Day 20 - Tewkesbury to Worcester
Oh dear...the weather has finally broken but I've got a great tan so far (even if I have lines!). Definitely going to be needing the waterproofs and donned long leggings for the first time in 2 weeks (they actually came in handy for defence against nettles too!). Bob definitely felt guilty over loosing my booking so no charge for the night which was great. Needed to pick up the Severn Way but this was currently on the other side of the river so followed footpaths and bridleways across Shuthonger Common (one point I had to go all the way round a field as they were spraying it with something - definitely didn't want to get a mouthfull of that!). Back over the M5 (if I didn't know that I was still travelling northwards I could have sworn I was going round in circles) and through a lovely old, thatched village of Uckinghall. There was a lot of soil quarrying just afterwards but the lakes that had formed or been formed as a result, hosted a whole load of birdlife : herons, swans, ducks, curlew, lapwing, Canada geese (which are probably the only ones I could immediately recognise). I missed the footpath somewhere along the way and ended up running / walking ('cos the fields were ploughed up to the edge and very uneven which made safe running virtually impossible) round 2 sides of a field before crossing illegally over a barbed wire fence into a Christmas tree plantation and finally out onto the track beyond - it was only then that I refound the footpath : only about 10' across and nicely mown...how on earth did I miss that?! At Upton Upon Severn the Severn Way crossed to my side of the river so the first few miles were easy running along the embankment. I then had a bit of a close interaction with a herd of heifers - they were definitely scared of me running through their field and galloped all the way to the end before crashing into the metal gate...they then turned around and started galloping straight for me so I baled out underneath the electric fence! It was only when they stopped and stared at me that I found out there was a big black bull in the field too! I stayed on my side of the electric fence! At Severn Stoke there was an optional diversion of the Way all the way round the bend of the river but I took the shortcut across the fields instead (no medals for going the long way round!). My shoes and leggings were absolutely soaked not just from the rain but also from the wet grasses and I was doing my bit for the environment by picking up hundreds of seeds on my wet leggings and then auto depositing later on down the route! At Kempsey, just outside Worcester it stopped raining and actually begain to feel a bit warmer - there were large motor boats moored alongside static caravans which had been raised about 6' and were complete with patio doors and wooden sun decking - the river was about 10' lower so unsure if these were just to enhance their views or as flood defences incase of another catastrophy as happened last year. Unfortunately the nettles were back (hence the earlier mention of my legging defences!) and appeared no-one had done any footpath management as entire stretches of it were covered and impassable : needed to create a new footpath along the edge of the adjoining fields. I saw the bright irridesent blue of a kingfisher darting from tree to tree. Unfortunately the footpath was closed for some reason at Diglis locks so I had to divert onto roads into the centre of Worcester. Stopped at the government offices for another stamp for my passport and was helped by the pa to the Mayor! For the first time, I couldn't find my B&B (didn't help that the road didn't have a road sign!) so had to phone them for directions - I was actually only about 200 yards away anyway. John's arriving tonight and staying tomorrow too which will be fantastic as I haven't seen him for almost 3 weeks. Also looking forward to a Chinese meal tonight so I'll probably pig out somewhat! I can always run it off! After updating the blog, went to warm up in a coffee shop plus caught up on the recent news by reading a paper cover to cover! A couple got chatting to me, took a note of my blog and handed me £10....then had a fantastic meal at The Four Seasons - the staff were brilliant and to cap it all, there was a group of lads who got a little bit vocal (the swear box we have at work would have been racking in the fines!) but one of them offered to buy us drinks as an apology - my wine glass was still full so suggested he donate to my efforts instead (very cheeky of me I know but I'm getting quite good at this!) and to my surprise, he donated £10 and wouldn't let any of his mates leave the restaurant without giving something - the next table then followed suite and I ended up with a whopping £74.12 (and almost a packet of chewing gum!).
Mileage 18.28 and time 4.20

Total mileage 342.55