Day 38 Part 2 - Praying with Odda

(continued from part 1)

The pub where I'd planned a swift half turned out to have become a Chinese restaurant. The staff were obviously disappointed that I wasn't a dining customer but served me a nicely chilled half-pint of cider.

I decided I'd had enough of nettles and took the narrow lane to Sandhurst, a long drawn-out kind of village. I wondered how these homes had fared during the awful floods of 2007.

At Brawn Farm I followed the bridle path to the top of Sandhurst Hill, where an inviting bench stood beneath a tree, next to the trig. point. It made a fabulous place for a rest. Under the scorching sun, the hills and vales of Gloucestershire were laid out in all directions. Creation in all its beauty.

The downhill path was trickily uneven as the sun had baked the hoof-stomped mud into ankle-turning terrain.

At the foot of Wainlode Hill I stopped at the Red Lion for a late lunch. Having written the day before about the evolution of the pub lunch, it was ironic that I ate a cheese and onion sandwich on white margarine-spread bread. The plain food helped the taste of Wickwar Cooper's bitter though, a perfectly balanced 'chewy' beer.

I plugged in my earphones and listened to the radio commentary on the FA Cup Final. Chelsea went a goal down as Everton scored after 25 seconds.

Another narrow lane took me into Apperley, a village of two halves. The southernmost part was a country estate village, whose cricketers played on an attractive green surrounded by haymaking. Two machines worked in partnership. The hay had already been mown, so the first gathered and baled it. The second picked up the bales, held and turned them while two spinning arms wrapped them in tough plastic film. It was as good to watch as the cricket beyond.

The brick semi-detached homes of north Apperley contrasted with the south and led me out of the village towards Deerhurst.

I stopped at Odda's Saxon Chapel, sitting in the cool and dark to rest and pray.

(continues in Part Three)