town offered good choices for salad and other dinner/dessert items. We also found the nearby Physic Gardens that included a herb garden located in a large walled area, see the photos... like this one
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| Petersfield Physic Garden |
She said:
East Meon (Ye Olde George Inn) to Buriton (taxi to Petersfield and The Old Drum Inn)
9 miles
R and I shared a very good lamb shank for dinner last night down in the pub. Also, good French Chardonnay.
We had lively conversation (and jokes about the French, but not their wine) with a couple of walker guys who have been friends forever and meet up every year to do a long distance walk.
Today - oh, a perfect start! Comfortable temp, blue sky.
Then, up, up, up to the top of the chalk escarpment. (The villages where we stay each night are down in the valleys. That's where people originally settled as that's where farming could be done. Consequently, each day we have significant ups and downs.)
As the temps rose, the cloud cover came in and that was great. We walked across a long expanse of open path today and with hot sun it would have been unbearable.
Today we climbed to Burton Hill, the highest point on the South Downs Way. Long 360 degree views. There is also a huge communications tower at the top with every kind of signal/communications device imaginable sticking off it on every available space.
Butser Hill is part of the large Queen Elizabeth Park. We ate our 1st Lunch at the Visitor's Center there.
Today's walk was very easy going - well maintained paths, good shade, rolling hills. (It could also be that we are hitting our stride and 9 miles is really not so hard to do). The path was completely rural all day - no villages at all until Buriton, where we called for our taxi.
Walking down into Buriton, we passed the Buriton Chalk Pits where chalk was excavated until WWII. During the war, the Admiralty brought unexplored bombs to the site to detonate and/or dismantle so they could learn vital info about the new types of explosives the enemy was using.
We finally see the wild garlic that is always a part of the countryside in May. A welcome, heavenly smell.
We poked around in Buriton waiting for the taxi - a church and a pond and a tiny school with cute little English kids in their uniform red "jumpers" running around in their play yard, shrieking and having a ball. Some lovely gardens and some thatched cottages. So quintessentially British.
Our taxi deposited us at The Old Drum and we settled into out post walk ritual - showers, laundry and blog. An early day with plenty of time left to explore Petersfield.
Three big grocery stores to choose from! We went to Waitrose for dinner supplies and enjoyed a salad and 2nd Lunch in our room.
Down in the pub for a clear wifi connection and blog/pics update.
All is right with the world.
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