The morning of the third day began with a steepish climb back up Uffington Hill, back to the White Horse and on to the continuation of the Ridgeway trail.  Only six miles today of trail walking, plus a couple of extra miles into Wantage, a small town off the Ridgeway proper.

The walking was pretty easy.  No real ascents or descent after the initial climb, just long stretches of ridge walking – it is called The Ridgeway after all.  Here’s a view of a typical stretch of trail.

It was dry but windy on the trail, and I was feeling a little too windswept today.  The scarf on my head became my new best friend as I tried to the hair out my face.  I got a bit tired of seeing pictures of myself with the thing on my head, but it did keep me sane.

Breaking up the miles of grassy trails, there were another couple of hill forts today, but we decided to keep going.  Pretty though they are, after a while its seen one, seen ‘em all…..

We took a nice long break at the Court Hill Tearooms not far from the end of today’s section.  We made tea and a cake last at least an hour as we took a break from the windy weather.

Of course, the last couple of miles into Wantage were along the road.  There’s some dangerous verge-less strips of road where there’s nowhere safe to stand away from the racing traffic, so we trespassed by taking a safer side route through some farm fields.

Wantage was upon us quickly, though.  It’s a pretty town with shops and restaurants, which came as quite a shock after a few days in villages.  We arrived at around 3pm and decided to stay there for dinner, before taking a taxi out to the B&B farmhouse where we were staying that evening.  After a coffee break, we took a little walk around the town, looking at the small, attractive houses, shops and church.

Around the churchyard

After a yummy Thai dinner at Yummy Thai Food, (yes, it really was!) we headed out to Lockridge Farm B&B by taxi.  No, it wasn’t cheating.  We were off the trail already!  Good stay, early night, and the last and longest day tomorrow….