5 min read

My 46th – Day 1

A circular walk from Watlington Hill

It being my Birthday I thought I’d take the day off from work as Shelli doesn’t work on Fridays, plus I’d had a very long day the day before going to the office and then to Alice and Elisa’s school to watch a showcase evening of songs, dance, and music. I didn’t get back until very late so a day off was definitely a good idea.

Even though I didn’t have to go to the office I was still awake shortly after the usual time – I’d even turned off the alarm – so I was up and about bright and early, spending some time with Asri and Eleni, opening cards and presents, which was lovely.

I’d intended on planning a route earlier in the week for a nice walk in the countryside but I never got around to it. Mad week! I had an idea on what I’d like to do on my Birthday though; just hadn’t had the time to plot the route and update the GPS. So, cards and presents opened I got to sorting it out so that we were all set for a day out in the fresh air.

Girls dropped off at school, we got ourselves kitted out in our walking gear, sorted the pack out, loaded the car and hit the road. Destination: Watlington Hill, near Christmas Common.

It didn’t take too long to drive there and it wasn’t long before boots were on and we were heading off through the woods. The wind was a bit fresh already and when we came out the other side of the woods into the open the wind was even stronger, whipping up the hill towards us. The views however were spectacular!

Sadly though, it wasn’t long before we were heading down the side of the hill past its triangular, chalk, ‘white mark’ carved into the hill in 1764, to pick up the Ridgeway a little way outside of Watlington.

We followed the Ridgeway for just over three miles, chatting and enjoying the wonderful scenery, before turning off and heading towards Cookley Green, and then back towards Watlington Hill.

There were some tough hills as we followed the day’s route, and as ever as soon as we’d struggled up to the top we were heading back down again, only to be met by another hill!

It was tough going in places, not helped by Snow’s ability to be a complete pain in the arse when it comes to walking up hills! I pretty much had to drag her up every single one of them! Downhill? Not a problem. Flat? Not a problem; off out in front walking and sniffing. Uphill is a completely different story and it was exhausting!

We hadn’t packed anything substantial to eat, just some snacks, as the plan was to finish the walk and then head off to a pub for a pint and a spot of lunch. So, back at the car we change out of our walking boots and drove round the corner to check out the Fox and Hounds in Christmas Common, a pub I’d driven past hundreds (if not thousands) of times but never actually been.

Thankfully the car park was pretty empty and we got a table in the bar area (so that we could take Snow in) by the fire, ordered some well deserved drinks and lunch.

The food was very tasty and hit the spot wonderfully, as did the pint of Oxford Gold. Lovely!

Stuffed and beginning to get a little drowsy, we loaded Snow into the car and headed home before we both fell asleep.

An excellent start to my Birthday weekend!

Photos

Route Details

If you’re interested you can download the KML file and/or GPX file of the plotted route. Please be aware though that the route was hand-plotted and so may not be 100% accurate.

Walk Statistics

Miles Start (HH:MM) Finish (HH:MM) Breaks (HH:MM) Walking (HH:MM) Pace (MPH) Steps Taken
7.89 10:20 01:00 00:10 02:30 3.16 16,542

Route Map

Elevation Details

Start Elavation (m) End Elavation (m) Max Elevation (m) Min Elevation (m) Total Climb (m) Total Descent (m) Climbs on Route
240 240 240 121 348 -348 2

Climb Details

Rating Start Point (miles) End Point (miles) Length (miles) Start Elevation (m) End Elevation (m) Average Grade
5 1.51 5.18 3.67 128 221 1.8%
4 6.82 7.89 1.07 127 240 6.1%

More information about climb ratings can be found at Map My Walk.