12:02:39
I started off at Marlborough, arriving just in time for lunch.12:27:44
I started out with lunch at the Wellington Arms.12:35:33
They specialise in pies for their food offering. The mash had an air of having been hanging around for a bit, and I was reminded I don't particularly like mushy peas, but the pie itself was decent - some sort of vegetarian/vegan rendering of a steak and ale pie.13:28:13
In the early stages of today's walk, looking back to Marlborough.
13:36:53
Crossing a field with a nice sky overhead.13:36:59
Ew, slightly unpleasant photo - sorry about that - it was rather a warm one again.13:59:18
The branch of a hawthorn tree, loaded with haws, reaching up to the sky. I suspect this looked a bit more aesthetically pleasing in real life.14:08:14
First encounter with the Wansdyke today, in West Woods.
14:40:45
I was really keen to find this standing stone, hidden in West Woods somewhere, which I had read about on the web. It's not beside any of the paths going through the woods, so the only way to find it is to know the coordinates and head to that point on the OS map.14:40:50
I felt very pleased at having found it, as hopefully this grin attests.14:40:59
15:06:31
Not far away from the standing stone is the long barrow, which I'd visited on my previous walk through West Woods back in March. Although there had been a couple of ribbons and a sort of dreamcatcher thing tied to the trees back then, these totemic figures are new additions. I found them rather striking.
15:06:34
The dream catcher type thing, which I'd also seen back in March.15:06:45
Another totemic figure. I found this rather fascinating. Who left these here?15:06:59
The third of the figures I found around the barrow.15:09:12
Slightly moronic photo I was trying to get a shot for the Youtube video thumbnail, I'm still figurinng out what I'm doing with all that.
16:24:24
Some time after leaving West Woods, I briefly sat for a rest on a sarsen stone beside the path.16:44:21
This was taken on a section of the Wansdyke which curiously the Wansdyke Path avoids. I found it rather delightful, thus the inane grin, but I think the effect of the landscape is a bit lost in this photo - comes across much better in the video.17:26:59
Having another rest later on beneath the shade of a hawthorn tree on the embankment of the Wansdyke.17:38:11
Err somewhere along the Wansdyke.
17:43:13
Views north from the Wansdyke towards Avebury - you can just about make out Silbury Hill in the centre of this photo.17:43:29
Zoomed in on Silbury Hill.17:43:39
Me on the Wansdyke.17:44:37
A more idiotic looking photo of me on the Wansdyke.
17:46:48
18:41:52
Trying to find the right spot to spend the evening. It was a bit tricky - I wanted to stay well away from any livestock, but some sections were really overgrown.19:29:03
Eventually I settled on this spot, after retracing my steps a bit, and sat down for a glass of wine and some dinner.19:31:11
Rather than the usual lazy dehydrated camping meals I decided I'd make some effort to cook "properly", so this evening tried to make a dal with rice, from scratch. The billy can on the stove there has the dal in it, and the tiny pot in front of it has the rice, which I'd already brought to the boil and am now leaving it to steam.
19:39:23
Fully tweeded now, and enjoying the Gevrey Chambertin beside the ditch.19:40:04
Although the sunset was happening in the opposite direction to this, I thought there were some nice glimpses of pink-ish sky in this direction.19:40:08
The actual direction the sunset was happening, unfortunately a bit too cloudy to really see very much.19:45:49
The dal bubbling away like a witch's cauldron.
20:00:07
The finished result. The dal came out really well. The rice absorbed all the water I gave it, but was still a bit firm in the middle - so I think that setup needs a bit more work.20:00:13
Rice, dal, and a ditch.20:02:51
The sunset looking briefly a bit more interesting!20:04:30
Me eating my dal beside the ditch, and the last photo of the evening. There's a bit more coverage of the evening's activities in the video.