Brutal climbs: 0
Today we left the climbs and descents of the Cotswold Way firmly behind us. It took us a while to get out of Cheltenham, as its a fair sized city. The fun of walking is that you come across the strangest things as you weave around on your way to a particular footpath. Today it was on a small street right at the edge of town.
Once we got out of the city, we meandered along a series of footpaths and lanes to reach
We're going to be on the Severn Way for the next week almost.
We discovered that the flat land around the Severn River had some of the most amazing trees. Gnarly deciduous trees that look absolutely ancient. Some of the trunks were massive. I have no idea what kind of trees they are, or how old they are, but I imagine that they all could be the Whomping Willow.
The Severn Way led us right into Tewkesbury, home of an amazing Abbey, which is right across the street from our B&B.
It was consecrated in 1121 and the Abbey church was saved from destruction during the dissolution of the Abbeys in 1540 by its parishioners. They bought it from Henry VIII for £453, which was the value of the metal from its bells and roof. Most of the other buildings of the Abbey were quarried for their stone.
There were headstones in the floor that dated to the late 1600s, and those were only the ones we noticed and could read. It is awe inspiring to stand in this soaring space and take in all the incredible craftsmanship and feats of engineering that went into it. And tonight when we were walking back to the B&B from dinner, the bells were pealing. It was absolutely beautiful!
Got to wrap this up now, since I've got to sleep. We expect tomorrow will be our longest day yet. But then we have a rest day!
hey guys,
ReplyDeletethe way you described being in the church was pretty much how i felt at my first slayer concert. awe inspiring; i totally get it.
hope the longest day goes well tomorrow.
bruce
Your tree in the photo is an Oak and mighty they are, i really enjoyed the severn way part of lejog, reading your blog reminds me i must gets the boots back on a trail.
ReplyDeleteCheers J.P.
I have a topic for the blog on your rest day: After a month (more or less) of walking, do you feel like you're in "better shape"? Are the 12-15 mile days easier or harder than 2-3 weeks ago? Any visible changes? Bulging calf muscles or the like?
ReplyDeleteAlso, any observations on being a month into a radical shift of your day to day life? Changes in stuff that matters, stuff you think about during the day etc? What it's like to not do the crossword every morning?
Inquiring minds want to know! As long as we are all living vicariously through you, we also want to understand your mindset! Just like in Being John Malkovich...
Not sure it'll be just like being John malkovich, since I'm not John cusack, and dawn is not Katherine keener ... But these are great things to talk about and well cover them in some upcoming blogs ...
Delete