October 2026 – Norton
The final Sunday in October saw a depleted detachment of the Pheasants make the trip to Norton, as school half term holidays took their toll from the usual numbers. With Bryan and Dave driving, Steve on catering duty and Mario navigating the route he’d concocted from three short trails that he’d stitched together, the foursome set out from Norton in a clockwise direction, heading west towards Thurston before the route swung north.
It was at an early stage and when the travellers were at the extreme west of the route when Mario realised that they were covering a short part of the previous year’s Thurston walk. It was then time to head back into Norton before heading out towards Norton Little Green, though the blustery conditions occasionally made for challenging headwinds to be navigated. Fortunately, Steve was on hand to serve up sausage and egg ciabatta rolls to keep the chaps in high spirits.
After two hours and forty minutes and 6.25 miles of trekking, with only one minor navigational faux pas due to an overzealous farmer planting over a trail, the Pheasants made it back to the Norton Dog pub only to find that it was catering exclusively for diners. Not to be outdone, the foursome motored to nearby Thurston were they found ample seating at the Fox and Hounds and were very impressed by the seasonal Big Dog rye beer.
It should be noted that Pheasants Tommy and Adrian reprised the same route the following Sunday, with Tommy driving. Their penance for not being on the official walk was to miss out on the ciabatta rolls and Big Dog beer.
