Our First Walk!

Thornhill -> The Red Lion Pub at Garsington - total distance 4.4 miles

Saturday 9th April was a glorious day and the date of our first walk. We planned to leave the car at the Thornhill Park and Ride but unfortunately the whole world seemed to be taking advantage of the lovely weather and it was full. Plan B was to park in Risinghurst as close to the car park as possible... a short walk and we were soon there.


Directions were easy to follow and we found ourselves slowly climbing up and up towards Shotover Hill. First tip of the day is to wear walking boots! Even on a lovely warm spring day the ground was muddy and slippy underfoot and we were having to straddle the paths to make progress. As we got further up the hills the pathways dried out and the walking became much easier!



As we headed towards Shotover we passed loads of bluebells. In a couple of weeks, when they flower, the whole area will become a mass of colour and look stunning. Definitely worth a second visit.


We felt a real sense of achievement when we arrived at Shotover Plain but this turned to puzzlement as there were a lack of OGBS signposts through Shotover and we found directions like 'turn half right' a bit difficult to follow. Thankfully the book includes an ordinance survey map on every page so we were able to use the map instead of the directions during this section of the walk. Before we knew it we had skirted the woods and were heading towards Horspath.


As mentioned more than once already, this is a hilly walk but the views between Shotover and Garsington were stunning and it was definitely worth the effort! Enjoyed the fact that the book included some interesting, historical information about the local area.... would have liked even more! Took lots of photos but none of them really show the panoramic beauty of the area. We were able to stop for an ice cream at the village shop in Horspath which was a timely break as we were both beginning to wilt with the early Spring heat.




The final leg of the walk (still all uphill!) involved 'crossing fields' and 'passing under a rather large pylon' but we eventually made it to The Red Lion pub in Garsington.




The whole walk took us just under two hours and although it felt like we had been walking uphill all the way, we thoroughly enjoyed the experience and can't wait for the next one! Would love to hear from you about your walking experiences or recommend any good walks you know of around the local area...till next time!