Day 5

It's morning of Day 6 a non-walking day in Oxford. It was a long day 5; 27.3 km in 8 hours. Too tired to do the blog - hence the delay.

The Rectory Farm B&B in Northmoor was excellent despite there being no food to be had nearby (biscuit dinner). The 17th Century building was very comfortable. It sits behind a 13th Century church so probably didn't feel too old.

Because of the long day we decided to start early - 9.00 am. Rather than stick to the path, we did a side trip to a village with many thatched cottages; our plan was to have a coffee there and continue.  However, no coffee shops, no pub, no toilets... so back to the river 3 km slightly wasted but the cottages were lovely.

After mainly dairy cattle country we struck the first large flocks of sheep (and more haystacks)

Staggered to the Talbot Inn in Swinford for lunch.  There is a private toll bridge here (one of two apparently, allowed through an act of parliament)

We still had to visit another pub before Oxford - the Trout Inn where Inspector Morse used to hang out. Nice pub with a tame peacock to keep us company. Despite having another five km to walk, we (well I) had to have a pint. [Is this turning into a giant pub crawl?]

Closer to Oxford, the meandering Thames is fat and slow; not far below the level of the surrounding meadow in places. More boats, people feeding swans, more walkers...

No walking today (Day 6) - will walk (!!!) around Oxford.
Cheers