Under way!

The traditional start point for the South Downs Way is by the statue of King Alfred, in Winchester Broadway. We spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon with our friends making the acquaintance of rh Hampshire Hog outside the county offices, and then walking round the ancient city, along the river (diverted and canalised in Roman times, flowing quite fast!).

This morning our friends came down to see Stella on her way around 9.30, across the river and into Chesil Street past the old Chesil Rectory (now a restaurant). King Alfred's statue isn't all that ancient: not nearly as old as some of the landmark buildings including the Chesil Rectory just round the corner. Then along, up the hill, and off the road onto the Downs proper.

We're working with the AtoZ strip map, but also a Rucksack Reader (http://www.rucsacs.com/) loaned by friends in Hove. Karin and Helmut run a well-respected Artists' Open House, this year including a retrospective for our mutual friend Cyril Mount who died in February. The Reader, as a descriptive guide to the route, is the perfect complement for the full-scale maps in the AtoZ.

I spoke to Stella on the phone around mid-day, having myself got back home: she's going well, perhaps halfway through the day's mileage. It's a little chilly (we forgot to provision gloves, which will be rectified after tomorrow!).

King Alfred bids the walker farewell		Round the corner by Chesil Rectory