Day 6

 For some unknown reason, I didn’t sleep particularly well last night. I had ear plugs in to cancel out the noise of the wind, but I just couldn’t settle. It was nothing to do with the site, it was perfect.


It was just my brain deciding to do a bit of spring cleaning! 

Anyway, I got up at 7:30 but by the time I’d packed everything into my backpack, it was 9:00 by the time I set off. 

Immediately, there was a tortuous climb up to the Tyndale monument above the village. 

There was then a bit more woodland walking before a steep descent into Wotton under Edge.  I had a walk around the town trying to find a place for breakfast before finding Bunters Cafe, where I had a ‘breakfast’ sandwich and coffee.
Obviously, there was then another seriously steep climb out of Wotton up to Wortley Hill. It was brutal in places and to compound the pain, initially you didn’t even get a view! 

The path then dropped down into Alderley. I was expecting to see lots of mansions and footballers wives, but it turned out to be a different Alderley😂 All I saw was this cute Highland calf having a snooze!

The trail then went along a narrow valley before another steep climb up to Clay Hill and on to the Somerset Monument.
I then diverted off the path into Hawkesbury Upton, to take on essential fluids! 
After that little pick-me-up, I was able to bang out a few quick miles on a fairly level plateau to Horton. 

The trail then went through the villages of Little & Old Sodbury, before heading through Doddington Park, home to James Dyson of vacuum cleaner fame! 


I then climbed up to Tormarton, where there is a hotel that allows camping within their grounds. It was my intention to camp, but I was such a sweaty mess by the time I arrived, I really needed a shower (which isn’t generally available for campers). In the end the deal for a room, dinner and breakfast was too good to refuse, so the tent is staying in my backpack and I’ve got a double bed instead! 
I’m not sure exactly how far I’ve walked today. The ‘Relive’ app on my iPhone had a funny 5 minutes between the Tyndale monument and Wotton under Edge and stopped recording. My plotting of the route shows 17 miles, but my watch seems to think I walked 20 miles! Whatever, I know I walked more than I’d like and was shattered when I reached Tormarton, especially having climbed approximately 2300ft as well. 

The plan for tomorrow is to get to the finish line in Bath. It will be another 17 miles and 1800ft of climbing! 

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