Tom Forest found himself with a few days holiday to use up before October, so rather than spend it kicking around at home, he decided to go to the Cotswolds and do a few walks from a book he had bought a few years earlier.
So it was that on the first day after his arrival at the B & B in the quiet Cotswold village, Tom decided to leave the car there and take the local bus to Lower Swell and do the walk in the 'Circular Cotswold Walks' book to Stow on the Wold. It had been a long drive so he thought today he'd catch the bus. Although there were only two or three a day, he worked out that he had more than enough time to do the walk and catch the 4.30 bus back to Lower Swell.
Tom managed to do the walk following it from the book without too much difficulty, though some of the footpaths had changed since the book was printed. He was glad, as it turned out, that he had lunch in Stow, because when he completed the return track to Lower Swell, he waited patiently for the bus . . . and waited. Eventually it dawned on him that the last bus wasn't going to turn up. How was he going to get back? It had been quite an effort to walk 6-7 miles in what turned out to be a stiflingly hot day, so he wasn't looking forward to walking a further 8 or so back to the B & B.
He hadn't really got enough for a taxi, but possibly he might be able to thumb a lift. Unfortunately there weren't many cars going through the sleepy village in the late afternoon but eventually he managed to get a lift back to Lower Slaughter.
The driver was a bluff, hearty country type who, to Tom's delight said he'd drop him off right in the main street, where the B & B was situated.
Tom alighted from his saviour's salon and gave him a cheery goodbye, with much gratitude only to find, too late, that he wasn't in Lower Slaughter but Upper Slaughter! The man must have misheard him as he had clambered into the car.
This time he failed to find any vehicle going in any direction, so he seemed to have no choice but to find his way back through the fields and footpaths. He didn't unfortunately have an Ordnance Survey map, but at least he had his 'Circular Cotswolds Walks' book! The only problem was that the late September day was beginning to darken rapidly.
Still, once he found his bearings he set off along a path which seemed to match up with the description in the second half of the Lower Slaughter walk. This in turn led into a field which in turn led into another field where a stile was supposed to lead to a white post by a plank footbridge. The only problem was that the stile no longer seemed to exist – or the white post. Was this the right field or did this count as being the first field?
Tom tried in vain to find the footbridge in the gathering gloom, but there appeared nonetheless to be some kind of stream, so he decided to jump it and hope to pick up on the path on the other side. So, hurling himself into space he landed in what appeared to be thick vegetation. Obviously, this wasn't the path, but surely he must be in the right direction?
Reading further in the book's text it seemed that he must reach a narrow lane eventually, but probably wouldn't be in the right place to pick up the path on the other side of the lane. Oh well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it – in a manner of speaking.
By the time he made his way through the uncultivated scrubland to the lane (the name of which or the distance from Lower Slaughter naturally not specified in the book) it was quite dark. How many more paths and fields would he have to follow? They might be easily traversable in daylight, but would he be wiser to follow the road back, even if probably longer? If he decided on the latter course, should he go left or right?
As he approached the lane, he seemed to recognise the car parked in the driveway of the cottage. He remembered the number plate – 4 TIM. Quickly he knocked at the door, which was opened by his erstwhile companion, Tim, who'd given him a lift earlier.
The astonished Tim gasped, 'Good Lord, why didn't you say you wanted Lower Slaughter instead of Upper?'
Tom was too bushed to explain; he was only too happy to accept the lift back to his B & B which Tim generously offered.