The D’Arcy Dalton Way

We finally finished the D’Arcy Dalton Way. Here is a summary of the routes we have walked to complete the Way. Each Leg will provide a link to the description of the route. The Map and Photos columns will contain links to maps and photos from each section of the route.

Leg	From	To	DD Miles	DD Cum	Walk Miles	Cum Total	Map	Photos
1	Wormleighton	Mollington	3.3	3.3	9.7	9.7	Link	Link
2	Mollington	Hornton	5.7	9	10.6	20.3	Link	Link
3	Hornton	Epwell	4.5	13.5	9	29.3	Link	Link
4	Epwell	River Stour	3.2	16.7	6.4	35.7	Link	Link
5	River Stour	Great Rollright	5.4	22.1	12.5	48.2	Link	Link
6	Great Rollright	Salford Green	3.3	25.4	9.6	57.8	Link	Link
7	Salford Green	Churchill Road	4.2	29.6	9.3	67.1	Link	Link
8	Churchill Road	Bruern	4.4	34	8	75.1	Link	Link
9	Bruern	Akeman Street	10.8	44.8	17.5	92.6	Link	Link
10	Akeman Street	Broadwell Church	3.8	48.6			Link	Link
11	Broadwell Church	Radcot Bridge	4.0	52.6			Link	Link
12	Radcot Bridge	B4019	5.4	58.0			Link	Link
13	B4019	Marsh Lane	4.9	62.9			Link	Link
14	Marsh Lane	Wayland Smithy	3.5	66.4			Link	Link

Stage 11? of the D’Arcy Dalton Way

After three days of festivities, eating and drinking over Christmas we decided to get out and go for a walk. As usual that meant knocking another few miles off the D’Arcy Dalton Way. Our last excursion left the DDW at the Church of Broadwell and it was from there that this leg was starting as I knew that there would be parking available there. In fact, although on our last outing we had passed a parking space outside the village nursery we actually parked the car outside the church, by the post box.

From there the DDW was well sign posted down a gravel track past some impressive Cotswold Stone houses, and into the expansive back garden of one of those houses. The path then crossed another field before emerging into a field with a line of recently coppiced trees down one side.

We followed the right hand edge of this field all the way down the side and then around the bottom of the field to cross a small stream via a wooden bridge. The guide book actually suggests going diagonally across the field. Although, most of the fields we crossed did have the path well marked and cleared of crops this field did not, so it was easier (and less muddy) to go around the side.

After crossing the bridge we picked up a larger farm track on the edge of a small copse and followed that track to Lower Rookshill Farm, which seemed to be full of a wide range of farm implements.

From Lower Rookshill  Farm we followed the track to where it meets the path of the disused railway. The old railway passes under the road bridge but the DDW follows the track to the road and goes across a small field, which at the time we went by was occupied with a ram and some sheep. From the paint marks on the backs of the sheep the ram had been very busy indeed. The DDW then crosses the path of the old railway again before heading into a field full of Brassica. Unlike the earlier field the path across this one was clear of crops and easy to follow.

The bridge over the old railway. The DDW goes to the right of the bridge.

Me standing on the path of the old railway with the DDW crossing the field of Brassica to my right.

Reaching the far side of the field we came to a small stream and a gap in the hedge. The map suggested that we stay on this side of the hedge and follow the stream for a short distance. However, I had been looking for an excuse to play with a new toy that my parents had bought be for Christmas, so out came the Garmin etrex Legend HCx GPS. Three button presses later I had a ten digit grid reference that enable me to pin point our exact location. This is all I wanted a GPS unit to do for me. I hope that most of the time it will sit, turned off, at the bottom of my bag and will only come out in a storm or a whiteout when I have no idea where I am and do not want to risk walking off a cliff.

Anway, back to the DDW. Crossing the stream took us into the narrow end of a field. As it widened out the path would lead us into a farm yard at Little Clanfield. On the way we passed a few interesting fungi and a very interesting ash tree that had been encased in Ivy, so that it appeared to be green, even in the depths of winter. It had obviously been there some time, as the Ivy had grown over, and completely encased the old strands of barbed wire.

We crossed the road at Little Clanfield and entered a field full of old, dead thistles. We followed the right hand edge of the field and crossed a narrow stream by a small house.

We followed a line of telegraph poles across the field to pick up the end of a lane that then led to a road. Crossing the road we took the lane down towards Radcot Bridge Farm. The DDW skirts to the left of the farm and we headed diagonally across a field (again the way was well marked and clear of crops), towards another set of farm buildings. The DDW then skirts to the right of these barns and turns right through a gate towards the river Thames.

Our guide book then describes the DDW going diagonally left towards a foot bridge over a culvert before heading to the road and the bridges over the Thames. However, when we were there the gate which would have had to have been taken to go diagonally left was well and truly shut. Instead the path carried straight on to the Thames and then turned back on itself to follow the bank of the Thames back to the road. We will pick up the DDW on our next outing on the far side of the bridges. For this outing we turned to the right and followed the Thames path along the north bank of the river as far as Weir at SU272 992.

From the boat yard by the weir we followed the track up to the road, turned right along the road and then, immediately after a small bridge we turned left up a narrow, straight road into Grafton. We turned left again and followed the road out of Grafton toward Langford. At the top of short incline the road turns sharp left. Here we left the road and carried straight on along the right hand side of a hedge line.

From here the path was easy to follow into Langford. The church tower was visible from when we left the road and we again crossed the path of the old railway, with the bridge that we passed earlier just visible in the distance.

The distinctive tower of Langford church

Shortly after passing Langford Church we turned right to follow a path past what looked like it may have been the Manor, before emerging into a field. We followed the right hand edge of the field and crossed a stream before heading across a field of Rape to reach a small copse. The path across this field was also clear of crop and had some interesting paw prints in the mud.

                                                                 

Reaching the road we turned left and after about 50m turned right again to pick up a path that followed the hedge line before angling left through a wood to emerge into a field. We angled right and headed towards a small gate next to a horse jump, and from there followed the path back into Broadwell, passing to the other side of the house that we had passed on our way out.

All the photos are on my Flickr site and the full route is on Trailzilla. This walk is 14.7Km (9.2miles) long and took just over 5 hours.

That leaves us just 13.8miles to do in order to complete the DDW. If I can arrange transport properly then this should achievable in one or two days. A quick search shows that we can get a bus from Oxford to Carterton (S2 departs stop B2 on George Street) and then a bus from Carterton to Radcot Bridge (RH Transport 113 departs Broadshires Health Center on Monahan Way). We could then complete the walk to Wayland’s Smithy and then on to Uffington, from where we can catch a bus to Faringdon and then back to Oxford. Alternatively, we could walk into Wantage and catch a bus to Oxford from there. This latter option would be a distance of 21miles. Just doable in one day but easier over two.