Ripples

LETJOG – Day 17: Thursday 3 June – TEWKESBURY to WORCESTER (19 miles)

Today proved to be a fantastic walking day – pleasantly warm and bright, with a shroud of light cloud blocking any excess heat and a gentle cooling breeze. The walk itself, whilst generally flat, was never short of interest, following the Severn Way for the most part, and interspersed with occasional sections on lanes, tracks and woodland paths. Throughout the day the Malvern Hills dominated our northwestern vista, rising before us in a slate-grey haze during the morning, then resolving into clearer focus on our left as we approached from the south and as the light improved with the progress of the day.

Walking through the villages of Ripple and Ryall in the morning, we reached Severn Stoke for a drink and a snack lunch in the garden of the Rose and Crown, a most pleasant departure from my usual sandwich by the wayside. Moving on after our break the river views really opened up through a beautiful section of the path across meadows grazed by horses and wetlands populated by bevies of swans, the way leading eventually into the village of Kempsey, and thence along the river bank to the centre of Worcester.

And tonight, in Worcester, we went for a super curry at Massalla. But beforehand, a couple of beers at WintripBrewCo’s Oil Basin Brewhouse in the city centre, meeting Patch and Jamie to talk brewing and walking for a few minutes. Good luck to Patch in his Lakeland 100 challenge!

So tomorrow morning Mark returns to collect his car from Gloucester as I proceed on my northward journey. It’s been great to have you along Mark, for these two fine walking days along the Severn – thanks so much for joining me. I’ll leave you with these two photos – I couldn’t resist the second one!