Stokenchurch and Bennett End without soup

It was a grey day (with what our boys call a 'Tupperware sky'), and pretty cold. We planned a shortish walk from Stokenchurch. As we were planning an early dinner, we decided to take a picnic rather than have a pub lunch, so I filled a flask of tomato soup for Rosie and me. By the time we got to Stokenchurch, the soup had leaked into the rucksack. I was glad that I had put in in a carrier bag. I was despatched to the local shop to buy a couple of Snickers bars. Alison and David has taken a more conventional (and leakproof) approach, and made filled rolls.

We did stop at The Three Horseshoes at Bennett End for a quick drink. It's quite up-market and we weren't sure we'd be welcome on a Sunday lunch time. However, the bar area was very cosy, and even had an inglenook fireplace. Good beer too. The Sunday lunch menu wasn't cheap (£27 for 3 courses), but the food on offer was tempting.

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Testing the new cagoule from Lane End

Having got wet too many times in the Alps while those about me stayed dry, I asked for a GoreTex cagoule for Xmas, and Rosie duly came up with a Berghaus Cornice. It had spent a couple of short walks in the rucksack, but not been used in anger until today.

As we were heading to Derby & Nottingham to see Martin later and hadn't walked much recently because we'd been recovering from our Xmas chest infections, we squeezed in a  short local walk from Lane  End despite the weather not looking great. We started from Lane End and took in Frieth via several paths we'd not walked before. The cagoule was duly tested by a shower, and it performed well.

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Bagnor and The Blackbird for David's birthday

It was David's birthday, so he chose the route and we did the driving. We headed towards Newbury for this nice route around Bagnor, near The Watermill Theatre and in the Lambourne and Winterbourne Valleys.

Lunch was at The Blackbird at Bagnor. There was a good selection of pub food - nothing fancy but large portions of very tasty fare. It being a celebration, we ventured to have pudding. I'm very glad to have shared an excellent fresh waffle and ice cream with Rosie rather than having one to myself. Excellent local beer too.

The post-lunch route took us to the 14th century Donnington Castle.

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