All Around Malpas 14th July 2011

Heading for St Chad's old church anticipating lunch!

Leaving St Chad's old church in search of lunch!

Not a lunch spot that we would normally choose, 

but two of us were thankfully in the the shade of an old Oak tree.

The final approach (for some) to Malpas.

Walk stats: Distance: 9.0 m.p.h. Climb:628'.
Time: 4 hours 4 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. Overall walk average:2.2 m.p.h.
Group: Martyn, Gordon, Phil, Sue and Dave P., Carol and Tim, Roger, Sylvia and Dave J.
Roger, Sylvia and Dave J. walked an extra 4.1 miles at cracking pace of 3.2 m.p.h., whilst Martyn and Gordon relaxed with a pot of tea or two outside Maria's!  Who made the best choice?
I feel as though I'm becoming predictable, but yet again this was a glorious day for walking, particularly before lunch.  After lunch it became a little on the warm side and a stronger cooling wind would have been appreciated!
Not a walk that would be in the top ten of walks of most people's walks , but walking in the countryside is always good.
The most unusual event of the day was when a car was encountered at the end of  a lane and asked "How many of you are the?", waiting to save the problem of passing us on the narrow road.  One of the group asked "Do you live around here?"  The reply came "No, just visiting my parents".  they were buried in the grounds of old St. Chad's church!
Some of us were a little desperate, and we sat down in the middle of the tractor tracks and had  lunch. Two of us sheltered under a nearby old Oak tree. At this point we were just over a couple of miles away from Malpas!
Birds seen or heard today included: Barn swallow, common buzzard, Black-billed magpie, Blackbird, Winter wren, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Chiffchaff, Blue tit, Pheasant and House sparrow more than 30 in field of Barley.
We arrived back at Malpas and 7 of the group decided that 9 miles was enough in the heat of the day and they didn't want to do the 4 mile extension.
Whilst the intrepid three set of on the extension, six of us headed for the Crown Hotel, anticipating an hour and half enjoying refreshments at the Crown Hotel in Malpas.  Nothing was further from the truth.  Nothing was further from the truth, no real ale, only Worthington smooth and no coke, only cans of Pepsi and we didn't want to watch live racing!
After one drink we decided it was enough, two went to look around the church, two went home and Gordon and Martyn spent an hour or so drinking tea outside Maria's (the cafe which was the old fire station).  This must be the first occasion when yours truly has completed a walk when he wasn't driving, sampling only soft drinks!
Despite the fact that we blamed Roger's decision to do the  extra 4 miles, Gordon and Martyn did enjoy watching the world of Malpas go by as they supped their tea, despite the strange looks when Martyn asked for the second pot of tea.