Ooof - that was a long day

To celebrate her birthday my friend, L, had organised a nine-mile walk today through the Windrush valley from Witney to Burford.

Getting the bus to Witney from Oxford meant I had to start an hour earlier than the others for the rendezvous at Pub Number One, then 25 or so humans and four or so dogs set off. It's a lovely varied walk, through fields of wheat with almost-golden ears and blue-green stalks; past the Minster Lovell Hall ruins; through woods; beside the River Windrush, with more tumbling water than usual at this time of year, and across fields with much wider views than you would expect from a valley. One of our number cycled and met us at Pub Number Two, where four people and one dog peeled off.  

Our cyclist met us again at Pub Number Three.

And she was there again when we got to Pub Number Four a bit before 4pm. I was more than ready for lunch.

We all caught the 6pm bus back to Witney. As it was only a 25-seater, we were lucky it was almost empty when it arrived. The bus driver turned out to be a friend of some of the group so the conviviality continued.

L and her football-mad partner, O, had booked seats at the Witney Corn Exchange (a wonderful venue which they both spent several years campaigning and organising to be converted into what is now a very successful community space) for any walker who was interested to watch the Euro final. I have never sat through an entire screened match, though for dutiful reasons I have been to three live football matches. But I'm up for as many experiences as life can offer and thought that if I was ever going to see a televised match it would be best to do it on a large screen with people I know.

As I waited outside for the others to arrive, the Witney Town Band started to play. O is Witney's mayor and was with the band last week for a twinning event near Munich where, among many other pieces, the band played Madness's Baggy Trousers. They know it well enough to perform without a conductor and when they started, O, a huge Madness fan grabbed an umbrella and started 'conducting', much to the amusement of the musicians and onlookers. This evening, as O arrived, the conductor stepped aside and the band started Baggy Trousers. An umbrella was swiftly found and we got to see the reprise.

As for the football... I confess that L and I had more than one conversation while the whooping and lamentation went on around us.

As the others went home dejected, I got my bus back to Oxford, sorry, indifferent.

Football: done.