Our walking route today started in Moreton across to Longborough over to Bourton on the Hill and then back to Moreton via the arboretum garden centre.
The weather forecast was cloudy, a bit of sunshine and the possibility of a shower.
Starting off from the centre of Moreton most of us had to to avail ourselves of the ablutions and because it was 20p a pee we shared by holding a door after one had finished another jumped in.
While all this was going on the rest of us admired the centre of
Moreton in the Marsh.
For info: Moreton-in-Marsh is one of the principal market towns in the northern Cotswolds situated on the Fosse Way and now served by the main line railway from London Paddington. It grew up in the thirteenth century as a market town with a wide main street, narrow burgage plots and back lanes. There still is a busy Tuesday market with about 200
stalls attracting many visitors.
Then we all set off to Longborough, home of the Longborough Festival Opera.
Passing The Redesdale Arms.
Nice to know the emergency services are close.
Out into open country.
No worries, we were all enjoying the walk.
Chewing the cud.
Just resting a while.
Lots of interesting paths and bridges on the walk.
Up into Longborough and the rain started, just a drizzle.
Lunch time at the Coach and Horses Inn.
After lunch we said goodbye to the Great Dane standing at the gate.
A notice in the pub - perhaps we should learn to dance.
Last but not least.
From Longborough we set off along the Heart of England Way towards Sezincote Estate.
For info: Sezincote is unique. At the heart of a traditional, family-run estate covering 4,500 acres of rolling Cotswold countryside stands a 200-year-old Mogul Indian palace, set in a romantic landscape of temples, grottoes, waterfalls and canals reminiscent of the Taj Mahal.
Through the allotments.
Views over the Cotswolds were stunning from our vantage point.
Poppies in the corn fields.
Unusual white blobs in the adjacent field turned out to be mushrooms.
Still on Heart of England Way
The clouds started to turn a menacing grey.
We could see Sezincote House from the pathway.
The sun kept trying to creep through.
But the clouds caught us up so on with our showerproofs, then it started raining - big time.
Sheltering under trees for a while until the rain started to ease a little.
Not looking good.
Our next stop in torrential rain was the bus shelter at Burton on the Hill.
The stream on the road started to develop into a river. We were absolutely drenched, quite literally soaked to the skin - fortunately, we all saw the funny side and couldn't stop laughing.
Eventually we reached Batsford Arboretum and Garden Centre.
We headed for the covered area outside. By this time the sun was shining and with our coats and leggings draped over some spare tables we able to get a little dryer.
Refreshed, we continued towards Moreton in Marsh.
Again it started to rain but as we only had about 1 mile to go we continued on regardless. At least when we got to Moreton some of us would be able to change into dryer clothes.
Paths as hard as concrete were turned into mud clogging walks.
The sun came out as we arrived back in Moreton.
After a quick look around Moreton in Marsh we went back to the Coach and Horses in Longborough for our evening meal.
Although the walk was 'a little damp here and there' we all enjoyed it.
Looking forward to the next away day in Derbyshire 22nd September 2017.
Willie, Sheila and Naire are back from Canada and brought a few photos showing some of the highlights of their trip.
Lake Louise
Johnsons Canyon
Athabasca Glacier
Okanagan Valley Winery
Lake Okanagan
Above Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver Beach.
Looks like they all had a great time.
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