Jane’s Walk 2024 – Day 7

We had a wonderful day off back in Oxford, celebrating a family get-together at our daughter’s house—all 21 of us!

Back to Tewkesbury Abbey on Sunday morning, walk through the rest of the town, and back down to the river. We pass footpaths signs to the ‘Battle Trail’, which takes you to the sight of the Battle of Tewkesbury, where Edward 1V in 1471 defeated the Lancasters, in a famous battle during the Wars of the Roses.

On the riverfront, we walk past Cheltenham College Boat house and are intrigued by a sign saying, “No fishing for Elvers without a license”.  I had never heard of them, but apparently, they are small eels found in the Severn and are a great culinary delicacy, with many exported to Japan.

An easy start to the day through more flood plains on the east side of the river. On our route, we see the village of Deerhust to our left with the huge Saxon Church of St Mary’s, which is considered to be one of the finest complete buildings in England to have survived from before the Norman Conquest and parts of it may date back to the first part of the 9th century.

500 yards further along, we visit Odda’s chapel, which is one of the most complete Saxon Churches in England and was built by Earl Odda, in commemoration of his brother Aelfric, who died in 1053. For many centuries, this chapel was lost inside a rambling Tudor farmhouse known as Abbots Court; the nave had been made into a kitchen, the chancel a bedroom. Its significance was realised in 1865, and in 1965, the chapel was disentangled from the house, leaving a very special space to visit.

Through a wooded area, which would be extremely treacherous in wet weather, with steps up and down the path that are in poor condition due to rotting wood. Tom has a tumble, tripping over a root, but all is well.

Further on, we pass to the left of Appeley Court and note the many wooden holiday homes built on very high stilts against the floods. We cross under a road bridge and meet the publican of the local pub walking his tiny Shetland pony. He shows us its many tricks with pride.

We lunch outside at the Red Lion Inn and then complete the day without incident except for negotiating our way around a herd of young cattle and one lone sheep.