Ok guys, thanks for the avalanche of advice
Never mind. I hiked the length of the Ridgeway national trail just to see if I could more than anything. Did I say it was short and easy above. Weeeell, I actually really stretched myself with the route plan I chose and did actually find this to be a challenge.
As far as national trails go this is a strange one. In the official 85 miles of the trail I hiked through church gardens, golf courses (with folks teeing off- never liked golf anyway
), peoples gardens, straight through farmers fields, over motorways, under motorways, through small villages, along tarmack, country road, greenlane, footpath, forrest path and even at one point the front curteilage of the Prime Ministers country home! The list of strangeness is almost in-exhaustive and to be honest I didn't entirely know what to expect when setting off despite having driven a good portion of the western half in the past. Since I was planning to camp the whole way and since there are few camping facilities there were also logistical problems, especially after crossing the Thames (did I say it crossed the Thames?) where there are very few sources of water without significantly detracting from the trail (which I didn't want to do since I was pushing my mileage already).
The trail is an ancient trading/travelers path speckled with many places of archaeological interest (more so in the west). The path tends towards the highest points along the way and even though there is no single summit of Merritt, many trig points are passed and many smaller ascents and subsequent descents must be made. The legend goes that ancient people followed the higher points (hence the Ridgeway) to avoid passing through low woodland and exposing themselves to ambush. Folks followed this trail for the same reason the many hillforts were built along the way=- you can see any threat coming from miles. The trail gives a great sense of isolation in long stretches, is very rugged in places and also has enough surprises to keep you going.
Officially 85 miles, my GPS informed me that I had walked 92, this being achieved through minor diversions. The weather was hot and due to the poor supply of water I found that I had to start the day with 4.5l (10 pounds) of water.
I followed the trail from east to west and did it in the 4 following stages
!. Ivinghoe Beacon to Lodge Hill
2. Lodge Hill to Wallingford
3. Wallingford to Waylands Smithy
4. Waylands Smithy to Overton Hill
A 5th could be added since I ultimately aimed for the stone circle at Avebury and a well deserved pint or seven in the Red Lion. If this thread gets some minor interest I'll post some more information on the stages I hiked. Hell I'll probably post some anyway