Today brought rain and soggy feet, but also an easy 17km stroll into a former capital of England and the resting place of St. Swithun.
It was probably our quietest night sleep on the pilgrimage so far. No revelling golfers, early morning beer deliveries or city noises. When we began today’s walk, there was a spring in our step. The only dampener – figurative and literally – was the rain.
Although light, the overgrown paths and fields soon soaked our trainers. Each step was accompanied by a soggy a squelch.
At Ovington the way goes through a nature reserve, following the river Itchen. Swans sifted through the riverbed, fish glided beneath the surface, a chorus of birdsong filled the trees. Natures glory at its finest.
We came across a dog walker with a chocolate lab called Amber. She came bounding to us, tail wagging wanting a fuss. We chatted with her owner, who recommended a route past Avington Golf club, giving views of the countryside and also a cafe stop – but he called it cardiac hill.
When we got to it, it was nothing. As we got to the top, the clouds thinned and by the time we got to the cafe, the Sun was shining.
After a cup of tea, we headed into Itchen Abbas for the stamp at the church and met two pilgrims. They live locally and have been leap frogging their cars, so that they could spend their nights at home.
From there it was across fields. At one, we met two walkers who had turned back. They asked us how we felt crossing a field with a lone bullock in it. They were afraid to keep going.
“If you ignore them, they tend to ignore you”. They didn’t believe me and left us to continue. As I got closer, it wasn’t a bullock nor was it alone. There were two calves, and they didn’t pay us any attention.
At ‘Martyr Worthy’ (cool names around here) we stopped for a picnic at the church after getting the stamp. We kicked off our trainers and pulled off our wet socks to dry our feet in the sun.
The route was pretty much the same to ‘Kings Worthy’ then the Winchester outskirts became our scenery. A quick stop at the ‘King Alfred’ pub then the home stretch to Winchester Cathedral.
We got the stamp, had a walk around the ancient building; the resting place of St. Swithun. Bishop and royal advisor to Æthelwulf. He requested when he died, to be buried outside of the cathedral so his grave can be visited and rained upon.
The monks, a hundred years later on the 15th July, moved his remains indoors, resulting in 40 days and 40 nights of rain.
After checking in, we attended the acclaimed oldest pub in England, ‘The Royal Oak’. Once the home to Edward the confessor and refuge for Charles II. A seat of power in medieval England.
It was an easy day after the last three, with tomorrow’s target Eastleigh – a similar distance.
Stu's Camino 