Camino Inglés - UK Day 2. Mortimer to Worting

And so the four day final thrust of the UK leg of the Camino Inglés began. 

Okay it began half an hour later than scheduled thanks to bloody dire traffic in High Wycombe. Luckily there was no swearing, raised blood pressure or discord as a result of this temporary setback! And if you believe that, you’re more daft than I thought. On a positive note, I did have plenty of nice things to say to all the 4 x 4 driving Mums dropping their darlings off at the Private School on Amersham Hill. Bless them, and their delicate offspring.

We set off from Mortimer in bright Spring sunshine that was accompanied by a more winteresque temperature. Within minutes we crossed the clearly marked border between Berkshire and Hampshire. Excellent progress. All we needed to do now was get to the south of Hampshire. After that it’s time to get the Costa Brava plane and its Viva España all the way.



Things then went downhill. Both literally and metaphorically. As we descended a path to a brook it got muddier and muddier. A bloody quagmire. Clearly we had forgotten how dire the weather had been recently. The field around the brook was at best a bog, with some nice ponds. 




After about half an hour we reached the Silchester Roman settlement with its amphitheatre. And rather fine it was too.


Shortly afterwards, getting a passport stamp at Silchester church, we met Sue from Egham…..she turned out be the only person who was doing the Camino we met all day. And yes, being from Egham, of course one of her children had worked at Bupa in Staines. Fortunately she had been on the dark side of the river in sales, rather than working for me. Nevertheless, a close call.




Our next stop was at Bramley church. A very characterful place with numerous frescos on the walls. Definitely worth a visit. Shortly after that we had fun getting through a massive, and deep puddle to get to our path. Luckily one of us had waterproof walking boots on!






At Pamber End we popped into the Queen's College Arms for beer and crisps. Miraculously I was extracted from there after just one round of the food of the gods.  Probably a good thing, as I’d forgotten that I had to drive at the end of the day.



Next up was Pamber End Priory. An ancient church that is owned and maintained by Queen’s College, Oxford. That also explained the name of the aforementioned pub.





The last five miles were frankly a bit boring. Partly along a golf course, and with views of Basingstoke in the distance. That nevertheless begged the question…what is the point of Basingstoke. Does it really serve any useful purpose other than roundabout practice for incompetent drivers? It’s right up (or maybe down) there with the likes of Bracknell. Seriously FFS even Swindon is renowned for something, but Basingstoke???

A good way to end the day was to be met at Worting by our good friend Arby who’d kindly offered to drive back to Mortimer. Top man. That has made some seriously complicated logistics for the week a whole lot easier.








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