Another not too early start, I left the YHA around 8:45am and headed over the Thames to follow that, and therefore the Swan Way for some miles through South, Little, Middle and North Stokes, all of which were very pretty villages.

Turning right at Mongewell I left the Thames behind to head East along another very straight section, made mildly more interesting by being in a woodland, including a Trig Point hidden among the trees - only the second similarly located Trig Point I've seen, the other being on the Gloucestershire Way.

The path joins 'Grims Ditch' a long ditch earthwork that must stretch for about a mile and if man-made must have taken an age. Grim, I am reliably informed is another word for the Norse God Odin and apparently used to explain the presence of such an earthwork at the time of the Anglo Saxons. At the end of it there was a stile - nothing unusual in that, except it's the first one I've encountered since starting the walk!

Rising over Batchelors Hill and finally emerging from the woodland and some twists and turns the path emerges at Nuffield. This is, of course, home to William Morris, founder of MG motors, now a National Trust property.

Being just a short way off the route and being about 12:30, a visit was almost obligatory. A little known fact is that walkers are given a free Tea or Coffee on arrival which is a nice touch I thought.

The house is quite humble for a man who was a multi-millionaire and apparently gave away the equivalent of £11 billion in his lifetime. The Nuffield Trust would not exist were it not for him, we have a lot to be grateful for.

I spent about an hour there before setting off to rejoin the Ridgeway, stopping again briefly for lunch. This section of the Way is more interesting with twists and turns and a variety of countryside from woodland to a small village to tracks reminiscent of previous days.

Finally I emerged onto the final straight and was amused to see a sign claiming Watlington was just 1.6km distant. The map indicated at least double that, and indeed that's what it ended up being. Even the final stretch from the Ways departure claimed 600m, it was double.

My total distance for the day including the diversion to Nuffield Place was 17.5 miles taking a shade over six hours of walking (so not including the time spent at Nuffield House). Even so, I was at the Pub just after 4pm.

I had a very pleasant room and decided not to dine in the pub but walk down to the local fish and chip shop where I got a kebab, but ate it in my room.