Swanbourne -Swans Way (6)

On the Swans Way again in the North Bucks area of the Vale of Aylesbury. A little bit of road walking takes us to the village of Swanbourne. An Anglo Saxon name in origin, and possibly meaning "swan stream".

St Swithuns  Church is Anglican , a Grade II listed historic building, stands at the east end of the village, opposite Swanbourne House. We walk past the Primary school which has an interesting statue of two happy looking schoolchildren in the entrance.

Swanbourne War Memorial,  stands at the junction of Winslow Road and Mursley Road, Swanbourne, is also listed as Grade II.
The memorial is a Portland stone obelisk, c4m tall, which rises from a two-stage, moulded, plinth. Carved on the front face of the upper stage of the plinth, the principal dedication reads IN HONOUR OF THE MEN/ OF SWANBOURNE/ WHO SERVED THEIR KING/ AND COUNTRY IN THE/ GREAT WAR 1914-1918

Swanbourne War Memorial

Swallows gathering

It's nearing the end of August and Swallows are gathering on overhead lines. Won't be too long now before they are heading off for a warmer climate. It's a great time of the year as we start to move into Autumn. the hedgerows are packed with juicy Blackberries and Sloes. Plenty of Damsons and Plums too all fine to eat and very tasty.
We pass by the village of North Marston, 'Marston' is a common one in England, and is Anglo Saxon for 'Farm by a marsh'.

Fields of Sweetcorn

We spot our first Deer in the distance n not easy to tell  what it is though? Some nice scenery with the occasional pond. The one pictured  seemed to have it's own burial island.

North Marston

Plenty of rain lately so the streams are all full and flowing along quite nicely.

The next village we come to is 'Granborough . I'm sure you are anxious to know what that means in Anglo Saxon ? Well I can tell you that it means 'Green hill'.

The Village Hall stands in splendid isolation . I can't help thinking that it would make a splendid cricket pavilion.  Maybe in another life it will find it's vocation.

The village is still one of the possessions of the Crown.  Not surprisingly then that the pub in the village is therefore called 'The Crown'.

We had already had a close encounter with two horses which was a bit uncomfortable. Never a good thing when they come charging down the field at you . They seemed to take an instant dislike to little Archie the dog. He decided safest course of action was to hide behind me. Which then put me in the firing line.
I was extremely pleased to reach the gate the other side of the field.
More problems were to come in a field of cows who were equally intent on causing us stress.
This was supposed to be a relaxing walk as well.....

The food foraging continues as we pick some lovely red apples from an old orchard. We also pick some large field mushrooms too. There are a number of yellow/green/red coloured mushrooms too. This according to our  book are called 'Ruby Bolete'.

However the best sighting is yet to come. Walking through a field of Oats there is a scurrying that sound to be a bit more than the numerous pheasants we have seen.
I walk round the edge of the field just in time to see a 'Chinese Water Deer' come bounding out at a fair gallop. I was just glad that I wasn't in the way of it. It was very stocky more similar to a musk deer than a true deer. 
So many of the creatures have escaped from private collections and and mated that there are now more in the UK than China.

It has been a really good walk , plenty of free wild food , lots of wildlife and the weather stayed dry . In total we covered just over eleven miles.