CYHA News

Ridgeway Ramblings

Having had a chilly weekend last month in Hampshire, we were hoping for better things in Oxfordshire.

At first it looked like our wishes might be granted as Saturday dawned bright and sunny. Not that it wasn’t still a bit chilly, but with an extra jumper for warmth suncream was the next consideration.

We decided to make the most of the clear views and walk 12 miles along the Ridgeway itself, driving to Ashbury and walking westwards back to the hostel at the Court Hill Centre (formerly YHA Ridgeway).

The full length of the Ridgeway is 87 miles, from Overton Hill in Wiltshire to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire and this ancient trackway forms one of the oldest roads in the country. With this pedigree it’s not surprising that the route is peppered with prehistoric sites. The first of these, on our section, was the Stone Age long barrow of Waylands Smithy – a burial chamber built over 5000 years ago. It is probably a thousand years older than the oldest parts of Stonehenge. The front of this chamber is flanked by massive 3m sarsen stones, originally dragged from the Marlborough Hills. The name dates from Saxon times. Wayland was a mythical Saxon smith god and local legend has it that his magic forge is contained in the barrow. It is said that if you leave your horse here overnight with suitable payment by the tomb then the animal will have been reshod on your return the next day. Or stolen – one or the other.

A few miles further on and we came to the Iron Age hillfort of Uffington Castle. This was the first of three hillforts on our 12 mile route, but despite impressive earth banks still evident, it is rather overshadowed by its more famous neighbour – the Uffington White Horse.

This is the oldest and most famous of the hill figures carved into the chalk of The Ridgeway, although the exact age is unknown. It could have been cut any time between the Bronze Age to Saxon times, but the current best guess is that it dates from around 1000 BC. The stylised horse figure is hard to view from the hill itself and is best viewed from the air. The theory is that those who cut it wanted it to be seen by the Gods as well as by men, and obviously by CYHA too.

The next point of interest was a little way off the path at the village of Kingston Lisle, where the Blowingstone is located. It is reputed that King Alfred used this to rally his men for battle against the Danes. This sarsen stone is studded with holes. Apparently it is relatively easy to raise a loud noise by blowing in the right hole, but the tough part is finding that hole.

The last hillfort was Segsbury Camp, just a couple of miles short of the hostel. This was a huge banked site dating from about 600BC and well worth a circumnavigation before trotting back to the hostel for some well-earned tea and cake.

All this sunshine & exercise gave us a splendid appetite for Chris’s rather excellent meal and many of us chose to finish with an early night.

Sunday’s weather was less kind. It started drizzly, but didn’t stay that way. It was a nice walk taking in Lord Wantage’s monument and some lovely villages, but the less said about the freezing blizzard conditions the better. It’s notable that we even turned down the offer of free beer from some passing Rotary walkers. Finishing with tea and cake today was more of a survival necessity than just a pleasure. Brrr.

 Ali

“The Greatest River in England”

Thanks to Cressida for leading a walk along another section of the Thames path.  We met at Richmond station to carry on upstream from the point we reached last October.  Highlights included views of Marble Hill House and Ham House, a ride across the river on Hammerton’s Ferry, a picnic at Teddington Lock and afternoon tea at Hampton Court Palace.

Not only was the weather perfect, but we had the added excitement of watching the Kingston Rowing Club Head of the River Race – more than 400 crews competing – whilst we jumped out of the way of their coaches who were cycling along the bank yelling at them.

Then the adventure really started – trying to find a train home that wasn’t cancelled!

Dave P