Brothers In Arms

Posted bynickletjogPosted inDiary

LETJOG E2W – Day 14: Saturday 27 April – BINTON to WORCESTER (21.7 miles)

Arboreal sculpture

Well, I have some company tonight, my brother Tim, who is joining me on my LETJOG E2W walk for the next two days, as we travel across Worcestershire and into Herefordshire on my ever-westward path. It is great to have your company Tim, and I’m sure everyone will understand if my Blogs are a little briefer for a while!

This morning a route march; ten miles along lanes, from my overnight stop at Binton to Flyford Flavell village . . .
. . . then things got more interesting as I traversed the farmland, with three diversions (two enforced by stream and railway bridge closures, and one due to poor navigation on my part), before I crossed the M5 Motorway and walked into Worcester city centre

Worcester is the point on my E2W route where I cross the path of my LETJOG 2021 ‘End to End’ trek, and so this crossroads has a certain relevance to me as I continue my current journey. Nearly three years ago, on Thursday 3 June 2021 to be precise, I stayed in Worcester with my friend Mark from Berkhamsted, following two days of northward walking together from Gloucester along the Severn Way – our experience is recorded in my Blog titled ‘Ripples’ from the time, which you can read on the Blog tab – if you are prepared to scroll down far enough through my previous posts. This is the story of how today unfolded.

A picture-book cottage in Temple Grafton . . .
. . . where I fear that I awoke the alpacas
Onto farm tracks – just briefly . . .
. . . past a tractor junkyard . . .
. . . and across the stream at Wixford
The gatehouse at Dunnington
Just six miles from Evesham, the apple orchards in blossom
Mass wisteria
Waysides of bluebells and cowslips
The postbox in Radford . . .
. . . and the local rookery
Timeless living
A horse-drawn millstone
The pond at Flyford Flavell . . .
. . . and off the roads at last . . .
. . . for a first distant view of the Malvern Hills
The woodland path with views aplenty . . .
. . . and then over the fields to Upton Snodsbury
A replacement footbridge, not quite where it appears to be on the map!
My fault this time – a diversion around field edges, having missed a turn . . .
. . . and then a closed pedestrian railway bridge . . .
. . . that forced a lengthy diversion to a level crossing
Through Spetchley Park . . .
. . . across the fields . . .
. . . and into Worcester for a quick walking tour of the city centre and the cathedral

And so another score of miles is under my belt as I continue to head west on my LETJOG E2W path. Today the weather spared me the downpours of the forecast, as I enjoyed some fine countryside, and of course some fine company tonight. Thank you for joining me Tim, and I am looking forward to the next two days of walking and talking!

Piggy back sheep

My Blog heading today ‘Brothers In Arms’ is the title track from British rock band Dire Straits’ fifth studio album, released in 1985. The song, like all of those on the album, is written by Mark Knopfler, (although with a co-writing credit to fellow singer-songwriter Sting on the track ‘Money for Nothing’). Knopfler, Dire Sraits’ lead vocalist and ‘fingerstyle’ guitarist, has been ranked 27th on US magazine Rolling Stone’s list of the ‘100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time’, whilst the album ‘Brothers In Arms’ was the first such recording to sell over a million copies in CD format.

It seems that we have booked into the Party Quarter in Worcester tonight!

2 thoughts on “Brothers In Arms”

  1. Upton Snodbury – villages with names like this lift the spirit and have a Dad’s Army like humour. Another one I particularly like is Little Snoring in Norfolk. Shame about the long diversion but at least you weren’t drenched! 🍻 To the Brothers in Arms.

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