Jane’s Walk 2026: Day 7
Today is our last day before going home for our day off. Sim, who walked with us yesterday and stayed with David and Antonia last night, is still with us. He is in his early 30s and is a very proficient runner, and spends much of the morning running ahead of us, taking photos and then returning. Another stunning day and the temperature rises in the afternoon but most of the day is spent on a tree-lined path which makes it very pleasant to walk.
We come across a number of groups of fishermen, all with very long poles which we had not seen before. I thought at first it was because they thought the fish on the far bank were better. However, what they were doing was to fill a cup at the end of the pole full of maggots and drop them in a certain spot and then return to the same spot with their rod. They said it was a much more effective way to fish, although we had not seen any catches of any size throughout the day. One man did say that he had caught a big perch that morning and he was happy. I get the impression each group, who always appear to be men, are deeply competitive!
We watch a heron standing on the railing of a barge, unconcerned by our presence just beside it, taking pictures. Very unusual as in my experience they are usually very shy of humans. We come to Burbage Wharf with a large wooden crane on it, on the far side of the canal. This is a replica of a crane used to lift wood on to barges and transported on the canal in the 19th century.
We lunch in a pretty thatched pub back in Wootton Rivers, which was pleasant, but the service was slow due to it being Sunday. Further on, the canal disappears into the Bruce Tunnel, 460 metres long. Built in 1810, it was paid for by the then Lord Aylesbury, who owned the land. Later, the Western Railway must have been built to cross over here, as on our return the canal edge is now on the other side. We meet a canoeist on the far side who is debating whether to risk going through the tunnel as he has not got a torch with him. We point out that barges will have lights and would see him and he decides to continue. We hope he is OK.
We end at Wolf Hall Farm and walk up the farm track to the road. This is a big dairy farm and we pass a family with a child and her grandfather in a pony and trap having a spin. Through the trees we see Wolf Hall, a large Tudor mansion made famous by Hilary Mantel’s book and depicting the birthplace of Thomas Cromwell.
