Saturday 27th February 2016 – 384.53 miles
Had a lie in this morning, we had set the alarm for 6.00am instead of 5.30!

Even so, we were away by 7.30 and on the way to Upton on Severn. A town well worth a visit – houses of differing historic styles, all shapes and sizes. Lovely independant shops too and a large number of pubs!

We crossed over the river Severn and followed a busy road for a few miles then turned off onto a quieter road to Earls Croome where we found a bench in the local churchyard and stopped for breakfast.

A very pretty church which we would have liked to look around inside but unfortunately the door was padlocked.
We walked on to Kinnersley where we found a bench at just the right time for a short break. We were following the road out of the village when a car came towards us and began to turn into a cul-de-sac on the left. The car stopped in the middle of the road and the window was wound down – after a few words of greeting we heard those wonderful words – “Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea or coffee?” As you may have gathered, we never refuse a cuppa. Jules and Jane made us very welcome and we chatted over coffee and delicious plum, ginger and walnut cake. Jules is a keen walker himself so we enjoyed exchanging tips etc. and he gave us some Nikwax waterproofing spray. Thanks to you both Jules and Jane.
We continued along cycle route 45 out of Kinnersley and we could hear the sound of traffic on the M5 which ran parallel with the road. We crossed over the motorway and on towards Pirton Court and then the village of Pirton.

Found another bench! Our friend Pete phoned us just as we’d sat down so Dave chatted while we rested. Stayed 10 minutes or so then headed for Stonehall where we planned to visit the pub for our usual pot of tea for two.

We met Maureen out walking her dog Jess. We told her about our planned tea stop and were very disappointed to hear that the pub was no longer a pub! She told us that the nearest place to get a cuppa would be St Peters garden centre on the outskirts of Worcester. We walked on and sure enough, we reached the garden centre around 3pm. I expect we looked a bit odd in the garden centre with our rucksacks but we weren’t bothered, we just needed our cuppa! The walk today has been very pleasant. Again, quiet country lanes and throughout the day we were treated to glimpses of the Malvern Hills in the distance.

We messaged our friend Helene to let her know where we were as she and Paul were going to whisk us away for the night to a campsite near Malvern. We decided to walk on to the start of the canal in Worcester – a further 2.5 miles. We met Helene and Paul at Diglis Basin – the start of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and they drove us to a lovely campsite.

We pitched our tent then walked over to the large heated community room where we spent a lovely evening. Chilli and bread for supper and wine and cider to drink. It was a very relaxing evening – thanks Paul and Helene.