Returning Home
We stayed in Aylesbury for a couple of nights and then went home on the train via London on Sunday morning. We could see the Chilterns and the monument on Coombe Hill from the train. It was quite pleasing to see it from such a different perspective amongst all the people on the carriage, knowing we had walked it only a few days ago.
We stopped in Victoria for lunch at a pub just near the station. For a healthy holiday, we seem to have spent a great deal of our time eating. It will be interesting weighing ourselves once we are home. There is a passage written on the pub window: "Food is an important part of a balanced diet" Fran Lebowitz.
The Ridgeway walk was 85 miles. We actually walked 93 miles, which includes walking to and from B&Bs and so on. According to Hil's pedometer we took 193,000 steps during the walk. This is an estimate as she lost it on Day 5. We borrowed Mum's on Day 6.
We were altogether pleased by the planning and booking arranged for us by Freedom Holidays for this our first long distance walk.
Things to remember
Do not rely on the water points being present or working according to the map.
Use packed lunch wherever possible. It's far easier to stop when you are ready to eat. Some B&Bs do not provide this service (the only one that could not provide this for us was Corner Stones, Chalgrove), so carry a sharp knife / etc to make your own!
We needed to carry rain coats every day, and they were necessary, if not against the rain then the wind. Then again, this was summer, so we did use some sun protection as well. Parts of the path are quite exposed, especially in the west.