I met up quite early with the taxi driver who would be toting my bag for me the next few days, and picked up hiking snacks. Lingered until 8:30 AM to have a proper breakfast at this delightful cafe. The 25-YO owner Nina is “living her dream” of having her own Alice in Wonderland themed eatery. She was adorable!
Bailey Hill was the longest, steepest bit of the day. It was a paved road, and it really did seem endless. The views were quite lovely, and I was thrilled to see my first red kites of the walk.
This day was extremely warm. I started getting a little concerned about my water supply, but I was fine.
There was a fair amount of confusion around this point, before I saw the village. The path wound up into some woods and the signage was overgrown. Fortunately, there were some farmers about to ask. Most of them said the village was just up the way. That meant about 5 more miles, I think!
I finally came into town, and was greeted with a closed pub. I sort of expected that, but was just so hot and tired I let myself hope. It was about 3:00 and the pub would not open until 5:00. AND I still had about 3 miles to go to get to my caravan. I sat down on a bench and looked quite forlorn, I’m sure.
About this time, a very nice lady and her husband asked me if I was lost. I said, not exactly, but I truly wasn’t sure how much further I had to walk, and it was an uphill paved road. She told me about 3 miles, and I may have cried a little. They gave me a ride! I found the caravan, and let myself in.
I was so tired! But as I tried to rest, my attention was completely taken up by the bleating of a lamb whose mam and sibling was on the other side of a fence. This went on and on for an hour. I finally went to the main house to see if anyone was around to let the farmer know that a baby needed placing over the fence. The hosts were gone, but in-laws were present, and said they’d make the call!
I had forgotten how dramatic sheep are.
There was no data or wifi here, but fortunately I had downloaded some Netflix. It was a pretty long evening of relaxing, and I was very grateful for it. I was looking at between 8-9 miles to walk the next day.
Debkakes in the UK 2025 