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Walking Land's End to John o'Groats with Mark Moxon

Tewkesbury to Worcester

The point where the M50 crosses the River Severn
The point where the M50 thunders over the River Severn

Today I again followed the River Severn for the whole day as it wound gently north from the picture-postcard beauty of Tewkesbury to the slightly more urban but no less rewarding city of Worcester. I crossed the border into Worcestershire almost as soon as the day started, and from that moment I realised that walking into the heart of the Midlands is going to be fun. The weather held out while, according to the weatherman, it poured in Cornwall and London, and as ever the path was easy to follow and sublimely relaxing as it snaked beside the river.

Upton-upon-Severn
Upton-upon-Severn

Into Worcester

Severn Bank
Severn Bank

Of course, after my pint in the sun the route suddenly seemed to become a lot more complicated. Up to that point it had stuck to the river, detouring only to go round the obviously very wealthy estate of Severn Bank, but soon after Severn Stoke the Way decided to cut across a load of fields, and suddenly I found myself disorientated and unable to find any markers. I swear it had nothing to do with the pint at lunchtime, but I ended up stomping through an unexpected farm or two, just heading north and hoping for the best. A farm worker in a white van waved at me as I passed him, so I presume I wasn't trespassing into fields of genetically modified corn or a particularly hush-hush cash crop, but I still don't really know whether I eventually found the river or whether it found me. I have a sneaking suspicion it was the latter...

Severn Stoke
Severn Stoke
The Rose and Crown in Severn Stoke
The Rose and Crown in Severn Stoke
Mark in the Rose and Crown, Severn Stoke
In the Rose and Crown, Severn Stoke