Saturday 17 August 6 miles
Jane, Donna and Hilary,
We started from the Fox and Barrel and from the car park we turned right and then right again following a track. By a house we turned right onto a footpath, following the path downhill though the weeds we crossed a stream to return to the A49.
At the crossroads we turned left into Oulton Mill Lane and followed the road for half a mile to a grassy triangle, where we kept right to pass a picnic area, the others didn't know that this picnic area existed. At the next crossroads we turned right on to Beech Lane and followed it for about a quarter of a mile, crossed a stile on the left. It was not clear which way to go so we climbed over the obvious stile but we soon realised that was the wrong way.
We followed the path across the fields towards a farm.We passed between the farm buildings and by Moss Hall Farm into a winding lane. At the T-junction we turned left and then immediately right over a stile.
The
path then went across the field, crossing a stile in
the far left-hand corner and dropped down a bank. A stile lead out to Hickhurst Lane.Turning
right we followed the road into Eaton, passing the semis on the left and the sign for The Drays coffee shop on our right. In the field was a flock of sheep, as we passed we realised there was a ram attempting to mate with the ewes, but not having great success.
After the school entrance, we turned left into Winterford Lane, turned right and followed Edgewell Lane, firstly through the housing estate and then came to some half-timbered buildings.
Here we met a farmer and his son doing some tidying in the garden. We stopped for a chat, the older gentleman was quite happy to offer us a bed for the night as he had plenty of bedrooms! He had a glint in his eye when he said that!
Turning right at the end of the road, we passed the church, reaching the village cross and turning right then immediately left into Lightfoot Lane. The lane becomes a hollow way shaded by the trees and hedges and passes through a small disused stone quarry.
We came to the golf course and as we crossed the pathway we noticed some people on a bench and wondered if we could sit there. We asked if we could have our lunch there, the people said it was for members only but one of them was a member and gave us permission to sit on the bench and have our lunch.We were able to admire the view. then we continued across the golf course turning right along the byway and followed
the hedge along the side of the course down to the A49. Turning
right we went along the narrow pavement then, crossed to a
footpath sign by a stile on the left-hand side. We went down wooden steps to a second stile and walk down the side of the field beyond. There were loads of blackberries in the hedge here so we gathered some of the better ones for Donna to take home.
The instructions said, 'After a stile in the corner, continue to a footbridge on the left' but we struggled to find the footbridge. We walked up and down the field for quite some time but there was no way to get across the stream or the pond. Eventually we went back far enough and found the bridge hidden by the trees and brambles.
A short stretch alongside the stream lead to a stile into a field on the other side. Here there were a lot of horses in the field. We did not want to go through the field really. We managed to get across the field to the fence on the other side but the horses saw us and came over, and blocked our way. We had to push along the fence line to get to the stile beneath a tree. It was not very comfortable being up close and personal with the large animals.
There were cows in the next field but fortunately they didn't pay much attention as we followed the path alongside a narrow millpond. Towards the end of the water we turned right to emerge on a narrow lane. We weren't quite sure which way to go, but dwe did eventually turn left and walked up the road to a T-junction. Turning right we walked along Utkinton Lane for about quarter of a mile.
We carried on along the lane past Hollins Hill on the left and Briar Lane on the right and at Stable Lane we crossed straight over and walked past the church down to the A49. We crossed the main road and turned left along the pavement to return to the Fox & Barrel.
