Evening meal in the              

   Napton-on-the-Hill

I had not used this pitch before so it was a pleasant surprise to find a large landscaped and fairly natural area of grass, bushes and trees surrounding a large lake frequented by ducks and with an island in the center. We pitched on the far side of the lake which had the feeling of a wild pitch although there were quite good toilets, with cold water only, just a few hundred yards away.  With good views toward the hill and the village and some pleasant sunshine we could have been in the lakes or Snowdonia.

That evening we tried a couple of pubs. First the Kings Head with poor beer so we had a walk to the Bridge Inn which is on the Oxford Canal where we had a pleasant evening with good ale in the company of two boaters who helped keep us entertained until it was time to leave. This meant that we had to leave the third pub in the village for another time.

 Saturday 15^th September, we split up to go our different ways, Brian & Sandra, Darren & Geoff and me and Bob. It was a pleasant breezy day with warm sunshine. Bob and me had a relatively easy ride via Priors Marston, Priors Hardwick and Claydon to Cropedy where we passed the Brassnose Arms public house. It was a bit early for a pint so we carried on to Great Bourton and the Bell Inn opposite the church, which is unusual in having the bells in a wooden tower over the gatehouse. Here I had a very nice pint of Hook Norton Best Bitter. On the way out of this picturesque village we checked out a campsite for possible future use.

Then on via Hanwell and Lower Tadmarton with the last hill a steady four-mile climb to the Gate Hangs High, Hook Norton with the sign over the door proclaiming; “The Gate Hangs High and hinders non,   Refresh and pay and travel on”

  Gate Hangs High, Hook Norton 

Here we camped at the back of the pub on a pleasant grassy area with shelter from hedges, which was needed, as it was quite breezy. I had cycled twenty-five miles from Napton.

That evening we started of by visiting the bar of the Gate Hangs High which turned out to be more like a restaurant that a pub and as the Hook Norton Beer was not up to much and the meals on the expensive side we left Darren and Geoff there and ventured out into the dark to visit the two Good Beer Guide listed pubs in Hook Norton village, about a mile away, along with Charlie Churchard who had drove out to join us for the night. A short shower had Brian in a panic as he was wearing sandals and had no waterproof. We had high hopes of an excellent pint of Hook Norton ale as the Brewery is located on the outskirts of the village but besides being very busy our second pub of the evening, the Sun Inn, fell short of supplying the quality of ale that I was hoping for. So a few hundred yards further to the Pear Tree which is the Brewery tap. Here the beer was better and we enjoyed a pleasant evening.  Brian and Sandra left early as they were both feeling tired. They walked into a heavy shower. This was unfortunate as neither had a waterproof and Brian was wearing sandals remember. So they got a little damp. This was rather perverse as when the rest off us left it was a pleasant starry night and the waterproof that I was carrying was not really needed.

  Hook Norton Brewery

Sunday 16^th September, we split up to go our separate ways. Geoff, Brian & Sandra returned to their cars left at Napton. Darren cycled to Stratford-upon-Avon to catch a train, Bob cycled 58 miles to Birmingham and I returned to Coventry via Wellesbourne.