Some were probably put off by the lack of lunch pub and the threat of rain but not this hardy 4 ( Well, hardy 3 and Mr Tiger).

The weather was sun and cloud am sun and showers pm “Not as bad as it could have been” said Mr Cheerful, later. None of the promised lightning - except maybe in the feet of the faster 3. Fshoom!

Mr Tiger was less fit than he thought he was and took his orange and lime as well as any available shortcut. He was so tired at the end he couldn’t be bothered going the extra few yards to find a pub. Imagine! He did the whole walk on his battered cod.

Without a sit down, without any cider.Two others joined him on the platform, having made that leap and drunk that drink.

The 16:11 was 30 m late. We think the other made the 15:11

Loads of flowers on the way round. What’s that, reader? You want a list? Oh dear. Poppy, chicory, scabious, little yellow not-dandelions, big yellow not-dandelions, knapweed, buttercup,, bryony, umbellifera, the works. And butterflies (no list available).

@mr m tiger. Was the long blackberry hedge near the start still there?

There is still a long hedge near the the start, yes, but I didn’t assess it for provender. I was more focussed on how far the others were ahead.

11 of us were at Charlbury Station, and 3 walked in the proper direction from Hanborough, so 14. Three had lunch at Finstock after a few miles. I was intending to go to the pub however inadvertantly missed the path to the village just after the Cornbury Estate due to excessive conversing with another walker. I did not have a map, and cxould not get my Mapsme to work, and could not read my back to front instructions (is there an app that can reverse the directions, however I have just read, belatedly, that the walk directions are written both ways).

The weather was sunny to overcast, a bit chilly at times. The earth was very hard, and the paths are generally long stretches, rather than forever varying.

I found some food in the store at Stonesfield. The pub there has been tragically closed for a while. Seeing a report from a year ago, the pub has been bought and it seemed as though there might be people living there, could not be certain. For quite a big village with no pub to go to is a tradegy as far as I am concerned, and for us walkers also as it is about half way through the walk. I would have thought that any changes need planning permission for it not be to be a pub! I note the locals put enough money to have have bought it, however seemed to have been outbid.

Three of us picnicked by the river Everlode, and others did elsewhere in the shade.

We walked on in varying groups meeting or not along the way. We bumped into the three going the proper way after Stonesfield. The Palace was palace-like to look at with grand bridge and lakes. Some went to look more closely.

Three of us had a pint and a half of 'DNA' from the Charles Wells pub, the George and Dragon, at Long Hanborough, which is a lovely pub, and then it was 10 mins to the station. An uneventful journey home on the 17.19, rather than the eventful journey there where the carriage was packed with Sunderland fans travelling to Oxford (result 1-2). The 09.50 train was packed with many many people standing, beware.

Has anyone booked a pub in Charlbury at the end of the walK?

Was going to join but it looks like the 9:50 train out is sold out. Packed with walkers I guess!

It looks like I could still buy a super off-peak ticket. Can one buy a super-off-peak then take a train that's listed as sold out?

...just when you thought you had seen everything...

I have no idea whether GWR will let you book tickets at the machine in P'ton in the morning, but that seems unlikely/illogical if that train is supposedly 'full'.

Chiltern though are running the 09.20 from Marylebone to Oxford, connecting to the posted train from Paddington, which beyond Oxford most certainly won't be full, however they define 'full'...

Following earlier comments, I did indeed travel on the earlier train from Marylebone to avoid potential ticket problems at Paddington, but was the only one doing so. The others reported no problems buying a ticket for the journey at the machines in P'ton, getting onto the train (ok, it departed from Platform 1 which has no ticket gates) and no inspection on the train itself. At Oxford, plenty of folk got off, showing that indeed it was probably 'full' by Covid standards, but hardly anyone on, so - as expected - the train then was not 'full' by anyone's definition of the word. What GWR are trying to achieve by signalling online that one can't get onto a certain train (not even via Marylebone as I did - even that ticket variant wasn't bookable online, but then doing nothing to enforce it at Paddington, is anyone's guess.

As for the walk: beautiful as always, no mud, plenty of signs of spring, some very new lambs, a hare in a field, bright sunshine, pleasant company (many of whom had not done this walk before). We picnicked on that grassy slope by the River Evenlode just before Stonesfield, stopped at The Plough Inn in Finstock for a drink in the garden (knowing that would cost us the 16.12 train) and then had plenty of time for a second stop in Charlbury at the Rose & Crown. 17.12 train back.

sunny and warm 7

[Plus 2 others, walking this independently at the same time, in about the same time.]

6 off a not very busy train (January must indeed be downtime for tourists) in drizzle initially. After 20 minutes or so the waterproofs could be stowed away though, and the rest of the day stayed dry but overcast , even getting a little brighter towards the end of the walk.

The morning is relatively featureless apart from Blenheim Park and the various meetings of the Evenlode River, with the remainder being mainly field boundaries and country lanes, but - with virtually no mud - even those were pleasant enough. The soil out there is of a brownish/reddish/orange tone, so the ploughed fieldscapes looked quite attractive in fact. 4 had food at The White Horse, with the quality being good, but again the front-of-house gave the distinct impression of not quite knowing how to run a pub. Charming, all in, though.

The afternoon has a more continuously pretty landscape, and we breezed along, despite a stiff breeze in our face. We saw a pigeon falling out of the sky right next to us, dead, apparently having been attacked by a wake of kites (8 of them riding on the one updrift), a large herd of deer in Lord Rotherwick's Cornbury Park, the Lord himself being helicoptered in as we passed (or maybe it was just the kids being dropped off from boarding school?) and some magnificently woolly brown sheep.

In Charlbury we were greeted by more than a handful of EU flags on houses and some EU buntings as well, with no Union Jacks in sight. A Remainer's enclave in deep Oxfordshire?

At the church we could turn left for the 16.07, or right for the pubs. We turned left.

At Oxford then, an apparition: a SWC regular got on, returning to The Smoke after a day of organ tuition at a College.

We then got delayed due to a trespasser (or maybe a signalling problem, as a later announcement suggested), but were still back at P'ton at 1/4 to 6.

Ealing broadway residents take the 10.05 and change at Slough.

Given the woeful Wednesday weather forecast (third in a row!), just 2 resilient regulars on this picturesque ramble through the Cotswold. Initially, the forecast seemed to unfold as promised as we encountered a steady stream of persistent rain en route from Charlbury to Finstock during which we interestingly observed the ongoing dismantling of the Wilderness Festival at the Cornbury Estate. We soon arrived at the early lunch pub and practically had the charming Plough Inn to ourselves and so enjoyed our main courses we opted to stay and have a second "chocolate course" which did not disappoint either....During lunch there were some tantalizing periods of dryness outside -- and, amazingly, when we set off for the bulk of the walk to Hanborough conditions were largely dry with atmospheric dark clouds and some blue skies . The route in this direction is very scenic with lots of great vistas. Definitely recommended....We paused in Long Hanborough for a quick half before catching the 18:44.....back into rainy London...

Now I might do the Walk on Saturday. But I can't Guarantee I will. I have been to the Cotswold before. But only Boulton on the Water. But it wasn't a Walk on the day I went.

The Plough Inn at Finstock looks to be worth a visit during the afternoon - a traditional 18C thatched village inn, with 1 regular beer and 2 changing beers, open all day. In Charlbury it seems there are only 3 pubs - the Old Three Horseshoes (formerly the Farmers), the Bull Inn, and the Rose & Crown with "one of the best beer selections in the area with eight handpumped ales plus six traditional ciders and perry".

19 sunny with a cool =breeze

19 off the train from Paddington. Who knows how many were left behind in London? Queues of people waiting to board at each door of the 3-carriage train meaning a bit of a crush to get on. Fortunately a good number of people alighted from the train to enjoy a day out in Slough, so things were slightly more comfortable from that point onwards.

A lovely sunny morning walking through gently rolling countryside. Pretty hamlets with plenty of daffodils making it feel like a true spring morning. The pre-lunch highlights were walking through the grounds of Blenheim Palace and later the sight of a rape oil seed field beginning to turn yellow. Spring has arrived!

The group spread out and split up over the course of the morning, with one sub-group taking what they described as a detour (shortcut?) that meant they were the first to arrive at the lunch pub. About 15 people dined there. An aesthetically pleasing interior and nice garden, but the food was a little underwhelming.

This walker and 3 like-minded individuals felt compelled to check out The Plough Inn at Finstock, a teeny bit off route. A pleasant hostelry, with what looked like a decent food menu and a friendly landlord. After a swift half, got back en route and enjoyed the pleasant last hour to Charlbury. More easy hills and nice views and a huge herd of deer in Cornbury Park.

The group arrived in Charlbury in dribs and dabs, with some taking tea at The Bell Hotel ( an 'inn' probably a better description than 'hotel'), some at CAMRA-approved Rose and Crown, some had a wander around the village, and some took the first train available. A few on earlier trains, with the majority of the group on the 18:02 train back to London after taking it easy in Charlbury. A very nice day out in good company, as always.

A subgroup of 7 did the 'detour' before lunch - about 6 miles making the walk more balanced for those seeking a short cut. As the official short cut at #49 makes the afternoon very short but the morning very long (8miles). It is wort hnoting this for future outing of this walk.

12 on this walk on a day of sunshine and heavy showers Actually we were not doing badly on the showers for most of the walk, with just one as we approached lunch. But then near the end of the walk, where we had a proper drenching: a good test for the waterproofs!

This turned out to be a lovely walk at this time of year. There was lush grass everywhere and lots of flowers (in particular pretty blue meadow cranesbill that one doesn't see much in the south east proper). There were ringlet and marbled white butterflies. The sun and dark clouds made for some wonderful lighting effects and when the sun was shining it felt steamy hot. Even an afternoon section (just before the downpour) where we walked for about a kilometre up a valley through chest high grass and other vegetation was rather entrancing - like exploring in some remote part of Africa. The directions had their problems. We should have taken notes and made some changes really, but I am afraid this idea occurred to us too late...

It was of course nice to see Blenheim Palace and walk up its processional way to the monument. The lunch pub was very friendly and had a nice garden, though due to the threat of showers we sat inside. The publican was friendly but his pub was totally empty apart from us, so one wonders how long it will stay open. We had a long and interesting debate over lunch about certain events dominating the news.

Close to Charlbury it sounded like a rock concert was in progress. This turned out to be a beer festival in a field by the station - apparently an annual event. Some popped into this for tea while waiting for the train: Four of us went fordrinks in one of the very busy pubs in the village and then spent an hour at the festival before getting the 8.02 train.

All in all a great day out and a bit different from the normal SWC walk.

the Bell in Charlbury does excellent teas and coffees and when I was there midweek earlier this month there were cakes.

The pub has a "hen party" at 1.30 so the place should be avoided. Fortunately, this walk has one of the best picnic spots going so pick up those sarnies on the way through Paddington and enjoy lunch by the river. Also there is a local shop in the village.

Why avoid it? Could be fun!

I'm told 4. Slow progress through Blenheim Park because of a triathlon event. Would be nice to have a first-hand report...