Mrs Rutter put on a delightful breakfast in the B&B and, after a plate of poached eggs and many cups of coffee, I was off again at 9am. I had been told to keep an eye out for the distinctive Red Kite bird, which was introduced to the area. I did see them later on, but I saw mostly horses along the route.
This section of the walked proved to be quite hilly; although small, the approaches were very, very steep and the morning was filled with these little blighters. The first five miles of the walk were characterized by woodland, hill climbs and small open sections of open fields. I had noticed that the scale of open land was starting to decline - already everything felt more "developed" as I drew nearer to the home counties and London.
The number of stately homes were also increasing.
Through Gussett's Wood, then Great Wood, I eventually arrived in the picturesque village of Hambledon. Mrs Rutter told me that many films had and were being made in this village because of its unspoilt houses and streets. It was remarkably pretty and I enjoyed a freshly made sandwich overlooking the village church.
It took me some time to negotiate a field with a rather large bull in it. Thankfully, the large sign alerted me to him in time and I didn't get between him and his ladies.
I left the village and again climbed quite steeply into more woodland, which kept me in the shade of the very hot sun for another couple of hours. It was hard to navigate in the woods because the paths were numerous and I had to take a guess for most of it, but I eventually made it to Marlow for a very early finish at 3:30pm.
I checked into my B&B early, dumped my kit and spent a pleasant afternoon wandering around the town, resupplying on various painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs and sent a few thank you cards. Marlow is on the Thames, so it is a very busy tourist town. I watched a little of the cricket match being played while I eat supper; very English.
After six days of relentless sunshine, I was now very brown and looking a little wild don la beard. I started to feel a pang of disbelief that I had walked to the edge of London in six days and I only had another three days left. The time was going so quickly, but I was enjoying every single minute of the walk -- I didn't want it to end so soon. This was the first time I wondered if I could blag another week off work so that I could turn around at the finish and walk back home again!
Miles walked 15.64
hours walked 4hrs 48mins
Calories 1272
Steps 27988
Weather: Glorious
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