Day 11: Aldermaston to Crofton, UK: Move Aside, Trail of the Coeur D'Alenes. Flash: Bush 1 Dodie 0 - Grampies on the Go - Again! Summer 2012 - CycleBlaze
After leading us beside the canal for much of the day, the NCN Route 4 decided to head off through a series of towns a bit to the south.
There was Kintbury, and then Hungerford. Hungerford occupies a strategic position as a crossroads in the Bath to London axis, and the Oxford to Salisbury route. The town has a long pedestrian only stretch of the main street. It is lined with interesting shops and filled with people.
One of the shops was Boots the Chemist. Good thing, because before saying goodbye, the canal path had a crack at Dodie. Actually it was a big bush leaning halfway into the path. Dodie, stoked on fruit from Newbury, seemed to joust with it. It gave her a shove towards the water, and Dodie wisely abandoned what would have been the ship. That is, she ditched the bike. Only thing, she used the same elbow as last time as a brake:
The chemist set Dodie up with a dressing, and she should be ok. When Dodie went in, leaving me with the bikes, I asked her to also get me some cookies. No cookies in a Chemist! Humpph, at London Drugs back home you can also get a computer and a set of lawn chairs.
Hungerford is a great market town, with a pedestrian mall covering most of its main business street
Now brick row houses appeared, and also thatched cottages. Thatching is unique, and obviously required a lot of skill to do. Here is a sign from the pros:
I wonder if Reed is the good stuff and Straw the budget solution, or the reverse?
Another change is that all fields now seem to be fenced. With evening coming, we began to wonder about where our next wild camp would come from. Dodie was actually dreaming about a B&B, since was again a little shocky after her defeat by the bush. When we crossed the canal again, I suggested setting up by a lock. But Dodie still wanted to look for that B&B. We asked some walkers, and actually got directed to a likely place.
Suddene Farm was at the end of long cobbled drive, and the lady did have a room available. However, the 68 pound price seemed quite steep. Instead, we gave 7 pounds for a spot in an unserviced meadow. It's not quite what Dodie wanted, but there is beautiful countryside all around, and except for the lack of a bath, toilet, bed, tv, table and suchlike luxuries, we are really comfortable here. Dodie is watching Big Bang Theory on the cell phone and I am typing on this computer. So in most critical ways its just like home!
