On Monday we drove to Ashton Keynes a beautiful Cotswold village.

From there we walked to the Source of the River Thames.

It was a beautiful walk and we met many walkers along the way.

National trails seem to be very popular in England.

After we walked back to Ashton Keynes It was time for me to make the 200 mile drive back home.

Geoff was staying over night then starting the long walk home along the Thames path national trail.

I was sad not to be joining Geoff on this walk as it looks a beautiful English countryside walk.

BUT I am booked into the http://www.swanatstreatley.co.uk/ on Friday night and the plan is for me to walk Along the Thames path to Windsor 🙂

I cannot complain about that !!

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Sunday saw us heading out for a longer walk.

Geoff had plotted an 18 mile route , along the Cotswold way to Horton, then returning by public footpaths to Wotton-under-edge.

The Cotswold way was beautiful and again I was amazed by all the wild Garlic, the aroma along the path was wonderful.

The bluebells in Bays wood looked stunning too.

It was a tougher 18 miles than we walk in the flat lands but every second was enjoyed.

We returned to enjoy a lovely Sunday lunch cooked by sally 🙂

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On Friday we drove up to Wotton under edge for a weekend of walking.

Saturday was not about doing a long distance walk but meeting up with friends 🙂

So it was decided we would walk up to the Tyndale Monument , just to stretch our legs.

A walk that could have proved a challenge, as the walk leader left the maps in his car 🙂

We braved the wind and climbed the steps to the top of the monument , where we had a great view of the river Severn

Then we had a few circuits of the wood to see all the wonderful wild garlic and bluebells.

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Good to be back with our usual walking group on Sunday.

This walk was from the leaders house in Girton , the route took us 18 miles through lovely wide open countryside.

It was cold and sunny which made you feel alive and fresh.

We finished back at the leaders house where she treated us to Tea and home made cakes.

A perfect end to a walk 🙂

Was good to see a few new faces with the group.

One very interesting lady was called Sarah Mappledoram , she is a survivor of cancer 🙂

In April she will fly out to walk the Great Wall of China for Macmillan Cancer Relief.
Where she will be walking 20+ miles a day over 8 days and plans to raise £3,500.

You can read her story here.

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Today was our first walk in 2010, Flat walks, Hilly walks,Mountain walks, Coastal walks, hopefully we shall cover them all in 2010 🙂

Today was 14 miles from Orwell, with our favorite little group.

We had perfect weather conditions, fresh and frosty with pure blue skies and lots of sunshine too.

Lunch break was at Wimpole before returning back to Orwell.

My etrex Gps tracked the walk well, once I get the lead I just need to work out what to do with it next.

As its now the New Year I shall start filling in my Walkers notebook, which was a birthday gift from my friend Helen.

Geoff’s account of the walk can be found here along with his photos.

Only a small number of walkers turned out for today’s walk.

Some people are on holiday, the others put off by the forecast of bad weather.

So it was four female walkers that set off from Pakenham at 9.30 am.

Within an hour it was raining and by lunch time we looked like four drowned rats.

After eating our lunch in the church porch at Langham ,we found a pub with a roaring wood burner.

Where we enjoyed a coffee while getting ourselves warm and dry by the fire.

By the time we left the pub the rain had stopped and we enjoyed the last 7 miles in lovely sunshine.

Thanks to Debbie who was the leader for this 15 mile walk.

There was one casualty ..  my phone must have somehow got wet and will not work now.

Feels like I am cut off from the outside world 🙁

Luckily I do have a spare phone at home I just hope it still works .

Sundays walk was from Saffron Waldron.

A small group of 7 this week, which meant we did the 15 miles in a very good time.

This time I did remember my sun cream, good job too as it was a boiling hot day.

Could of done with my hat too 🙂

I so enjoy the rolling Essex countryside.

These walks would be too far for me to go to from my own house, another reason why I appreciate being in Cambridge at the week-ends.

Everyone enjoyed a muffin with their lunch 🙂

I was back in Cambridge in time to enjoy the late afternoon sun down by the river.

Where the rest of the muffins were polished off.

Next Sunday will be my last walk for a few weeks due to my up coming adventure 🙂

This Sunday instead of meeting up with my usual walking group in Cambridge, I drove out to Royston to meet up with the Newmarket Ramblers.

Thanks to my tom tom I found my way there easily.

The reason for doing this was to meet up with a very dear friend. 

Tess and I met maybe 4 years ago through the Ramblers forum and still mange to meet up now for the occasional walk.

The 10 mile walk was in beautiful rolling countryside, through wonderful country lanes On the hottest day of the year so far 🙂

Glad to say this time I had remembered my sun cream 🙂

Once back In Cambridge I got myself down to the River to have a very welcome swim to cool myself down.

Only 2 more week-ends now before I go off to meet up with Geoff,  and I plan to walk 15 miles on both these Sundays 🙂

More photos can be seen here