Elsfield and Woodeaton Walk

After a week of travelling up to London and back on the Train, and not getting much exercise I was pretty keen to get out and do something this weekend. But then somehow I managed to waste most of Saturday doing not very much (apart from cutting up some wood for when we go away at weekends, and deburring the swords from practice last weekend). So, come today, Sunday, I was determined to get out and do something. D didn’t want to come with me as she was in the middle of making a medieval dress, and besides she was in pain from her feet. So I was allowed out on my own. The question was – cycling or walking?

I plumped for walking a quickly mapped out a root from the house, out to Elsfield, across to Woodeaton, then back via Cutteslow Park and the Vicky Arms. The full route is here, and once the camera has dried out the few photos will be here. It was quite sunny this morning, although the weather forecast was promising showers later. So, to be prepared, and to try out a few options I donned my North Face Valkyrie jacket over my base layer, and packed a spare fleece layer (Jack Wolfskin Gecko) and my lightweight waterproof (Rab Momentum)

From the top of Dunstan Road I headed down Stoke Place, crossed the dual carriageway and followed the hedge line past the electricity sub station to Boundary Brook. Crossing the stream I then kept the hedge on my right and headed up the hill. The path levels out and heads towards a small wood. I know the path enters the wood somewhere but I am never certain exactly where. I follow the path to the right for a few meters and suddenly there is the entrance to the wood.

The ground is very wet and muddy. Even with the branches and tree trunks laid into the path it can be really slippery. Fortunately it wasn’t too bad today and I reached the bridge without incident.

Climbing up out of the wood I followed the path across the field to the far side, where I turned left and followed the edge of the field into the end of a small wood. By this point I could feel the sweat building up inside the Valkyrie jacket. As a softshell it is probably fantastic for winter alpine use, and in the UK it definitely keeps the wind off, but I don’t find it very breathable. So, I thought I would take a chance and replace the softshell with the Jack Wolfskin microfleece Gecko. I was worried that the wind would whistle through this top and that I would chill immediately. However, this wasn’t the case. I could definitely feel the wind more than I could in the Valkyrie but I didn’t feel cold.

The path through the wood leads to a road, where I turned left and followed the road into Elsfield.

As I turned the corner past Forest Farm I turned right, off the road and headed down the bridleway towards Woodeaton Wood. I followed the eastern edge of the wood and crossed the field into Barson’s Copse. From there it was up and across a very muddy field to emerge onto the road just to the east of Woodeaton.

Walking through Woodeaton Wood I thought it had started to rain as I could feel the odd drop landing on me. However, it wasn’t persistent and I didn’t feel cold or wet so I carried on with just the Jack Wolfskin fleece on.

I turned left and headed back into the village until I had almost reached the church. There was a very interesting looking tower in the school grounds on my right hand side, just before the lane that I turned down to follow the footpath.

As I followed this lane it started to rain harder and I realised that the fleece was not going to keep me dry much longer. So I whipped it off and donned the Rab Momentum jacket instead. The fleece has performed better than I had expected so I shall try it out in various other conditions in the future and see how it (and the Mountain Equipment fleece I also bought recently) performs.

At the end of the lane, where the track emerges into a field, the footpath takes a sharp left and follows the hedge down to a small stream. It was now raining even more heavily so, when I reached the hedge at the bottom of the hill I dug out my waterproof trousers and put them on, over my boots and gaiters.  The side zips on the Berghaus Deluge trousers make it really easy to get them on over boots.

I headed left then immediately right over the stream and followed the field edge to Sparsey bridge.

From Sparsey Bridge I followed the path to my left and headed over a slight rise to emerge on the edge of Cutteslowe Park. I headed across the football field and through a newley planted wooded area (it made me think of an old set of allotments), to emerge onto the ring road. I crossed straight over the road and then turned left to follow the path through the trees, running parallel with the ring road.

At the Cherwell I climbed up the bank onto the ring road and crossed the bridge, before heading off to the right and following the foot path to the Vicky Arms.

From there is was a short walk through the woods (past an area labelled Weed Area on a tree trunk), to the Marston Ferry Road and then back home via Copse Lane.

The Rab Momentum jacket performed really well. Its very light at only 340g and reasonably close fitting so I tend to wear it over the top of a base layer, although I could probably get a microfleece on under it as well. The hood fits well over the peaked cap I wear and the Napoleon pockets are great for holding compass, gloves etc. (My only complaint about the pockets is the same complaint about all the jackets I have tried and that is why aren’t they big enough for a folded laminated OS map? D has just bought a Mountain Equipment Kongur jacket, which has huge pockets, but I am not tempted to buy a new jacket just to get decent sized pockets.