{"id":6904,"date":"2018-04-06T14:26:44","date_gmt":"2018-04-06T14:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/?p=6904"},"modified":"2018-04-06T16:48:04","modified_gmt":"2018-04-06T16:48:04","slug":"from-baldock-to-royston-on-the-first-day-of-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/2018\/04\/from-baldock-to-royston-on-the-first-day-of-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"From Baldock to Royston on the first day of spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring, at last!<\/h2>\n

The BBC weather forecast displayed that rare and wonderful thing, glorious sun all day and mild temperatures. I didn’t need much encouragement to book a day’s annual leave from work for a day outdoors.<\/p>\n

I decided on a hike I’d first undertaken almost four years ago to the day when I walked crest of the Hertfordshire hills on the Icknield Way from Baldock to Royston<\/a>.\u00a0 I could remember enjoying the hike then and the close proximity to my Cambridgeshire home made it all the more enticing.<\/p>\n

To Baldock<\/h2>\n

Smithy dog and I hopped on the train from Ely to Baldock and took the wrong turning out of the station.\u00a0 A fine way to start the day.\u00a0 Never mind, we recovered soon and quickly found ourselves on the Icknield Way.<\/p>\n

\"path\"<\/p>\n

The skies were clear, the temperature so high I quickly consigned my jacket and fleece to the rucksack and wished I’d had the foresight to don a pair of shorts.<\/p>\n

\"countryside\"<\/p>\n

Wallington<\/h2>\n

In the pretty village of Wallington we found George Orwell’s cottage.\u00a0 Orwell was married in the church and, according to the Icknield Way Path Walkers Guide<\/a>, he managed the village sweet shop and ‘is still remembered by the older people of the village as a very kind man’<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n