Fourteen walkers set out on a very cold overcast day. We walked through the village, down to Millers Lane and worked round the ford at Souldern Mill. The track was slippery in places where there was a layer of water over the ice. Fortunately no one slipped or fell. At the top of the hill in Souldern we waited for everyone to catch up and then turned down Wharf Lane for a short distance before cutting across the fields to the lane which leads down to the swing bridge. We turned towards the village, however and took the footpath between houses through to the track up to Nancy Bowles Wood. On the way a group of gardens displayed flowering snowdrops, daffodils and hellebore. The track had similar icy patches covered with water, but again we all navigated them safely. No Alpacas were visible as we passed their farm and we reached the Fritwell road safely. We returned through Souldern Village and took the track past the church and onto the Portway path. We arrived back at the pavilion after 5.5 miles in good time for coffee and cakes.
