June 29, Perhsore to Ashton Underhill, no, Broadway

 The plan for the day was to walk from Pershore to Ashton Underhill, a distance of some 10+ miles with much hillage and then to take a taxi to Broadway.  Arrived at Ashton Underhill, I thought, hmm, I think I will betake myself to Sedgebarrow, the next town along the route, some 2 1/2 miles distant, to see how pretty it is and whether it merits an out and back from Broadway tomorrow.  (It wasn't and it didn't).  HOWEVER, I could not get a taxi from anywhere, and it was super hard to make a phone call as Vodafone does not serve that town well.  The few local residents walking dogs or working outside were not helpful.  There was only one solution:  walk the last however many miles to Broadway.  And so I did, making the mileage for the day more than 18 and the step count according to Alex, 51,514, but since I did some extra at the end, unintentional, may I add, it was even higher, but who is counting!  At least the Ashton Underhill-Broadway segment was flat. 

Alex and Alex started out three hours after I did and we had somewhat different experiences.  Don't forget to read  their lively account (day 7) ; here are my highlights of the day.

Forewarned:

I determined to engage in no mischief.

The threatening cat I did not encounter:

but I was chased by six yapping dogs.  Fortunately, the farmer was around and reined them in.  Granted, the barkers were not large creatures, but small ones bite, too.

Riverboat at rest on the Avon:

Phone booth converted to town library at I forget where:

House:

My friends, the cows, greeting me:

Sheep with a very bad haircut or very bad affliction:

There is a viewpoint on this walk that is a tower, tall and high (redundancy is my friend) whose function is to inform you that the view in that very spot is superlative.  And it was.  It was also very windy, chilly, and threatening rain all day. At times the rain did more than threaten, but not at the tower.  Anyway, in these not so hospitable conditions were three lively ladies enjoying themselves to the max, drinking Prosecco while their children were in school:

On parade:

And in formation:

In repose:

Not cows, but fortunately an electric fence separated them from me:

Fields of gorgeous blue flowers blowing in the wind.  Alex informed me that they are flax plants:

By the time I reached Broadway, I had walked about 11 hours. It should not have taken that long but there was hangup at one point where I spent about half an hour looking for an invisible, unmarked path and about twenty minutes trying to get a taxi in Sedgebarrow.   Of a truth, though, the first part of the walk to Ashton Underhill was absolutely magnificent, and even though the weather conditions were not ideal, but grey, cool, windy and a bit rainy make such an effort much easier than sunny and humid.  I will let you now see how Alex and Alex fared, but I will reveal that we were, all three, quite gratified by our efforts of the day.