July 27 Marlow

 I had a circular walk all planned out for today except 1) the weather was iffy, 2) it was difficult to figure out where, exactly, the walk started—OK, so I could have worked a little harder on that  3) where ever that was, it was some distance from where I am. It made me nervous...I did not want to be who-knows-where, eight miles distant in torrential rain, not knowing how tricky the route might be, so I opted for a tamer plan:  do a different circular walk, but as an out-and-back of the first part.  The reason: the "back" part ran along the Thames, and while that would be lovely for someone who is not walking more than 200 miles of Thames, I preferred an inland option.  It was no great shakes of a walk, but it was fine and I got over 17 miles in for the day, which feels like nothing. 

Shortly after starting out, this advert:

Oh, man, when you have been screwed, help is available seven days a week?!  Who knew?!

Too bad that did not apply to my problem of the day:  I realized that I had left my rain pants in Henley.  Now that is a bummer.  So, when walking through some VWG (very wet grass) I pushed down my socks and tightened my gators so tight that they became tourniquets, but it worked. My pants got soaked but my insoles were saved.  Then, when back in Marlow, I went to the local version of REI—it so was not like REI— and bought a new pair, not quite the same quality.  Very on the cheap, but it was all they had.  "What size are you?"  the guy asked.  I wanted to say "XXL," but replied, "What is the smallest you have?"  "An eight."  "I don't know British sizes.  Is that the smallest?"  "No. six is, but we don't have any sixes."  I tried them on; perfect for a reed who is 5'10".  It was those or nothing, so I took them.  They do have one great feature: they are definitely waterproof, which means that you will sweat to death if you have to wear them in hot weather.

As I was walking through an area called the Woodland Trust, I saw a placard:

Many training camps with trench systems were se up in the UK in 1914 and 1915 to teach new army recruits the skills needed to take to the front lines. This site contains the best and most complete set of training trenches left in the UK and plays an important role in recording the history of that time

There are around 1400m of trenches here, dug 2m deep and 2m wide, which were constructed in June 1915 by troops from the Grenadier Guards (4th Battalion) under the command of Colonel Corry, probably with help from other troops and possibly local people. The 'front line' was likely to have been constructed on the west side.

The trenches were extensively surveyed in 2005 by Archaeology in Marlow over a total area of 2.4 hectares (6 acres), when many features such as machine gun posts, fire-bays and forward trenches were identified.

It is really a jolt to realize that these were not always quiet woodlands set aside for the sole purpose of enjoyment.  It was possible to see the remnants of trenches, but they have filled in with leaves and such so they are quite shallow now. 

Some sights in the woods.  

Fungus that looks like shmurah matzah:

Tree down:

Part of a different downed tree repurposed as art:

Sights not in the woods.  

A clump of fat, red berries in the grass:

Red berries on a bush:

Red berries are so happy making!

A yellow-green field:

One thing that cannot be recored are the smells in fields and woods.  Just heavenly.

By and by I came to the turn around point at Humbledon Weir:

I noticed a few people congregating outside the Post Office, which often functions as a General Store.  "Hmmm, maybe I should check that out."  I bought an Almond Magnum (note to self: stick to Classic; the chocolate coating is better).  A jolly looking fat man sitting at a table eating some sort of breakfast pastry, gave me a disapproving snort as I unwrapped the ice cream at 9:30 a.m.  "Didn't anyone tell you," I said to him, "This is the best hiking food there is!"  He laughed and I went on my way back to Marlow.