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Upper Hill Farm to Wood Stanway. 23km 8hrs.
After breakfast with Paul and Helen, we had a squirrel feeding session, where Paul fed his pet squirrel, Cyril. Apparently he heard a commotion about six weeks ago and when he went outside, he found Cyril on the ground having fallen, or been pushed from a tree sixty feet high! At that stage, Cyril still hadn't opened his eyes and was dehydrated, either because he couldn't feed, or his mother decided not to feed him? The irony is that Paul used to shoot the grey squirrels as pests and now he's nurturing one that thinks he is his mother!
Simon the Parrot was a bit intimidated by Cyril and sat quietly on the table watching him feed, without any smart comments. I think he would have liked to have a suck on the bottle of milk Cyril had, but was too polite to ask. The way Cyril ran around so fast, up Paul's hand, along his arm and around the back of his neck amazed Simon. I think he was a bit worried that Cyril might jump on him!
Eventually we got on the road about 9.15am and headed downhill across Prestbury Hill Reserve, up Cleeve Hill Common to the high point of the Cotswolds at Cleeve Hill ( 1019 ft or 310m). It was pretty windy up there and would be very dangerous with mist or fog as there was a big drop off the escarpment and off of smaller cliffs of abandoned quarries. We made it across the golf course without being hit by flying balls and so to Belas Knap Long Barrow where we stopped for a break. This burial mound is apparently 5,500 years old and Neolithic tribes buried their dead there. Archaeologists have excavated thirty-eight bodies so far. We sat on the grass in a portal chamber and stretched our wearily legs. Simon flew around a bit and tried to find a way inside the mound through a small hole in the rock wall. He said he couldn't squeeze through, but in fact I think he was a bit scared as it was pretty dark inside.
Having rested and refuelled, we walked downhill to Winchcombe where we had a coffee and sandwich. On the way again, we went down Puck Pit Lane to Hailes and the Abbey ruins and a pretty church to Wood Stanway where we finally found Orchard Cottage just after 5.00pm. It had been a long day and Melvyn and Anne's cottage was quite small, while Mervyn's personality was almost as big as Paul's.
As a Spanish speaking farrier he explained how he travelled all over, even as far as Mexico shoeing horses. He explained how you have to shoe horses every six weeks and the difference between horse and donkey hooves. Simon the Parrot was enthralled by all the things he never knew about horses hooves. Mervyn modestly mentioned how English farriers are the best in the world. Despite the long discussion with Mervyn, despite the cramped rooms and no wi-fi the good news was that at last we had a bath!
Hopefully, Mervyn is a better farrier than a driver as we had a nervous drive to the Pheasant Inn where we had a pleasant dinner. Melvyn came to collect us and drove home quite slowly on the dark lanes, to the frustration of some other drivers. After such a long tiring day we crashed into bed and so to sleep.
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