Day 4 - Seven Springs to Painswick

"And did those feet, in ancient times, walk upon England's mountains green...."  When you are walking, especially with a companion who's also a friend of 20+ years and with whom silences are no longer worrying but an acceptably peaceful interlude, you do a lot of thinking. This line from 'Jerusalem' popped into my mind as we set off on Day 4 to climb Leckhampton HIll, and that set me thinking firstly about my long departed father, a church organist amongst other things who played this piece over and over, but also about how long the path we are treading has been walked by people before us. The Cotswolds Way is really an ancient series of routes walked by thousands of people throughout the course of history which have subsequently been linked by the Rambler's Association into the 104 mile Trail we know today. That, in turn, got me thinking about different types of walkers - those who revel in the long distance challenge, those who fancy a bit of excercise on a Sunday after a week behind a desk and those who simply want to step out briefly when the weather is fine. As far as I'm concerned, all walking is good. Good for the body, good for the mind and good for the spirit. And thank goodness we're not all the same. Wouldn't life be dull if we were?

I slept incrediby well last night. The pillow suited me particularly well. I like one of the feathered variety: Stephen prefers the bounce-back marshmallow of the hypoallergenic style. I passed up Downton Abbey so he could watch Spooks. He's a big picture person and has to control the map: I need the chunk by chunk detail so I can tackle each step in turn but trust that we're going to get to our destination in the end. My point is that people are different and I like that. Variety is good for us. The route of today's 14 miles has certainly been different. We progressed from the wild and exposed escarpment atop Leckhampton Hill and before long found ourselves in woodland - and thus the day progressed. The dappled shade, less fierce Autumnal sunshine and the crunch of dry leaves under foot made for a joyous day. The heat of the weekend left us in favour of fabulous walking weather. Highlights included seeing the Devil's Chimney and climbing Cooper's Hill. There's an example of how it takes all sorts if ever you needed one. Who in their right minds would wish to throw themselves off a 2 :1 slope to chase a cheese?! But yet they do (or did). As my grandmother would have said, "There's nowt so queer as folk"! Sorry, where was I? Ah yes, woodland. I was once told that the best place to walk for your health was woodland - all that marvellous oxygen thrown into the air by the CO2 converting leaves. No, the only problem with woodland as far as I can see, has been the distinct absence of clue material for my Cotswold Way Companion Treasure Trail - but hopefully tomorrow will redress the balance.

Almost time to retire now. I tried to think of a K topic today but all I could recall was that somewhere along the way we read that once there had been in excess of 200 stiles along the full length of this national trail. I'm pleased to report that most have now been replaced by kissing gates.

I'm deliberately saving L for tomorrow - in fact I'm dedicating tomorrow's walking to L .... she will understand, but all will be revealed.