Amazingly I did not need to visit the toilet last night. However, I probably disturbed the sleep of the others in the dormitory by getting up at 6:30 am. The early start was so that I could have breakfast and catch an early train back to Charlbury from Oxford where I was spending the night. Reaching Charlbury I was soon on my way, or at least I was once I had worked out how to get out of the station parking area!
As coffee shops were sparse today, I picked up a coffee from one in Charlbury before I left the village. As in the Cotswolds the village and others in the area were built largely out of yellow Jurassic limestone. The next village I walked through, Stonesfield was where stone "slates" were mined, that were traditionally used to tile the roofs around here. Despite the villages and landscape being similar to the Cotswolds, North Oxfordshire has not attracted such large numbers of tourists.
One place tourists do visit is Blenheim Palace and its grounds. My path crossed the north end of the Blenheim Estate with its neat avenue of trees. Red kites (the birds) circled languidly overhead. My route after Stonesfield until I reached the Oxford Canal looked unusually straight on the map. I discovered this was because it was a Roman Road, now called Akeman Steet. At times this followed field boundaries, at other times it was enclosed between lines of small trees, part of it was along a minor road with many more cars than I might have expected. The road had lots of potholes, not up to Roman standards! The surrounding fields were neatly tilled, narrow lines of rich brown earth or lines of small green leaves. There was also much grass, looking exceptionally green in today's sunshine. Flocks of sheep looked like white blobs spread across the fields. Narrow stands of trees broke up the horizon.
Unlike yesterday, my walk on the Oxfordshire Way was over low hills so I was hoping that there would be no wading through water today. In this I was disappointed. There were a number of places where it was necessary to cross water, either accumulated in low spots or where watercourses had overflowed their banks. The most extensive and deepest area of water was around the River Cherwell, shortly before I left the Oxfordshire Way for the Oxford Canal. There was much flooding around the river and I had to wade through water which briefly reached my knees to reach the bridge over the main channel.
Once on the canal it was a long walk south on the towpath to Oxford. At first the towpath was in poor condition, bits of the bank had fallen into the river making the path between the water and hedging very narrow. As it was also slick with mud, care was needed to avoid slipping into the water. Although the towpath improved, for a stretch the canal joined the river. As the river was unusually high, a small part of the path was flooded. Later, in the approach to Oxford the towpath was tarmaced and much easier to walk on, although the many bicycles created another hazard.
Being a Saturday people were out for a walk, alone or in couples, exercising their dog or just enjoying the sunshine. Beside the canal men stood fishing. Canal boats lined sections of the canal, including those in a permanent mooring. Some looked like they never moved, others looked uncared for, needing to be renovated or just tidied up. Among them smoke rose from the stove pipes of attractively painted boats, giving them a homely feel.
The sunlight had faded away when I finally reached the edges of Oxford. In the dusk the backs of houses looked attractive, the warm glow from their windows suggesting cosy interiors. Today is Valentines Day, and this evening, under the streetlights, the centre of Oxford was full of people, spilling onto the road, many clutching bunches of flowers. Pubs and restaurants were full to overflowing, although I managed to order a burger and chips in one of those places where you order via a touch screen. While waiting for the not very fast food to be prepared, I noticed the delivery motorcyclists were also doing a brisk trade. I left those enjoying themselves in the city centre, after buying a newspaper purely so I could stuff it in my wet boots.
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