Cottswold walk 1

Now, those of you who have been reading my blog and not just looking at the photos might remember that I presented a photo of a modern piece of art that was installed at the Salisbury Cathedral.

I didn't get this piece at all.

It looked completely out of place to me.

So I told you I would enlist the help of my artist friend William H Luke to explain this thing to me.

Well... he didn't disappoint.

Here's the original pic:


Well, blow me down.

This thing turns out a) to be a very important piece, and b) was produced by one of England's most important 20th century sculptor, Barbara Hepworth.

It is called "Construction (Crucifiction)".

It is such an important work that they transported it to be installed temporarily in the Rijksmuseum Gardens in Amsterdam for them to ogle at it there.

Here's an extract of a newspaper article from April 2022 when it was happening:


So this thing is a modern art representation of the crucifiction.

I don't know why I didn't get it to start with.

So there it is - another confirmation that I need to be careful to not be too quick to label things as crap if I don't understand them.

After spending some time getting to understand the work, I started to see it's value.  And  I appreciate it's significance in that there is an important place for modern art, alongside an eight hundred year old cathedral.

In fact, Bill told me a whole lot more how modern art is being embraced within churches and cathedrals.

I suppose I should be embarrassed how little I appreciate of this world, but thanks to Bill, I'll be less critical of these works going forward.

OK... I'm very glad I followed through with what I said I'd do,

Next, we're off for the 8 day walk through the Cotswolds.

We arrived at Moreton-In-Marsh without incident.

The train from Paddington to Moreton-In-Marsh was very full, but luckily I had a pre-booked seat.  

A) We had the seat, and B) it saved us about 40% of the ticket price by pre-booking it.  So that's a useful travel tip for anyone wanting to escape Melbourne's drizzle and experience England's georgeous weather.

Who would have believed me?  But you can't argue with the photos - one sunny day after another so far except for the odd grey morning.

Reflecting back about our 4-week UK Circumnavigation, Ruth and I can honestly say we had a great time.  A few lows, and maybe we stayed a day too long in some places, but the itinerary she put together was superb.

I especially loved the cathedrals and the modern artwork.

But now we're joining up with long-time close friends Bill, Wendy, and Christine.  The 5 of us are going to follow self guided walk organised through Macs Adventures.  They carry our bags from each overnight accomodation spot to the next.

All we have to do is follow their app as we walk between 10 and 20km each day.

What can go wrong?

Maybe I shouldn't have written that!

Here we are, happy as happy can be as we set off on day 1:

I think Ruth was very happy to have her dear girlfriends to talk to rather than me for a change. That's what accounts for that beaming smile she is displaying here.

So day one was Moreton-In-Marsh to Bourton-on-the-Water.  A mere 17.5km walk with a bit of up and down thrown in. 

It's not just wilderness walking - we go through towns and get to enjoy the look of quaint houses like this one:


And this one:

You'll be pleased to know that many of these little places we walked through had quaint churches too. 

At my first opportunity I wanted to address a congregation to let them know how I had recently been looked after by the higher power:

I suppose you can tell most of the congregation left before I could complete what I had to say.

Here are my three favourite ladies for the week:

Harry Potter fans might recognise this door!

And I thought Harry Potter was a work of fiction!

So on we went... for 17.5km.  Here are some scenes I have captured for you:


Dragonfly in a river:


Day 1 was completed when we arrived at Bourton-on-the-Water. Nice town hey?

Day two's walk was 20km from Bourton-on-the-Water to Winchcombe.

We noticed this huge grain reaping tractor. The local farmers were being briefed on it's latest features:

OMG... they even had golf courses here.  I decided to have a practice swing.  This drive went 300 YARDS plus!

At the next town, a coffee to celebrate that wonderful drive down the fairway:


I hope you can take in another beautiful scene:

We'd walked 20km but still couldn't get away from castles and sheep:

Day two done.  You couldn't tell we'd just completed 40km in 2 days:

But maybe you need a rest... More to come when I get off the couch.

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