Day 22 - Worcester to Bewdley
Unfortunately John left last night so I'm all on my lonesome again! At least I've had two good meals with perfect company over the last two nights and it was great seeing him again. This morning is dry but very grey so unsure how long I'm going to last without my wetsuit again. Stopped off at the post office to deliver a few postcards back home then headed back towards the Severn. I wasn't aware that the racecourse was so close to the town : I literally ran straight into it! It really is on the edge of the river and was badly damaged in the severe floods (last night John and I found markings in the wall near the cathedral which showed the height of all the floods over the years : although the June 2007 wasn't the highest, it was well up there and even when I was on the footpath beside the river, I still couldn't touch the tide mark!) - I can clearly visualise the TV footage of the sculler rowing down past the furlong markers in the home straight! I didn't get out of Worcester before I took a break as there was a University rowing competition in full flow on the river and it was quite interesting watching them from the bridge. When I did set off again, it was a lovely run along well maintained paths -at last I met 3 more runners but 2 of them were running in the opposite direction and the other was on the side of the river! It was extremely quiet, just the noise of the breeze in the trees and birdsong (including several cuckoo although I still haven't seen one!). Having run through the grounds of a pub with every imaginable farm bird including peacocks roaming free, the footpath was then diverted around yet another soil and gravel excavation plant at Grimley. At Top Barn Farm there was a massive dog agility competition going on so again, any enforced stop! Some of the dogs were really fast (and it was obvious that this was a very serious affair!) but quite a few got a little bit carried away and kept jumping the wrong obstacles. Stopped for lunch at a pub in Holt Fleet then crossed over the river onto the right bank. The drizzle was back so jacket got another airing but luckily not for long and it was soon tucked away in my backpack again, although yet again I've got wet feet! There was plenty of Canada geese including a few fluffy goslings and the lovely run continued through field after field. I didn't pass or meet a single soul. It was a bit of a muddy run through the country park into Bewdley and having then crossed the river again, this time via the pretty stone bridge (I think designed by Thomas Telford?) located my accommodation for the night - this time I was staying in a pub (Woodcolliers Inn) but for the 3rd time in my journey, they didn't have my booking listed (I've now phoned up all the B&Bs for the next week or so to make sure they all have me down....which they do!). The landlady was a little bit 'off' and intimated that it was 'impossible' that they've lost my details! Very basic room and I had a big spider in the shower room for company! She also wasn't very keen on helping me dry out my wet (and now very smelly!) trainers so looks as if I'll start off with wet feet (again) tomorrow.
Mileage 17.56 and time 3.44