A Bill Bryson day

I've been thinking about Bill Bryson a lot these last few days. Yesterday we were at the train station in Ox and I found a book called "Icons of England" that he had edited. His introduction was hilarious. I always discovered last week that he has a new book coming out in October- hooray! I'm so excited! I was recently flipping through "Notes from a Small Island" (my first ever Bill Bryson book) and was reading his segment about Oxford. His writings about the town itself is a whole other post in itself but one of the things that he wrote about was walking down to a small village named Sutton Courtenay to visit a small church with Herbert Henry Asquith and George Orwell are buried. So I decided to do the same.

I printed out some OS maps, downloaded some info about the Thames Path and took Roni's blackberry just in case something happened while out in the "wilderness" of Oxfordshire. My plan was to follow the Thames Path from Oxford to Abingdon and then walk another footpath from Abingdon to Sutton Courtenay. Then, depending on the bus schedule, I'd either walk back up to Abingdon or take the bus from Sutton Courtenay all the way back to Oxford.

The morning started out frustratingly. The bus down Woodstock was SO late- I hate riding up and down Woodstock these days because of the construction practically right if front of our house and I just should have taken the bus from Summertown- maybe then I wouldn't have had to wait for 20 minutes. Finally, I got on my way, walking past the railway station to the Thames Path.

The Path was beautiful- there were many different locks to help boats get up and down the river (locks always make me think of the Erie Canal) and at one point, I saw Christ Church popping up in the background. There were some adorable little houses and churches and some big fields. It was a pretty solitary walk with not too many people walking and passing by but I was armed with my ipod and Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Jefferson Hope, Austin Tichenor, Reed Martin and other members of the Reduced Shakespeare kept me company






Things were going smashingly until I got to Sanford Lock. THere the Thames Path ended. Oh dear. A little improvising became necessary. I used google maps to get my bearings and then started to trek down the country streets. I did spend about ten minutes walked through an actual field while a farmer drove his tractor to and fro. I eventually decided that I probably shouldn't keep standing in this man's field so I backtracked and decided to stick to the side streets, no matter how many footpath signs I saw. There was hardly any traffic as I walked alongside the street, as there was no pavement and although I probably stopped every five feet to double check the map and the few cross streets I saw, I eventually made it into Abindgon. I do have to saw that oftentimes the English streets don't seem to always match up with the actual countryside. There were several cross streets on the map that I did not see (and trust me, I was looking!) but with the help of some footpaths and street signs and google maps, I eventually hooked up with the river again.






I walked along the river through the south part of Abingdon, only really hitting up one of the streets leaving the city, which I walked down over the river. At this point, I was off the Thames Path for a bit again and reliant on my OS Map. I walked down a thickly tree-lined two way street and just as I passed the sign for Culham, crossed the street, turned right down a little street and merged again with a footpath. The footpath met back up with the river and on my left side was a huge field of bright yellow flowers that were almost as tall as I was. The path eventually curved to the left at the bottom of the field and followed a smaller tributary of the river. I knew that eventually there would be a path going South that would take me off of the Thames Path and I was praying I wouldn't miss it. That was my "exit" for Sutton Courtenay and if I didn't find it, I'd get way off course. Luckily, after walking farther than I thought I was supposed to, I arrived at teh bridge with the sign for Sutton Courtenay. Victory! Only 1/2 mile away!


I learned a lot on my 1/2 walk to Sutton Courtenay. I crossed at least four different bridges with small dams and some were open and water was just water-falling down. There was a guy sitting on the back of a small dam-created pond that I contemplated going to as well but he looked peaceful and I did have a destination in mind. I also learned that it's dangerous to bathe in pools. The footpath spat me out right onto Church Lane and even though I had no idea where the church was in Sutton Courtenay, I assumed it must be close. About five minutes down Church Lane, I found the church just beyond a pub and slipped inside the grounds. The church was a beautiful old building surrounded by headstones. It wasn't a huge cemetery but a very personal one- lots of new graves and lots of graves that were well-taken care of.
I first found Herbert Henry Asquith's grave- although it's interesting that it says that he was Prime Minister of England but not of Wales and Scotland... maybe England was just easier to write, although I supposed Great Britain could have been acceptable as well.


And then, oddly enough, George Owell- or Eric Arthur Blair as his family knew him- is also buried here. He has absolutely no connection to the town but was buried here after his death (I should hope so :) ) by a friend from the area. What's interesting about his headstone is that there's no mention of his work- no Animal Farm, 1984, Coming Up for Air, Wigan Pier, Catalonia, Down and Out in Paris and London, nothing. If you didn't know who Eric Arthur Blair was, you wouldn't give this headstone a second glance.
This one's for Bill- he mentions it is his book. Which you should really read. Not just Notes from A Small Island. Pretty much ALL of them.


I found a small bench in the corner of the cemetery and sat down there to eat my peanut butter and honey sandwich and read more of God of the Hive (sooooo good, I can't put it down!). Maybe three people walked by- Sutton Courtenay is clearly a quiet little village. When the bell clanged 3:00, it was time to head back. Now that I knew my way, I was quicker on the walk home, and I also cut through the flower field, following the tracks of a tractor to circumvent going all the way around the field. I emerged with my entire right side covered in yellow pollen. I'm surprised honey bees weren't all over me. I walked back up the way that I came into Abingdon, found the proper bus to take home and found a seat on the top deck on my way back to Oxford. I got off at Christ Church, a perfect stop for walking down the High to get to the Community Centre.

ALl in all, it was a gorgeous day- warm and sunny with a new clouds here and there. I saw some beautiful scenery, got a good workout by walking nearly 14 miles, saw some cool birds and animals (a few bunny rabbits and I'm pretty sure a deer at one point), and I got to see something new that I had never seen before. Definitely a recommended walk. So glad I decided to taken on country walking!