Oakley

Today started with a bit of a dilemma. It was wet, the forecast was for heavy rain (and I checked several, they were all the same). Do we walk or will it be a cafe day?

I’m not sure if none of us wanted to admit defeat, or there was just a bit of wishful thinking that the light rain would ease off and all the forecasts would be wrong, but we decided to go for it and walk.

Driving to Oakley our first choice for parking was flooded (not a good sign), so we drove round to the church and parked at the side of the road.

Walking through the churchyard we had a quick look around the outside of St Leonard’s church.

There was a church here in the 12th century with a nave of the size of the present one and a chancel. To this nave in about 1180–90 a south aisle was added, the west arch of the south arcade being of that date.

The tower seems to have been built by Archbishop Warham early in the 16th century, and the south aisle, or Malshanger Chapel, was rebuilt at the same time, including the first bay of the south arcade.

Leaving the churchyard by the side gate we passed a little field of rather large pigs, two of which were very busy churning up the ground.

Following the very muddy path, we came across a vineyard. It all looked quite new, and there wasn’t too much to see at this time of year.

We turned right, well we turned left first and decided it was the wrong way, and followed the path up along the side of a field. At the top we turned to a lovely view back towards the church. It was a beautiful spot but by then the wind had got up and the rain was driving into our faces. After a few minutes securing our jackets and hoods, as much as we could, we continued onwards.

In the far corner of the field was a crossroads of paths. Turning left we followed the Wayfarer’s Walk. It was less of a path and more of a rutted, wet and muddy track. Apparently, according to my other half, even the mountain bikers are finding the track hard going at the moment.

As we were approaching a railway bridge, we met a dog walker coming towards us. One of her dogs trotted up to say hello, while the other sat happily chewing a rather large stick. Both dogs looked like they would need a good hose down before being allowed back into the house at the end of their walk – the disadvantages of Golden Retrievers at this time of year.

We stopped for a little chat and were told that the path after the bridge was worse than the one we’d just come down. Something to look forward to then.

There was a lot of slipping and sliding as we carefully made our way up the hill. I’m surprised, and very impressed, that we made it up without falling over.

The path eventually gave way to a lane of sorts. We spotted bits of tarmac in between massive puddles. The lane led to a gated off piece of woodland with a sign saying ‘Ken’s Wood’. Intriguing.

We finally reached the lane into the village, but opted to stick to the path rather than risk walking down the road, which was quite narrow and fairly busy.

Crossing the road we walked along the side of the railway before crossing over the bridge. Across one final field and we were back on the road in the village. It actually felt really strange walking on the road after all the sliding through the mud.

Definitely a good day for ducks.

We finally made it back to the car, Slightly soggy and definitely a lot muddier than when we started. To be honest I had a brief thought about not letting my friends back into the car, but that would be mean……