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Day 58 Mon 25 June Shriveham to Temple Farm
(NW of Malborough)
Up early at Upavon leaving with Matt to
drop Freddie first at nursery at Wroughton (nr Swindon). It
was raining hard, and not looking good for the day. Drove
over to Shrivenham and stopped at the Coop for carrots and
apples in the hope of raising, a very wet, Marv’s spirits.
Matt fed Marv under a tree for shelter whilst I tacked him
up and attached saddle bags. I was in full waterproofs as
we left the camp behind, jogging to keep both of us warm in
the rain. I stopped in the local Post Office to send back
home week 8 diary, my camera memory card and the donations
I had collected that week. Shortly after, a very considerate
lady who had been in the PO stopped to give me a hot coffee,
sausage roll and a snack for Marv. Morale immediately rose
and the rain then seemed to peter out. We traversed down the
lanes and crossed over the M4. We then had a short shop stop
for lunch. Next we climbed gradually and joined the start
of the Ridgeway byway approaching the Malborough Downs and
the Vale of the White Horse. The views from the top were well
worth the ascent. We past Barbury point to point course, and
the immaculate surrounding area which consisted of either
manicured gallops or text book crops and hedging. The relative
wealth of the Downs was immediately apparent as we moved through.
Inspired by the racing environs, we had some fun with some
canters and a short gallop, as the ground was ideal for the
purpose. I eventually located the stables at Temple Farm and
met Sarah, Susie’s hunt groom. She had an ideal field
for Marv overlooking the three yards which make up the stables
on the estate. I played with Sarah’s parson Russell
1 year old bitch for at least half an hour, which made up
a little for Maisie being in Edinburgh.
Day 59 Tue 26 June
Temple Farm to Larkhill
Today Fi took me to the start with Freddie. Marv got a quick
feed before
setting off back up to the Ridgeway. I turned south and made
good speed, as
today was at least 25miles. It had been wet and there were
puddles
everywhere. We saw distant gunfire on the ranges as live artillery
shells
were exploding on the impact area in the middle distance.
I stopped to get a
photo of this with Marv in the foreground, as it seemed very
poignant timing
being an ex gunner. I met Heath (friend from University) at
the pub in
Wilford at 1130. He had driven down from Oxford to spend a
day with the pair
of us. He was is in shorts and trainers, expecting to be running…
We chatted away through the picturesque lanes before having
a very civilised
lunch at the Woodbridge pub. Marv had free rein of the beer
garden grass as
we sat out on the picnic table. I then decided to utilise
a bridleway to
follow the River Avon south. Bad news for Heath’s legs
as the nettles were
in full control of the path! He bravely declined my offer
of my waterproof
trousers. Shortly after, I managed the impossible by getting
Heath to
actually sit on Marv (the first horse he had ridden). Marv
is a perfect
horse to first get on – although we did have a saddle
slip incident
initially. We passed through Upavon, staying on the east side
of the river down the
quiet lanes. Another quick refreshment stop at the Swan pub,
where we taught
Marv to eat mint imperials by smashing them up first. This
convinced him
that it was worth chewing the hard outer layer for the sugary
mint centre.
We crossed the river and A346 at Netheravon to climb up onto
Salisbury Plain
and home to yet another military training area. The range
flags were
indicating red/yellow, which meant live firing, but we turned
south on the
range road and headed for the big green gun sheds on the horizon
which was
Larkhill camp. Home of the Artillery, it was were I first
really started
riding properly on my young gunnery officer’s course
back in the summer of ’
98. We circled around the perimeter of the the camp and came
in the front
gate, pausing for photos at both the entrance and in front
of an old
artillery gun. Next stop was the Royal Artillery stables,
and former King’s
Troop soldiers Ben Moore and ‘Grandma’ Illingworth
were both posted there
having been part of Centre Section when I was stationed in
St John’s Wood.
SSgt Taff Jeffries was now running the stables, and we had
spent a few good
weeks on the Edinburgh Tattoo together in 2003. Marv was in
good hands for
the night. He had a nice box next to army horses in the recently
refurbished
stables. Matt picked Heath and I up, as he was in Larkhill
that day too. Matt kindly
dropped Heath off back at his car, before returning us both
to Upavon and
dinner with his inlaws. The later nights had finally caught
up with me and I
headed for bed at 9pm for a long rest.
Day 60 Wed 27 June
Larkhill – Fovant
Matt dropped me off at 0745 before heading on to Wilton. I
am deeply
indebted to Matt and Fi for being incredible this week and
going out of
their way to accommodate the wayward traveller and his horse.
I have had 4
superb nights with them and the young Freddie and has helped
to make week 9
the most special so far.
I fed and mucked out Marv, who had clearly been gonking over
night judging
by the amount of shavings he was wearing! I was in no rush
to leave today,
so had a good catch up with Taff before heading off. We had
a quick photo in
front of the Officer Mess first then left Larkhill via the
shop and walked
towards Stonehenge. There were hundreds of tourists around
as we approached.
Marv wasn’t too happy with either the tourists or the
stones, so we got a
snap and continued on. Over the busy A303 and followed a great
country track
SW. I had an RV with Jody (army friend from Sandhurst days)
at Great
Wishford at 1230. He had cycled out from Wilton to spend a
few hours with
the pair of us. We walked and talked up through Groveley Wood.
Jody was
competing in a forthcoming 100km 4man race on the South Downs
so was happy
to be doing some more training in preparation for it. We reached
the pub in
Dinton, where Marv as usual went ‘graze-about’
while we had refreshments
outside keeping a close eye on his movements. There was the
obligatory quick
photo call, before Jody ran the 10km back to his bike and
I carried on the
remaining few miles to Fovant. Once there, I was met by Ellie
(Neil’s wife),
where we dropped off all the kit and bags before leading him
round the block
to the local farm and Linda’s livery yard. She took
great care of Marv for
his stay in the village. Neil came back from work in ‘greens’
and we spent
the evening catching up over a splendid venison with accompanying
red wine.
Neil and I had joined the army together (Rowallan Company
and Commissioning
course, before doing the YO’s course together and overlapping
at the King’s
Troop) There was inevitably much news to share, including
Neil and Ellie’s
14month old daughter Rosie who I saw for the first time. Neil
had just
bought 2 rearing pigs to join the 4 chickens and 2 geese,
which already
lived at the end of their garden.
Day 61 Thu 28 June
Day off – London visit
Today we were off to Hyde Park to watch the 60th anniversary
of the King’s
Troop, which was an official review by the Queen followed
by drinks after.
Neil drove us to Twickenham, where we caught a train in to
central London.
We had lunch with Mike and Tom, both army vets from Melton
Mowbray (Mike was
at the Troop with Neil and I) before heading by taxi to Hyde
Park near
Knightsbridge Barracks. The Troop were already there ready.
We took our
seats and waited for the Queen to arrive. Major Erica Bridge
the CO of the
Troop led a great parade which was enjoyed by a great number
of ex troop
officers who had made it to London for this unique day. After
the horses had
left the Park, the soldiers and officers met the Queen on
her walk round. It
was a very relaxed atmosphere for what was a formal occasion.
Her Majesty
looked very happy to be mixing with all the serving and retired
Troop. It
was excellent to have a day off my trip and spend it catching
up with
like-minded horse-loving people. It seemed very apt that I
should be lucky
enough to be able to attend this parade under the circumstances
of the ride.
We left London after the rush, and returned to Fovant at 2200
for a pizza
and fairly late night again. Many thanks to Neil for doing
all the driving
and providing suit, shoes, shirt etc for the parade.
Day 62 Fri 29 June
Fovant – Gear’s Mill, Shaftesbury
I got up at 0730 to say goodbye to Neil, then went back to
bed to write my
previous days diary. I didn’t have many miles to do
today (12) and it was
raining hard. Had fresh eggs later with Ellie for breakfast.
Les from Free’N
’Easy arrived just after 1000 for another saddle check
up. We drove round to
see Linda and Les made some minor adjustments, but was happy
the saddle was
still doing a great job. My ETA that night was to be after
1700 so there was
no rush to leave. I decided to wait to have lunch with Neil,
and work
colleague Tom, who was thinking about buying pigs too. After
another great
spread I went round and rode Marv back to the cottage bareback
to avoid the
puddles. Marv, having had a day off was on his toes and proceeded
to knock
Ellie over, (who was holding her) and also stand on her foot!
Not a great
thank you present. I then tied him up, whereby he also broke
the reins in
his impatience to get going. I was getting a little upset
with the normally
well-behaved Marv. So after retrieving my headcollar, which
I had forgotten
at the yard we started out at 1430 (our latest start yet).
We did some long canter in some fields before having to stop,
and I had to
spend 10 minutes breaking my way through a gap in the thorny
hedgerow to be
able to continue. Once up on the ridge (near the regimental
badges) we
turned west and trotted many miles along the puddle-infested
byway. We
dropped down at the end and had to do 800m on the A30 before
diving back
into the narrow lanes. We were on a good bridleway as we left
Wiltshire and
entered Dorset (yet another county completed). We crossed
the Blanford road
south of Shaftesbury and found our way into Gear’s Mill
from the south. Met
by Lucy, she had a perfect field to the front of the house
for Marv, who
spent no time at all in getting stuck in to the grass available.
Richard
very kindly took me to a great local pub – The Foresters,
for a superb meal
and lively conversation.
Day 63 Sat 30 June
Gear’s Mill – Purse Caundle
Richard had left early for a days sailing on the Solent. .
I moved Marv into
a stable at 0800 to help dry him out before we set out. I
left at 1030,
after having a chat with Lucy, and waiting for the rain to
ease. I rode Marv
back up the steep slippery bridleway before meeting the road
and heading
west. I got a mobile signal and spoke to Nick (a friend from
University who
was driving down from Henley to walk with us). We met him
after passing Guy’
s Marsh prison. We did a few shuttle runs with his car, as
he wanted it
parked near population, which wasn’t easy in this area.
We had lunch in the
Crown beer garden in Marnhull. Marv did his usual contented
grazing around
us as we ate in the slight drizzle. We have been very lucky
up to now, as it
has been an exceptionally wet last few months in the UK. Somehow
it hasn’t
rained hard when we have been travelling. Only 1 full day
in waterproofs up
to week 9 is very fortunate. I hope our luck holds for the
last few.
We continued on out of the village, the rivers swollen and
in many places
overflowing into the fields. The road at one point was flooded.
I rode
through on Marv, and Nick used his initiative and got a lift
through with a
kind lady. On through Stalbridge and finally onto a hill overlooking
Purse
Caundle. It had just started raining harder, but a photo here
was needed.
Nick had several attempts at taking one (not one of his many
skills), before
I took one and allowed us to complete the day. We finished
down a very
overgrown and slippery bridleway, which Marv was happy enough
to follow us
through. We were met at Home Farm by Judy, Anthony and Amelia.
Marv was
loosed out into a field sharing with cows and their horse
Geoffrey who had
his own electric fence enclosure inside it. We all had tea
round the kitchen
table before Anthony kindly drove Nick back to his car. We
returned to the
Farm and sat down a to a wholesome supper of beef casserole
prepared by
Judy. The weather was still very wet and wasn’t looking
like improving soon.
Day 64 Sunday 1 July
Rest day
Up at 8 for a breakfast with the family. Then out to help
move the dairy
herd to another field for the day’s grazing. First of
the visits was
Caroline (a university friend), her husband Charlie and young
son William.
They were on route from Hampshire to Cornwall and said hello
to Marv and I.
As Caroline arrived, Amelia had returned from a hack out with
Geoffrey (her
grey gelding). He was released into the big field with Marv
and the cows –
where they both preceded to act like kids by chasing each
other around,
breaking an electric fence in the process! This was meant
to Marv’s rest day
(far too much energy left….). They were then both put
into the horse paddock
together and then spent the next hour mutually grooming, and
are now
inseperable. There was then a pause for a ploughman’s
lunch, and then Linda
Conrad and Rog Harrison (friends of my parents from the RAF)
came to feed
Marv some treats. Closely followed by Susan and Patrick, who
had driven up
from Bridport to meet Marv in person. They too had some carrots/apples:
which were gratefully received by both Marv and new found
best buddy
Geoffrey. The afternoon was spent trying to arrange fields
for the last 2
weeks in Devon and Cornwall with some immediate success.
Many thanks to the people below who kindly provided grazing
and shelter for Marv and for some of those nights a bed, food
and good company for Grant. He would also like to thank all
those along the route for their good wishes, encouragement
and sponsorship.
Monday - Malborough– Susie Goess-Saurau
Tuesday – Larkhill – Matt and Fi, Taff Jeffries
Wednesday and Thursday – Fovant – Neil and Ellie
Friday – Shaftesbury – Mr Bridges
Saturday, Sunday and Monday –Purse Caundle - Judy, Anthony
and Amelia
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