The Wednesday Walk 9th June 2010

The Plan

To walk from Bickton to Fordingbridge

The Leader

Wendy

Who Turned Up

Wendy, Trudy, Sue, Diane, Tony R and David

The Walk

The weather played games with us today. It rained as we drove to the starting point at the crossroads near Bickton, but stopped as soon as we got our walking boots on. It started raining again just as we got back to the cars in the afternoon. In between we had a warm, pleasant walk.

There was a lot to see on this walk. Herons, deer and swans with their young led to a short pause to admire the view. As we passed a trout farm we also saw hundreds of the fish thrashing around in the water. Although we are past the bluebell season, we did see a variety of flowers. To add to the list, the ladies of the church in Fordingbridge were in the process of laying out a carpet of flowers on the church floor.

We did make a minor error in navigation on our way towards Fordingbridge but that did nothing to lessen the enjoyment of the walk. On the way back, we crossed to the opposite side of the A338 Salisbury Road and enjoyed a quiet stroll through the countryside. There was a moment of consternation when the group got split up in the middle of the "Happy Birthday" field. Wendy had to wait until we got back to David's for a chorus of congratulations on her birthday. All-in-all, it was a pleasant day's walking.

The Pub

The Ship in Fordingbridge. We all opted for the two-course pensioner's special. The two men had the starter and main course. The four ladies all had the main course and desert. All six were well satisfied by the end of the meal.