Up and about at 7.30am followed by the now familiar look at the Beeb weather app and re-packing the rucksack accordingly, strategically placing the wet gear higher or lower in order of priority in the bag and weather prognosis. Definitely at the bottom of the bag today as forecast is for fine sunshine for the whole of the day, enough of a promise that we lotion-ed-up straight away which always seems a shame after a nice shower, buts needs must.
Only the one of us ,with a weak will, gave in to the full English freshly prepared by the pub chef and served up by the landlord, who said it had been a long night, not from us as we were in bed reading... for at least 10 minutes! We chatted to a nice senior couple at breakfast who were walking too, but along the Thames path that also runs through Goring. They were from Derbyshire and seemed to have covered a great deal of UK distance walking in their earlier lives. They said they had trekked all the South West Coast Path, both ways, 650 miles! We have done quite a few bits of it ourselves and its a pretty tough challenge, spectacularly beautiful but with continuous ups to sap the strength and downs to put pressure on the knees and of course there are the mists and rain storms that seem to come from nowhere to spoil a good day. Whilst walking a section ourselves towards Port Isaac, we were hit with gale-force winds and horizontal rain that made the coast path soon become treacherous, it's the only time we have left a walk and called a taxi……so far! They had also just completed the Cotswolds Way through to its end at Bath something we may look to do another year. We compared rucksack weights with them when they were doing their long walks, theirs they were measuring in English at 20lbs but we were forced a while ago into metric for weights and ours at 10kgs. So by my calculator app we just tip the scales in front of them, by an extra pair of pants and socks each or I suspect a bit more evening attire for Lesley!
Time to say goodbyes and leave on our next leg which thankfully was reasonably short today after yesterday's pleasant but long haul. Getting stocked up on some essential goodies for the day purchased at Mcolls store in the village centre before starting in brilliant sunshine in the knowledge we were now over half-way. Following the way marked signs out of Goring village and back along the Ridgeway with the our brief encounter with the Thames Path behind us as it now took the opposite bank and on to Wallingford and eventually its source beyond Letchlade. We soon had an upward stroll with beautiful elevated views looking down on the Thames flowing swiftly below us..
We were now passing by and admiring the impressive houses, many with their own private moorings at the end of their gardens, when we came a cross a group of path clearers from the 'Green Gym'. We looked them up on the web later that evening and it looks like a worthwhile voluntary group, if you like your outdoors and the camaraderie, as they all seemed to be enjoying themselves, with scythes, secateurs and wheelbarrows, well done to them! The only negative for us on this short section between Goring and South Stoke were the frequent high-speed trains sometimes only yards away from us that also follow the Thames before later crossing over, on their way to London or the West Country. It seemed such an idyllic spot, here next to the Thames, but I suppose the local station is a big commuter plus and you usually cannot have convenience without some drawbacks. It certainly had no effect on property prices, judging by the estate agents window perusal, earlier. On the other bank we passed by what look like a pretty impressive and probably very expensive prep school and continued on under the railway crossing I mentioned earlier. There were several high-vis helmeted workmen working from scaffolding attached to moored barges under the bridge. They are working on on the massive and over-running electrification of this line which will speed the trains even more, but they should be much quieter than the thumping and now pretty ancient diesels. The pretty village of South Stoke came up next with a pleasant meadow running between the village and its, 2 miles further on neighbour, North Stoke. The village has classic cottages and a country pub advertising 'eat, drink and sleep', making this an alternative to Goring if you feel that another 5 miles wouldn't go amiss on an already long day! Between South and North Stoke there seemed to be a profusion (if that's the correct word ) of fit girls jogging in their brightest, trendiest Lycra and all managing to talk to each other at the same time so they obviously could have gone much quicker, my running expert next to me commented! She also added that one was wearing one of those 'makes you look slimmer' pants thing, I honestly didn't notice as I was concentrating more on the walk ahead and fine scenery around us. The path leads through a meadow where we stopped to listen to a cuckoo on the opposite bank, this once familiar sound had been absent for us for a few years, it's probably global warming or the other birds have simply got wise to this nest-borrower! 
The path enters into a church yard where we sat for mid-morning sustenance on the seat by the Lychgate. We chatted to a lady that had been cleaning the inside of the beautiful church adorned with some very ancient wall paintings. We commented on it being a peaceful spot and of course the lovely weather today, all very British! We continued until the Ridgeway turned away from the Thames besides the A4130. It looked to us if this section was a hasty add-on where the path in the past may have been routed through the grounds of a large manor estate and had for some reason been diverted right beside the Wallingford by pass for about 3/4 mile before crossing the main road between Oxford and Reading. We took the marked path running gently upwards until turning to look back and there through the trees was Didcot power station and the Clumps, still in our view since commencing the second day ! 
Just before the start of Grim's Ditch we stopped besides a really peaceful long lane for a snack and drink, leaning on our comfortable 'tortoises' and seeing just the one passing tractor and sole cyclist ambling past us before taking the track on and up Grim's Ditch. It was such a contrasting place from the busy roads we crossed just a few minutes earlier! Rucksack back on for a fairly long and hard haul upwards through thankfully shaded blue bell woods, switching sides of the banks frequently, stepping over the frequent trip hazards of roots and wondering how much longer we were to be in the shade before we popped out into the warm sunshine again.
At the top of the path I took a drink of cooling water from the drinking water tap just outside Grim's Dyke Cottage one of several taps kindly provided by farmers along the Ridgeway. We were looking at our watches now as a cunning plan had been hatched prior to our walk. To avoid walking the extra 2 miles uphill and on a busy road to our booked pub accommodation, we were going to take the 139 bus that ran at 4 minutes past the hour passing through Nuffield to Nettlebed, on its way to Henley. With an air of confidence we strolled into Nuffield at 15 minutes before the hour, within plenty of time, but for the first time this walk we missed our sign post!…. …..and missed our bus. We had to go back on ourselves before seeing the elusive sign tucked away in an overgrown hedge. What would we do now to loose some time? There was a nice convenient seat outside the Nuffield Holy Trinity Church with a notice pinned on the fence saying that the village pub was now closed down but teas and cakes were available from inside. So we popped in and another lady cleaning the church ( what would they do without them ) welcomed us and put the kettle on, cakes in the fridge and all for a voluntary church donation. 
Lesley gave her a hand with a large bunch of flowers for the alter, a bit of improvised arranging and then outside in the lovely sunshine to partake of traditional tea and cakes, all very civilised even though it was in a plastic beaker! We watched as another walker missed the sign so it was not just us and obviously care should be taken here. With 40 minutes pleasantly passed we left for the next 04 past the hour bus some 15 min stroll away. This is now a bizarre section passing right through and across the Huntercombe golf course where we politely waited for a lady to drive off and whack (is that the correct term) her ball. It stayed barely 6 inches from the beautifully manicured fairway grass, bouncing several times before veering sharply to the left and into the rough. 
Perhaps the pressure from the ruck sacked audience caused this or maybe it was just making a poor choice of club! Crossing the A4130 and a hundred yards up the road we waited just 5 minutes for the on-time 139 double decker to take us the 2.5 miles into Nettlebed. Our cheerful driver took my pass and following another passenger-driver conversation involving a younger wife, made no charge for Lesley. The conversation was short as we soon entered the village of Nettlebed just a few minutes but possibly life-saving journey where just a short walk took us to the White Hart and eventually up to the lovely "Pistachio" room (what's this with not using room numbers anymore)? We were greeted by the receptionist that doubled as our host, bar person and any other job as she appeared to be completely on her own in this big pub/hotel!
Yet another walk-in-shower and a large fluffy pistachio coloured bed greeted us. Freshening showers and out into the busy beer garden with a pint of Oxford Gold and another layer of sun cream till the sun went behind the roof leaving all of the 'garden dwellers' in shade. The car-park had started to fill up with those taking a chillout-break after work, before they drive home to hubby or wife and probably just wanting to share more work related stories with their managers or secretaries who are obviously wanting to do the same thing. This was by far the busiest restaurant and booking ahead was no bad thing tonight. Nice food if not a bit pricey ,then this is the norm these days with some pubs trying to join the gastro-pub revolution to make ends meet. Food over and off to bed again for a short read and another comfortable night after removing the very weighty pistachio-fluffy-thing from the bed. The road was still pretty busy outside our window, but didn't seem to affect our now familiar long and deep sleep pattern.