Join Richard and his fellow walkers for this month’s Shipston Home Nursing walk, this coming Thursday from The Red Lion in Long Compton, meeting at 11am

There are two climbs, mainly on tarmac or on gravel roads and with fantastic views.  The route is marked in purple below:

We will walk through the Rollright Stones which are a complex of three Neolithic and Bronze Age megalithic monuments. Now known as the King’s Men and the Whispering Knights in Oxfordshire and the King Stone in Warwickshire.

Folklore is:
A king riding across the county with his army was accosted by a local witch called Mother Shipton. She said to him:

“Seven long strides thou shalt take, says she
And if Long Compton thou canst see,
King of England thou shalt be!”

His troops gathered in a circle to discuss the challenge, and his knights muttered amongst themselves, but the king boldly took seven steps forward. Rising ground blocked his view of Long Compton in the valley, and the witch cackled:

“As Long Compton thou canst not see, King of England thou shalt not be! Rise up stick and stand still stone, For King of England thou shalt be none; Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be, And I myself an elder tree!“

The king became the solitary King Stone, while nearby his soldiers formed a cromlech, or circle, called the King’s Men. As the witch prepared to become an elder tree, she backtracked into four of the king’s knights, who had lagged behind and were whispering plots against the king. She turned them to stone as well. Today they are called the Whispering Knights.

We will then walk through the pretty hamlet of Little Rollright before climbing back up to the ridge and descending back to Long Compton.

If you would like to come along, please let Richard know by Wednesday evening (and also if you would like to stay for lunch or refreshments). Richard’s email is richard.colley@me.com.