Chawton to Farnham

At last! Day 3 of our Pilgrims Way, Chawton to Farnham, which saw us walking 23km, lots of it through mud, making the going rather tough at times!
We started the day in rain, the stuff that gets you wet, but once it stopped we were able to pack our wet gear away and trudge onwards and (sometimes) upwards. It was definitely a good workout for the legs, and carrying around the extra weight on our walking boots meant we got an even better workout 😂.
Beginning in Chawton, we visited the church for our Pilgrim stamp. As we walked to the church we noticed a lady cold water swimming in the local stream - there'd been so much rain it had swollen and become deep enough for a good swim! Rather her than us 😲😂!
We headed off to Jane Austin's house and onwards to Alton. The properties in the village were all very 'Jane Austinesque' and it was easy to imagine her wandering around, just like Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility. In Alton, we loved the blue plaque informing us that she definitely hadn't lived in that house 😂 - very amusing.
We gathered a few stamps today as we walked (and trudged) through the towns and villages - Chawton, Alton, Holybourne (very posh and where Alan Titchmarsh lives), Froyle, Bentley and finally Farnham. At one of the churches we found some very interesting brick gravestones.
A very welcome lunch was enjoyed in Lower Froyle before heading off to Farnham. My idea of avoiding yet more muddy fields by walking along the road was dismissed as I hadn't realised 'the road' was the A31🙄😂. So more mud it was, but the sun shone occasionally, and many of the fantastic yew trees in Bentley churchyard were over 350 years old and absolutely beautiful.
When we reached Farnham we'd missed the bus back to Alton and it was about a 40 minute wait for the next one, plus another bus back to the car in Chawton 😳 so a quick taxi ride it was! The driver took one look at our boots... but we were prepared with large plastic bags and were able to keep his taxi clean😀 for which he was extremely grateful.
It was a lovely day for a walk despite the mud. Good company, good food and a good workout!Leia mais