16/12/13 - Architectural Oddities

Distance - 8 Miles
Geocaches - 2
Walk From - Adventurous Pub Walks in Oxfordshire
Monday mornings, they don't change do they.

There was a plan for a more festive day out to one of Britain's gems.  However, when we awoke, we could hear the rain hammering down.  Whichever way you cut it, a monsoon is not festive.

I quickly replan another walk.  Solo.  Leave at 9am.  Get stuck in the school traffic.  Get through that and then stuck on the M5/M42 all the way around.  I should have been listening to "Driving home for Xmas", not "Road to Hell". 

Whilst stuck in non moving traffic for 40 minutes, the weather turns even worse.  Sometimes, I ask myself what I am doing, but it does ease off by the time we park at Wroxton. 

The American author, Henry James, used to stop at the house that is now Wroxton College.  He thought nowhere else represented England better than this former house of Lord North - our Prime Minister between 1770-1782. 

With its honey coloured buildings with thatched roofs and the village duck pond, you can see why.

Dog scares off ducks and declares it a doodle pond

Head out into the countryside by the side of the school.  Padsdon Bottom offers fine walking but the heavens open again.  The rain drips off my goretex hat, down my goretex coat and soaks my non-goretexed nether regions.  A chain is only as good as its weakest link.

Normally soul enhancing views.  But not with damp pants.

The dog doesn't seem too bothered by the weather and chases a couple of deer that are on the path. 

Walk south through countryside and lanes, with the rain eventually stopping.  Get the first cache of the day in the grounds of Broughton Castle.

Originally built in 1306.  Links to the Civil War

Associated Church

Spend a while here.  Couldn't get any closer to the castle as its only open between March and September and then on Wednesday's and Sunday's only.  It is currently lived in by Lord and Lady Saye - who also have the village pub named after them.

This is the halfway point of the walk and we head north through North Newington.  The remainder of the walk has nothing but mud and follies from the 18th Century for entertainment.

Sanderson Miller was something of a time waster and spent the 1730's building pointless things to commemorate people coming for tea.

First - the totally unnecessary Archway.  Serves no purpose

Frederick, Prince of Wales, Visted in 1739.  There is also a Geocache.

A fortified Dovecote - Don't ask me why doves need fortified houses

All are right next to the footpaths and make for a slight diversion from the weather and the mud.  The dog is looking in a sorry state, but fortunately there is a pool right at the end of the walk. 

One stick chucked in and out comes a pristine labradoodle.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for her owner.