Walking: Woodstock and Blenheim Park

Yesterday was another day of heavy rain, but this morning it had at least stopped raining, even if if was still overcast and gloomy, so we decided to risk heading out for a walk. Given how wet it's been, it seemed sensible to go somewhere with good paths, and decided to try Blenheim Park (the palace and formal gardens cost an arm and a leg to visit, but a lot of the path is open to the public free of charge). The last time we visited we parked in Combe, but that involved crossing a very muddy field to get to the park gate; this time, we parked in the main car park in Woodstock and walked across fields on a path with hollyhocks on either side to join the Oxfordshire Way where it follows a minor road near Wootton, and followed it up to enter the park by the Oxfordshire Way gate towards the north-east corner.



We carried on along the Oxfordshire Way to the other side of the park, then headed south towards the palace and the lovely hilly section near the lake. The clouds started to break up around the time we came into the park and by the time we got to the lakeside path there was blue sky and glorious autumn sunshine. Although the park was busy the real crowds were on the tarmac drives and the lakeside path was surprisingly quiet. Reaching the bridge in front of the palace, we walked up the hill to the monument and then, after pausing to admire the view, back down to join the path leading back to the gate near the bridge over the River Glyme in Woodstock. In the past, I've found Blenheim Park a bit dull, but this walk seemed to cover the more interesting bits, and mostly stayed away from the really busy paths; I liked it a lot and will definitely do this route again.