Droving Belles - Part 1

On Friday 28th September 2012 we set off to walk in the footsteps of the Drovers who helped to shape the rural landscape we enjoy today.

Over three days we walked the Drover's routes and the ancient green lanes from Faringdon (South of Oxford) to Touchbridge (Brill).

The route followed the map below. Covering a distance of just over 30 miles through fields and woods, along, paths, tracks, rivers and roads. From Faringdon to Oxford we were following the Drover's route to and from Southampton docks. After Oxford it was the London route and took in commons where animals were rested a while before their final drive to market. Throughout we enjoyed spotting evidence of the past users of these ancient routes. This we plan to share over a series of short blogs to follow this.

Our Route

Our journey began from Pollicott in Oli, Sian's beloved, 34 year old yellow, VW campervan who was then manoeuvered around Oxfordshire as part of the logistical back up provided by our ever supportive Pollicott Boys - Andy, Joe and Steve.

On Friday we tramped to Abingdon where Andy and Joe met us with the van which we then drove to Oxford for a noisy night at the local Caravan Club site. On Sunday we returned to Abingdon and made it all the way to Horton cum Studley where the van had been left for us by Andy, Joe and Steve. We should have returned to the camp site in Oxford but (as we were so close to home) we succumbed to the allure of our own beds and returned to Horton Cum Studley to finish our walk on Sunday morning on which we were joined by Steve and Vicky. 

Like all Belles outings it was an adventure and we made the most of the precious time we spent together. We will tell all day by day in parts 2-4 of Droving Belles and hope that you will be able to enjoy our journey almost as much as we did.