After my marathon day yesterday of 4 hours boating, 8 miles cycling, don't know how manymiles in the car (okay I admit I got a bit lost in the car!) I thought I would stay put and get some work done.
This I duly did along with some cleaning (I do a lot of displacement activity when I am working!) (Which is sometimes a good thing as I get a lot done)
I then thought rather than vegging in front of the tv and wasting all that good effort in the last few days cycling, carrying water for miles etc etc I would go for a lovely walk in the woods on the other side of the canal. The map showed a truly splendid bridleway going through it (as well as a footpath).
So at 6pm I shut up the boat and walked back along the towpath to the bridge, a smidgen of road work then a farm track followed by this bridleway across the field and into the woods. All going well so far. I found the bridleway marker but no obvious way across the field. This has always annoyed me when farmers plough across paths. I double checked the map, worked out roughly where in the woods looked like the entrance and straight across the crop I went. At the brow of the hill I could see a slight indentation in the crop showing that I was heading in the right direction and that at least one other person had been that way.
Rickety bridge across stream that I wouldn't have liked to get my horse across especially with a gate on the otherside (no fence just a gate).
Nevermind didn't look like anyone actually brought their horses in the woods anyway. I reached the turnoff in the middle of the woods and took it, now to be fair I may have turned too early but it looked like a nice wide path albeit totally overgrown with brambles and fallen branches.
Tramp scramble ouch later and the path completely disappeared.
I kept going following animal tracks.
I really don't think any horses or humans have been in there for a very long time...
I found lots of these.
I caught a glimpse of what I thought was a rooftop in the distance and scrabbled my way towards it, excuses at the ready and it turned out to be this ...
I was very pleased indeed to see it. I climbed up the wall at the side hoping that there would be a passing boater that would point their bows onto the weir and then deposit me safely onto the otherside of the canal. There wasn't so I had to come back down again with only nettles to hold on to. Ooh er missus.
This is what I had to delve back into. Luckily I had my explorers hat on however I didn't have my machete which I very much regretted. Still I had remembered to bring a bottle of water so it wasn't all bad.
Keeping the canal on my right I finally popped out into the field and spotted the good ship in the distance. So near and yet so far. If you look carefully you can see the bridge I needed to cross.
Having reached the bridge and looking back across the field I can see that perhaps I would have been better off doing the route this way round!
Must remember I no longer have a horse and that I can use footpaths.
Still I have had an adventure and you can't beat that sort of walk.
I would like to advise others coming through Audlem not to buy from the little shed as according to Alison at Adderley Wharf Farm Shop (see Windsong blog) they are the bane of her life. Apparently the conditions the food is prepared in leaves a little to be desired and he gets his eggs (large and double yolkers) from some market on a Wednesday. They are from battery hens that can't be supplied to supermarkets. Alison has had environment health type people round to check on her so food from there should be perfectly safe. So hang on until the Adderley Flight. You can phone your order ahead and it will be ready for you when you arrive at the top lock. Alison 07947 389098 and Simon 07710 312747.
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