The Kineton & 'Halfway House' walk

Wow what a start to a walk both Dave and I were extremely hung over and we also started a lot later than normal at 2 p.m..
Doc leaf Liz had a very different weekend with the sad lost of her gran (r.i.p.) So she was feeling pretty drained from the start of the walk, after saying that though she will feature most in this blog for the obvious 'day after the night before' feeling from Dave and I. Ironically we started at the 'Halfway house' and ate first but no alcohol was taken, but I did get a full 'rare' roast beef. I was so hungry that I started to eat before taking a pic for the blog, by the time I had remembered the picture did not do it justice, as the meal was one of the very best roast dinners that i've had in a public house. We will return very soon, sadly I was so hung over that I could not finish it. Now this never happens, so I think there is a lesson for me there somewhere.
The walk started in earnest and with some groans all round mainly from Liz and I.
Hazel nuts were found and gathered up by Liz, this walk was to prove a foodie one but more of that later. . . We passed over a ford first which is in a very lovely setting at the edge of Kineton, this week I've started to read a 'navigation for walkers' book, so with my new found map reading skills decided to lead the walk. Off we went in the general direction of the excellently named 'Upper Slaughter' we passed the Cotswold farm park that I remember going to as a kid on school trips. After by passing said village we then had a decision to make shall we extend the walk or go the way we had intended, country curry Dave thought we should extend it but Liz, like me said we shouldn't. This was very wise as we were eventually gone for over 4 and a half hours. The whole walk was fairly flat in comparison to our normal hilly stuff, just as well really! But Liz this is no time for a Larry Lie Down. So Onwards we went and small horse's seemed to be the order of the day as they took a likening to liz.
On reaching Naunton we decided to pop in the 'Black horse' for a pint of BB, not fazed or frightened off from last night, (fools!) Liz had a half, good girl! I like a girl that drinks bitter, or as she called it a 'Pale ale'

I think the rest did us good as the walk did liven up some what. I had forgot to mention that we picked up some amazing maize earlier (sorry that was a bit corny) :-) This walk did turn into a little foraging episode with an abundance of free fruit on offer. In recent years i've been getting in to free food such a garlic, watercress & mushrooms etc, but today was amazing.
And after reaching 'Guiting Power' with the swing Liz in toe, The more we looked for fruit the more we found. Blackberries are everywhere at this time of year, and I keep meaning to bring something to carry them home in but never seem to remember. We did not identify all the stuff we ate but they tasted nice so we presumed they were ok to eat. The best was some small yellow cherry types but also some red ones too that looked like cherries but tasted like plums, then there was the delicious apples, Yum!

Eventually we did make it back, everyone was very tired, some of us moaned a bit, but I'll mention no names (liz) But considering that none of us were in great sprits at the start of the walk, we ended up much fitter and happier by the end.
Well Done!! Thanks for your continued support and nice comments it's time for bed for me and a jolly good rest before a double shift tomorrow.
Cheers Carl.