Seventeen walkers set off down Charlton Road in hazy sunshine and a cold wind. We took the footpath by the Dad’s Army hut opposite Butts close. Once we reached the end of the grazing fields we were faced by a newly ploughed field with ankle threatening large chunks of unstable soil. We all crossed it successfully, if rather slowly and reached Lower Walton Grounds unscathed. The field nearest the farm hosted a flock of nervous sheep. They hesitated briefly before deciding we were best avoided and moved hurriedly away. We continued down the concrete road and on up towards Kings Sutton until we reached the footpath that leads past the cottages into the fields beyond. here we crossed the fields up the hill to the copse at the top, always very wet and muddy, and into the field beyond with its varied diagonal paths. The next field took us up to the badger setts on the crest of the ridge with superb views across to the next ridge or back to Banbury and beyond. The path then crosses a field and takes a strange winding route through the crops until it reaches the gate to the old stone pits. The main road through Charlton is difficult to negotiate at the moment, but we squeezed past a huge truck while parked cars and trucks and temporary traffic lights made driving more frustrating. Once through the village we took the pah up towards the camp, and then up the side of the next field to loin the track along the ridge to Green Lane and back to the pavilion for welcome refreshment. 6 miles in about two hours.
