36X

Today's walk was dominated by concealed paths, sticky mud and a late surprise discovery. Rain overnight had turned the tents and grass wet and the mud clingy and sticky. After a short walk from the campsite and along the road, our first challenge presented itself in the form of a healthy growing field of wheat concealing any sign of the footpath. After a bit of approximation and guess work we headed across the field, gathering weight on every step; the mud clinging to the soles of boots.

I will be leaving early, this evening whereas the rest of the group are staying until Tuesday morning. I'm keen to spend the bank holiday Monday with the family. With that and the weather forecast in mind (rain due at 16:00) we agreed to make a shorter walk and without measuring the planned route, the distance was approximated to 5 miles.

We enjoyed another mixture of open fields, farm tracks, woodland and secluded vales in the rolling Cotswolds countryside. A fox caught sight of us late and made a hasty and unsuccessful attempt to leap across a stream, belly flopping into then shallows before scrabbling away. Lunchtime arrived slightly early, ahead of our arrival in Church Enstone and the delightful Crown Inn. Less delightfully they were unable to provide anything other than roast dinners, always a risk on a Sunday but we weren't asking for much. With the prospect of a hot meal at camp this evening, we continued for 10 minutes to the Harrow at Enstone who seem to have got the Sunday light lunch right: a choice of roast meats in a baguette served with roast potatoes and gravy. As I would be driving, the lunchtime cider fell in favour of a decidedly non-alcoholic orange juice and lemonade. Such injustice was not suffered lightly!

With a little over 3 of today's 5 miles to go and having completed well over 5.5 already, we agreed to take the shortest route along roads back to the campsite. This slightly scruffy Routemaster was found at the back of a farm en route and I liked the look of it. I arrived at the campsite ahead of the others in need of getting the tent down ahead of the coming rain. Luckily, I found a short cut through the small wood straight to the tents, thus avoiding the walk along the busy road into Charlbury. I thankfully downed tent completely dry and arrived home before the children's bedtime.

A very good Jolly Boys weekend done. Can't wait for September and North Notfolk.