Day Two!

Waking up this morning in Leintwardine I was beginning to feel that someone had it in for me, as the sun of last evening had given way to more driving rain. However, undeterred I ventured out to meet Peter Stretton who had brought Tim Phipers from Ashford Carbonell, who was going to join me with his dogs Purdy and Boris for the next leg. Neil also joined us for the first part with his dog Archie.

We bade farewell to Peter and set off at 9am - the rain, thankfully, now having stopped. Our first port of call was Downton on the Rock Church. We had made good progress, and arrived just after 10am. This was well timed, as the heavens began to open just as we got there. Once more, we were welcomed by a band of the faithful (see left) and enjoyed a glass of water and some very tasty bara brith cake.

As we left the church the rain was becoming more persistent and remained so for at least the next three quarters of an hour. On leaving Downton, our route took us off the road and onto a footpath across some fields. As you might imagine, the weather made this soggy going, and what with the rain and walking through sodden crops and undergrowth, my trousers by now were totally soaked, with the water dripping down into my normally waterproof boots. Yuk!
Shortly before we arrived at Bromfield, the rain stopped and the sun came out - hence the photograph of me, Tim, the dogs and Madelyn Carlyon, the churchwarden (right) shows us bathed in sunlight.



At Bromfield we were greeted again by Peter Stretton, who brought Tim's wife Sue to join us for the Bromfield-to-Ludlow section. We went in to Bromfield Church and admired its richly decorated chancel ceiling (see left).

My Team Vicar colleague, James Stewart was also there to greet us, and he invited us to the Vicarage for some lunch and a cup of tea. I was particularly glad of this, since it meant I could take of my boots and wring out my socks (see right).
James, God bless him, gave me a fresh pair of socks; meanwhile Sue had stuffed newspaper into the boots and they had dried a little during lunch. We bade farewell to Peter, and Tim, Sue and I set off for Ludlow - James also joined us for the first part of the walk before turning back to Bromfield. Half-way to Ludlow we were met by Susannah hall, the other churchwarden from Ashford Carbonell, and her dog BB. She walked with us as far as the end of the bread walk, which leads down to Ludford, then turned back to pick up her car which was at Dinham.



We arrived at Ludford at about 2.30pm. At the Church we found redecoration work in progress (see left).

Here two members of the congregation, Veronica Batsford and John Nash greeted us with more tea, and we posed in front of the memorial to Sir Job Charlton, who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 1672-1673 (see right).

We then popped over to the Charlton Arms (guess who it was named after) where Chrsitine Parry, another of my previous companions, had brought some residents of Ashford Carbonell to meet me.

After a brief chat with them Tim and I set off for Ashford Carbonell. The walk was one with which we are both familiar, and we got back in about an hour, just in time for another shower as we entered the village. Bidding farewell to Tim, I went on to the Church where my mum and dad, and two members of the congregation, joined me for evening prayer. Then it was a very short walk home!

So there we are. Two days down, three to go. I still feel fine; no aches, no blisters. The rain again failed to dampen my enthusiasm, which is being constantly maintained by the lovely people I am meeting en route. I look forward to tomorrow, especially since it is the shortest of all the legs!