DAY 117 - What date is it again?

April 29th, 2018....ooops, January 29th!

You're going to think I am rubbing it in. But, I'm not Mother Nature and thus I don't control the weather (as much as I may want to), so the fact that it was a glorious, sunny spring-like day today is not my fault. It would have just been wrong for me to not take advantage of it and not take a few photos.

Adding to the brilliantly
sunny day...
crocuses. 

The BBC had predicted a lightly overcast day all day. They got that so wrong. Almost from the start the day was almost cloudless and the temperature a balmy 11 degrees C.

Phil and I set off for a walk that would keep us to side country roads. We had been deluged with rain yesterday, and the fields were soaked, so best to avoid them. Checking out our ordinance map, we settled on a half circle loop that would take us around the north of Morton in Marsh.

We walked around the Fire College, up a graveled lane. We did have to traverse a wee bit of mud toward the end of the lane, but nothing too grimy. We were walking down a country road when we saw a sign pointing down a single track lane: Lower Lemington only. We decided to check it out as our map indicated it was the site of a medieval village.

My research shows that Lower Lemington was part of Tewkesbury Abbey lands as far back of 751. It was enumerated in 1086 and found to have 15 people living there. It's been farmland ever since, and the manor has been there since at least the 1600s.

The lane that leads in (and out) of Lower Lemington. 

St. Leonard's Church in
Lower Lemington

We stopped in at the local church, St. Leonards, although on this fine Sunday, it seemed silent. While the ground were well kept, it did not appear that many were beating a path to its door as quite literally the path to the door was grass with no wear marks. There has been a church on the spot since the 11th Century, and the parish registers begin in 1685, and are said to be virtually complete.

From here, we walked a short way further down the road and through the tiny hamlet of Dorn. In that short space, we had moved from the site of a Medieval village to the site of a Roman small town. There are 133 Roman small towns recorded in England. The Roman small town at Dorn lies along the Fosse Way, the Roman Road that runs through Moreton in Marsh. Archaeological investigation of the site has revealed evidence for significant activity from the first to late fourth centuries.

The rail line now divides the Roman site at Dorn.

Snow Drops are starting to appear.
Apparently they are early this year,
and soon carpets of them will appear
in area woodlands.

Along our walk we spotted many signs of spring's start: snow drops, crocuses, cyclamen and primula. It does the soul good to know it is on its way.

Pretty Cyclamen poke out through the grass.

The rest of the walk took us toward the village and estate of Batsford, then down the road back into Moreton. After our 2 1/2-hour walk, we felt we had earned a Sunday roast...so it was off to The Bell.

Glorious!