it was a beautiful day for a walk as eighteen of us decided as we set off through the village down to Millers lane and the ford. It was still dry, unusually for this time of year, so we crossed the footbridge and took the hard ,frosty path along the field edges to the copse and under the motorway. We were soon at the Great Western Arms. We didn’t stop but continued along the towpath. The canal was full of broken ice as we continued towards Souldern Wharf. Suddenly we were confronted by a mini-flock of sheep. After a moment facing us they turned and rushed back along the path. Their farmer grabbed them as they went down into the ditch and with a struggle, squeezed them back through the gap in the fence. Across the next field were some swans, well away from the water. We continued to Souldern Wharf and followed the road up to Souldern village. The frost on the fields was melting as the sun reached it, but the ground remained hard and thankfully free of mud. On the way through John Belcher’s farm we saw a roe deer cross the track just in front of us and a small family group in the field. We arrived back at the pavilion after two hours and six and a half miles, and sat outside in the sunshine with our coffee.
