WI Evening Walk to Souldern
Six of us set off from the bus stop opposite the Grammar House on this warm, sunny evening. We decided the Station Road hill was a bit of a challenge and best walked down rather than up so we headed for the Deddington Road tackling this circular walk anti-clockwise. Once we turned onto the driveway to Lower Aynho Grounds we lost the traffic noise and were instead entertained by bird song – what loud voices some small birds have! At the turning for the Millers Lane bridleway, we were lucky enough to see a hare which suddenly appeared and ran along the side of the field before disappearing into the undergrowth. Across the fields were white drifts of oxeye daisies interspersed with red poppies, making a very attractive picture. Even though we have had some quite heavy rain the water was quite low at the ford so no one was in danger of getting their feet wet! The Mill House was very colourful with an array of flowers from fox gloves, wild geranium, giant scabious and climbing roses along its front wall. After the long haul up the hill we wandered through Souldern village and stopped at the Fox for a restorative drink. The birds were beginning to find roosting sites for the night and again the song of the robin, chaffinch and blackbird entertained us while we enjoyed our drinks and the still warm sun. Now we headed for home carrying on along the road and then turning left to walk past the 12th century Church of St Mary. After this we headed out across the fields crossing several stiles and eventually coming to the field with a bull, his ladies and their calves. Some were quite interested in us but most had better things to do and ignored us. The evening was still warm, even though it was now 8.30pm, as we walked up the last hill to Aynho we paused at the top to take in the amazing views across the countryside. Once we reached the Croughton Road we gradually all peeled off heading for home having completed a very enjoyable walk.
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