20/08/22 - The Oxford Trek - Stage 1 - Bladon to Bletchingdon

Distance - 7.5 Miles

Geocaches - 1

A new circular walk around a city - this time The Oxford Trek - a long out of print guide from my favourite druid, Laurence Main.  His book details a 64 mile circuit and it starts at the final resting place of one of Britain's most famous sons.

A man that once replied to the insult "If you were my husband, I would poison your tea" by retorting "If you were my wife, I would drink it".

Churchill

Bladon Church

Considering the attention his statue gets in Parliament Square, I am kind of surprised at the lack of security.  Maybe they don't get leftie activists in this quiet corner of Oxfordshire.  At least not until the winter fuel bills come in.

A short walk along the walls of Blenheim Palace and into Woodstock, where my disappointment at being too early for the pubs is alleviated by the fact that the most prominent one is Arkells.

A peak through the main visitor gates to Blenheim Palace

The Punch Bowl - Well Kept Real Ales

Leaving Woodstock behind, the walk presents arable fields, with a couple of miles distraction along the Oxford Canal.

Walk is mainly this....

... with a bit of this thrown in.

The bus to Oxford from Bletchingdon is hourly on the 33rd minute.  I arrive at the 11:37.  The pub is closed until midday, so I wonder how I will entertain myself for all of 23 minutes.

It's then that I notice people queuing at the bus stop. And they are waiting for the Oxford bus. When I comment that it is late, they answer "it is but its now behind you".

The Blacks Head Inn will have to wait for another day. There's lots to see and do in Oxford.

All of Bletchingdon