This time last year I was in Bath for a Hen Party. This time this year I was in Bath again for catch ups over gin, walking, and a lot of food.
Today Nic and I visited the village of Castle Combe where I've been wanting to explore for some time. It was a short drive from Bath and when we arrived we soon found a place to park, from where we could then walk into the village itself.
Even before midday, the central street was bustling with a various mix of tourists; families old and young, dog walkers, and a slightly odd number of groups of women around our age. We chose not to linger, but instead began a circular walk out of and around the village that we'd found online the night before.
Armed with a fairly simple map, and some written instructions (always a bit of a challenge in my experience), we followed 'The Street' through the centre of the village before taking a footbridge to cross a small brook into a field full of donkeys that sounded and looked deceptively like sheep from a distance (closer inspection told us that our initial instincts were wrong).
The combination of glorious sunshine and an uphill path along the top of the field and into woodland kept us so warm that coats came off (in November!?). Our instructions told us to look out for gates with stiles which we were pleased to find; and crossed them into a lane leading us through a small hamlet of beautiful mill houses backing onto the brook.
Several pathways had us kicking up more than a few leaves; a welcome reminder of the Autumn which I think has felt especially long and glorious this year! At the end of one particularly leafy path, we came into a field full of actual sheep this time, and carefully made our way through, eyes on the ground at all times in a bid to avoid excessive amounts of poop.
Out of the field, we were back on the road and heading for yet another field and more woodland (there was definitely a theme going on). Our final uphill path was the steepest yet and had us both slipping and sliding, huffing and puffing. Once at the top, the views over trees in all sorts of colours in the low Autumn sun were fairly special.
Having done a pretty good job of following our instructions up to this point, it was here that we took a wrong turn and suddenly found that our circuit had been cut short. Tummies rumbling, we decided that we were actually back in the village in perfect time and enjoyed tea, paninis, and some cake in the Stables Coffee Shop.
Hunger satisfied, we decided to investigate the bit of circular walk we'd missed, but backwards. Once on the path again, we realised that it might just lead us back to the car park. So we followed along the edge of a golf course before coming out between a little row of houses that we'd seen earlier in the day, and were soon back on familiar ground and headed to the car.
Like last year, I managed a spot of Christmas shopping in Bath itself this afternoon and then there was just time for dinner before I had to catch my train. We're not sure how I do it, but I do seem to get lucky with the weather on my visits, and with the loveliest company, too, today was another truly beautiful day.
No comments:
Post a Comment