Jeri’s Steps: 41,036
Miles walked: 16.7
Elevation: 259
Pints: none
Churches: none
Stiles: 5
Benches: 5 and a lock

The first walking day of the 2022 season! After a break of 10 months we are back in England to fill in some bits that we missed last year.

After a simple breakfast of crumpets and coffee, we left with Dave for the 40 minute drive to Long Marston. We provisioned at the Post Office and had a nice conversation with the proprietor about the Grand Canyon. A few hundred yards later we were on the Greenway heading for Stratford-upon-Avon. This is another of those disused railways; it does give the impression that before the Beeching cuts of the 1960s England must have been awash with smoke. At some point along the path Jeri must have mislaid her glasses, so after our obligatory crisp stop we headed back to search for them. Alas, nothing. We passed the racecourse then headed through Stratford suburbs, ignoring signs to Shakespeare sites and stocked up for lunch at a Spar. After a few turns we found ourselves alongside the Stratford-upon-Avon canal and this was to be our companion for most of the rest of the day. Lacking suitable benches we ate our pork pie at a lock gate. It was interesting talking to the narrow boat owners and seeing the locks operate; at one point we passed a flight of eleven locks near Wilmcote. Then, somewhat surprisingly, we came across a fish, alive but weak, lying on the canal bank. Very odd. We used our walking poles to edge it back into the water and it seemed to swim away. In any event it didn’t float to the surface and lie motionless, so perhaps we saved it. The Stratford-upon-Avon canal has a couple of impressive aqueducts and according to a bright red plaque, the Edstone one is the longest in all of England. Ha! We have personal experience of the Pontcysyllte aqueduct so we have also walked over (and boated over) the longest and tallest in Britain. The last mile and a half was through fields away from the great canal and apart from giving a group of feisty cows a wide berth, our entry into Henley in Arden was uneventful. Unless you count very sore feet of course.