The rain had stopped when the twelve of us set off down Portway. Once into the field the grass on the path, weighed down by the rain, leaned over, soaked our legs and filled our boots with water. We continued across the fields and up to the B4100. A dangerous crossing into Upper Aynho Grounds was achieved without difficulty so we continued past the buildings and took the track down to the lakes. The staff had kindly given us permission to walk round the lakes. We saw what we thought were moorhen chicks, tiny fluffy black birds swimming away at great speed, unlike the swan and cygnets further on; they were totally unphased. We crossed the bridges between the ponds observing the huge, abandoned swan’s nest as we passed. We climbed through more soaking wet grass up through the woods into Warren Farm and were pleased to see the Aberdeen Angus herd grazing again. There were no horses in the next field as we continued into Mill Lane and up towards Croughton village. Along the path behind the village we reached a field full of sheep. They immediately set off to escape and rushed through a gate into the next field. We continued up to the main road and crossed towards the Reading Room and along the path next to it, to cross to the back lane and on via Camp Farm to the ridge, Green Lane and the Pavilion. Today we were greeted by Anita and her lovely cakes and light lunches. Great to have her back.
