Day 7: Old Sodbury to Cold Ashton

Weather:   Sunny with clouds and a cold wind

Distance   covered today: 14.5km ( 9.1 mi)

Last night’s   B&B: The Dog Inn (£57.5)

% Complete:   96.2%

GPS satellite   track of today’s route: Day 7 (click!)

With the whole of Europe in economic chaos, it is very strange to be walking the peaceful and lovely hills and valleys of the Cotswolds. It puts things into perspective. Whatever happens, life will go on, though it is clear that there will be winners and losers. John and Yasmin have made Crete their home and have just invested a considerable sum in their magnificent house there.  They have been watching the unfolding crisis with great interest and they do have a very real interest in the outcome.

Once the worst of my head-ache had partlyworn off, I was fascinated to hear them talk of the problems that might affect them personally if the Greeks leave the Euro.  This was helped by me wanting to listen rather than talk, which itself was something of a necessary change.  John described the lot of many of the (mainly English) expats who currently live in Greece. Most of them have an income or pension from beyond Greece itself, so that a precipitous decline in the value of a new Drachma would not of itself be a cause for concern. There is every chance that inflation would run wild, but that too would not be too much of a problem for the same reason. The real problems would happen if Greece could not find the money to buy the oil they need for electricity production or fuel for cars and trucks. John and Yasmin have excellent insulation, a full tank of heating oil and a small generator, so they could hold out for a while, but the time might come in their isolated retreat when they would face some very difficult choices. Things for the locals would be much worse, and there is a tradition in Greece of the army stepping in….

We speculated about what effect such a scenario might have on Crete itself. For a start, imported food would almost instantly become unaffordable to the locals and would soon disappear from the shelves. The Cretans would very quickly have to revert to growing things themselves, just as they used to do in the good old days. The cheap Drachma would lead to a gradual increase in tourism and Crete would start to look pretty much as it did before this whole flirtation with the developed economies of the North. John thinks that the Cretans would actually have to learn to work again, and in his view the jury is still out on that!

To cap it all, there were rumours in the German press this morning that there is a gathering run on Greek banks, as everyone tries to get their money out of Greece before the music stops. Those banks could fail quite quickly, precipitating the crisis even sooner.

These unwelcome intrusions from the real world seemed somehow more appropriate as we crossed the M4 and gradually the changing scenery made us realise that we are indeed beginning to decompress on re-entry. I remember that feeling so well on reaching the Scottish lowland cities after my sojourn on the Pennines. Not that today didn’t have further delightful surprises for us.  For a start, we passed very close to Badminton. The famous horse trials were cancelled for the year just last week because of all the rain and the sodden ground. And yet we have hardly had to put our rain jackets on during this entire expedition. How lucky have we been??!!

We also passed Dyrham Park with its impressive house and all the attending gardens and church. Earlier we had passed what looked to be an equally impressive pile at Dodington Park, though we could hardly see it through the trees. It becomes obvious that the land between Bristol and London has been very wealthy long before the construction of the M4 corridor.

Talking of which, this is the third time I’ve passed over the M4 on my long-distance walks; first time was on the Ridgeway, then on LEJOG. I almost passed over it a fourth time on the Three Castles Path from Windsor to Winchester, but of course that path starts just south of the motorway in Windsor.  I will have to look further afield for walks in future: I have pretty much cased the joint down here!

Yasmin thinks the next path should be through the winelands of Southern Germany. She says the countryside is beautiful, the B&Bs uniformly excellent and much better value and the wine surprisingly palatable.  She has enjoyed this walk so much that she is prepared to do all the spadework. Sounds good to me!

But first we have to get to Bath to meet Veronica. Tomorrow is our last day, so we will have to celebrate that tonight, and then of course we will have to celebrate being reunited with Veronica tomorrow evening. This really is an exceedingly tough life!

I caught him just after he caught it!

Yasmin powering up yet another hill

Yasmin and John enjoying a picnic lunch

Crossing the M4 with a military convoy below

 

Strip Lynchets, mediaeval furrow and ridge agricultural constructions, unbelievably preserved through the ages

The impressive Dyrham Park