Descending towards Streatley

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=55 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0418dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id119.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Swan, Swan Pub, Streatley"><U><B><IMG SRC="0430e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  </B><A HREF="id121.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church and Horses, Streatley"><U><B><IMG SRC="0420e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>       </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"><B>   </B><A HREF="id66.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="London Trip 9 2009"><U><B><IMG SRC="0450e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=425 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0418dfc3.jpg"> <div> Descending towards Streatley</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Three Photos and a Poem</div> <div> <IMG SRC="8ae7d530.jpg" border=0 width="893" height="595" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Many of the walks we followed I found on local websites for the area we were visiting.  <A HREF="http://www.visitthames.co.uk/uploads/thames&chilternswalks2.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.visitthames.co.uk/uploads/tha"><U>This 4 1/2 mile walk</U></A> climbs high into the </div> <div> North Wessex Downs, offering spectacular views of not just Goring and Streatley, but far into distant lands too.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="8b0c5a80.jpg" border=0 width="453" height="680" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> This area is part of the Chilterns, a series of hills known for their</div> <div> incredible natural beauty.  Footpaths criss cross the area, and we </div> <div> only sampled one or two of them.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="8657f8e0.jpg" border=0 width="895" height="654" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Deb heads downhill towards Streatley at the end of our hike into the North Wessex Downs.  Goring lies across the Thames.  For us,</div> <div> this was a dream vacation come true.  We have always wanted to walk this kind of English countryside and this year we did a lot of it! </div> <div> Not everyone feels this way.  Check out this poem by J. Ashby-Sterry from the 1800s!</div> <bR> <div> A Streatley Sonata</div> <bR> <div> <I>And when you’re here, I’m told that you</I> </div> <div> <I>Should mount the hill and see the view;</I></div> <div> <I>And gaze and wonder, if you’d do</I></div> <div> <I>Its merits most completely:</I></div> <div> <I>The air is clear, the day is fine,</I></div> <div> <I>The prospect is, I know, divine –</I></div> <div> <I>But most distinctly I decline</I></div> <div> <I>To climb the hill at Streatley !</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>But from the Hill, I understand</I></div> <div> <I>You gaze across rich pasture-land;</I></div> <div> <I>And fancy you see Oxford and</I></div> <div> <I>P’r’aps Wallingford and Wheatley:</I></div> <div> <I>Upon the winding Thames you gaze,</I></div> <div> <I>And, though the view’s beyond all praise,</I></div> <div> <I>I’d rather much sit here and laze</I></div> <div> <I>Than scale the Hill at Streatley!</I></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>