It was very muggy when fifteen of us set out this morning. Once we had untangled ourselves from those on the short walk we headed through the village and down Station road and Millers Lane. We all passed through the ford although it was almost too deep at one point. On the way up the hill towards Souldern village we frightened a whole flock of pheasants. Some tried without success to get over a high wire fence, others ran in noisy panic up the track. We turned right at the top and then crossed a couple of meadows and passed through a copse to the farm track up to Souldern. I led the front walkers along a footpath between houses to join a road and track to Nancy Bowles wood and Fox Hill. A trailing group took a short cut along the road and appeared ahead of us. We soon caught them up and walked past the Llama farm to the Fritwell Road and so back to Souldern village again. From there we passed the church and the sewage station and entered the meadow where several kites circled above us. We were soon on the Portway path with a glimpse of sunshine and back at the pavilion where some of us sat outside with our coffees.
