Go on! From Og....

Ogbourne St. George formed the starting point for today's

walk. I was much relieved to find, on reaching the Ridgeway path,

that today's section had the propect of being much less spartan

in nature.

Green hedges bedecked with may blossom were

much in evidence. The weather too was kinder on me.

Gone was the forceful wind, and the bright sunshine
was moderated by cloud. Gone too was the bright yellow

of oilseed rape flowers. Whew!

From my Ogbourne start point the pathway

heads northwards back along towards the

head of the Og valley, where, lo and behold...

another hill fort, Liddington Castle

"stands guard", again affording

a place for a lunchtime stop. It also allows

for a wide panoramic veiw, whether towards

Marborough, across towards Barbury castle,

beyond the sprall of Swindon to the Cotswold hills,
or even over towards Oxford.

Another feature (like Swindon, worth trying to ignore

for aesthetic reasons, even if its jolly handy

for getting places....!) nearby is the M4 whose

traffic forms a little aural backdrop to the scene

as it clambers over a little lip onto the chalklands

before dashing onwards to the east.

On the plus side, at least the mtorway

is not TOO glaringly obvious, its embedded into

the downs that roll around it....

you may have clouds to spot above.....

and there are always things near at hand, like

poppies splashing red, or corn buntings jangling

their keys in the hedges alongside.

On the far side of the motorway stands Fox Hill, awaiting me tomorrow.