March 24: The first rainy day

The most famous pilgrimage story in English mentions showers in its first line. So, I had about six hundred years’ warning of today’s weather.

It started almost imperceptibly, with tiny intermittent drops that I told myself that I was imagining. Then it got to the point that I could clearly see spots on my shirt, and cold delude myself no longer. By midmorning, it had settled into a persistent drizzle that lasted for the rest of the day’s walk.

Oddly, I found that I didn’t mind the rain. It wasn’t hard enough to limit visibility and make navigation difficult, and I have good wet-weather gear so I was able to stay warm and dry. And knowing that I would have a roof over my head at the end of the day made coping mentally so much easier – it would have been a different story if I had known I would be setting up a campsite at the end of the day. If anything, today’s rain was a confidence booster, showing me that adverse weather, like fatigue and aches and pains, is something that I have the physical and mental resources to push through.

This part of England is well-supplied with wonderfully well-preserved period properties, but the manor house at Baddesley Clinton, now owned by the National Trust,  stands out as special. It’s not just the buildings – the fields around it have a wonderful feeling of timeless tranquility.

The photos don’t do it justice. I blame, of course, the rain.

Day 14 Route: Balsall Common to Henley in Arden via Heart of England Way. Terrain: rolling countryside; field paths, tracks, and roads. Weather: cool, light breeze, rain from midmorning on. Daily distance: 19.9 km/12.3 miles. Cumulative distance: 336.1 km/208.4 miles. Accommodation: Best Western, Henley in Arden.