Sun shining!? Leaving Nettlebed to get to Goring to start one of the bigger days of the week. Brain a bit scrambled from a tense first night for me – 7 new songs and a band coming together live for the first time . Rowan’s voice and Benji’s presence added that extra dimension that a first night needed, and with everyone having walked (including a good part of the audience) there was a real sense of achievement at the end of a wet, muddy but enjoyable first day. Benji’s rendition of Jimi Hendrix ‘s Voodoo Chile on banjo will live in the memory, and Rowan’s solo acapella “Miners Lullaby” was one of those magic moments.

An amazing 20 people turned up to walk today! We’ve started walking by the side of the Thames, on a well-worn path out of Goring & Streatley through the beautiful village of South Stoke. To my right, open fields. The Thames is very very high and I see the local regatta has been cancelled. There are some very big houses on the waterfront with extraordinarily large private boats. We’ve seen our first red kite – they come from Rhayader in Wales but now there’s a population here too. I’m just knocked out by having 20 people walking with me, in clear weather and it’s not raining – what a great start!