Day 68: Horton to Bath
📏 Distance: 20.92 miles (33.62 km)
🌦️ Weather: Persistent rain until 4pm, then dry with some sunshine
🕣 Start Time: 08:30 | Finish Time: 18:00
Today was, in a word, challenging.
The rain arrived early and stayed well into the afternoon, with some periods of it coming down in relentless sheets. One of the most frustrating aspects of wet-weather walking is trying to navigate by mobile. A touchscreen just doesn’t work when it’s wet– swiping becomes a futile effort. That made map reading more guesswork than science today.
The day started off on the wrong foot – quite literally. I took a wrong turn on the way to Old Sodbury and ended up making a long detour. It took me an hour to cover just two miles, which was painfully slow. Thankfully, things improved a bit after that… until I reached Donnington Park. There, after a brief dry spell, the rain came down in torrents.
Another navigational hiccup meant backtracking, this time across soggy fields turned to mud. Not fun.
Lunch was a somewhat comical affair, eaten under the limited shelter of a dilapidated barn. Ironically, the rain let up while I sat there, but returned with a vengeance once I resumed walking.
One highlight of the day was passing Dyrham Park, a National Trust property with a lot of historical interest.
By the time I reached Lansdown Hill on the outskirts of Bath, the rain had mostly cleared. I took a brief detour to learn about the Battle of Lansdown (1643) – a fierce encounter from the English Civil War with little gained by either side. Safe to say the Bath was not taken.
The final stretch took me over Bath Golf Course and down into the city, to my campsite beside the River Avon. After a day like this, The Boathouse Pub offered some much-needed food and a pint. I didn't stay up long – it was straight back to the motorhome and an early-ish night.
Tomorrow is a shorter, easier, day and (fingers crossed) drier.
