Day 35 : Trust your intuition. Mortimer, Silchester, Bramley

The Camino showered me with gifts today.

I had a hard time sleeping last night. I can't say exactly why, but it was at least in part due to concern about today's ambitious plan to walk from Theale to Mortimer or Bramley. I was worried about re-injury on the stretch where I would be miles away from any town or rail connection. After all, I've been walking solo each day and have encountered no walkers on the St James Way.

I had planned to take an 8 AM train to Reading, but as I drank my tea and listened to my gut, something didn't seem right. I decided to wait until the next train, and changed my plan.

Instead of going up to Theale, I took the 9 AM train to Mortimer, skipping a 5-mile section of trail between Theale and Mortimer. I figured it would be 3 or so miles to walk on the road between the rail stations and Camino path, plus the 8 mile strech itself, but I also know that there are footpaths that could make this route shorter, if I could find and stay on them. I found a marked-up online map of the Mortimer area and decided that it was enough to start with.

Getting off the train in Mortimer, I paused to get my bearings. A woman with a day pack and a big smile approached, asking whether I were a walker. I am! Her name is Malinka, and she and her friend Lucy were about to walk from Mortimer to Bramley to document the path between the rail stations as part of a South West Railway project. Malinka is a walking guide, Lucy is a Community Rail rep who creates programs connecting the rail system with the communities it passes through.

Of course I was interested, as I was going to wing the cross-country sections between the Way and the train stations. Then they invited me to join them.

Camino gift, friends.

The path from Mortimer to Silchester's Roman City and Amphitheater was pretty. Up lanes, along fields with soft fall light filtering through yellowing trees.

Mortimer church

My English Camigas!

Then up to the Roman settlement at Silchester. The town itself hasn't been excavated, but the amphitheater and walls have. We crossed the Camino path here, and followed it over the top of the walls.

Amphitheater entrance. Lucy shown for scale. No gladiators in sight.

The Roman Walls are a fulll circle of 2.5 miles ( I think) around the old city.

Off the walls, we walked through some woods to Silchester Common, where we stopped for lunch. Luckily for me, the Village Hall had a pop-up cafe today, and I was able to grab a sandwich. We sat in the sunshine and had our picnic, talking about how to define true friendship. (My "definition" is that you know it when you encounter it, with trust being the base. I am rich in this area.)

Then across the Common, past the pub and into an exquisite deciduous forest whose floor was covered in bracken ferns turned gold by the autumn.

Malinka is an expert navigator (she's the one documenting this walk), but there are some great markers along the path as well. Behold, a real Fingerpost!

Out of the woods, saw huge raptors, Black Kites, hunting on the outskirts of Bramley.

Grain storage barn. Similar to those close to Santiago.

Then we walked into the town and stopped for tea at the fantastic Bramley Bakery, directly next to the rail platform. Quick cuppa, an exchange of phone numbers, the creation of a Bramley Walk group on WhatsApp, promises of more walks... this week and/or next fall (I'm definitely coming back!) and off I went on the train. An hour later I was in Emma's car.

9 miles. Leg is in good shape, and all remaining walks are shorter.

Oh, these gifts! My heart overflows with gratitude.

This way to the Way.