Millennium Project
This is a walk of about 2½ miles and takes well under an hour. From the traffic lights, go down the Hempton Road, turn right into The Daedings and find the site of the skip at the top of Cosy Lane by Windmill Close. Cosy Lane is by far the steepest ascent in the area and it can be a bit of a strain even going down, but the glorious views it affords are ample compensation. In the very wettest weather the lower section can be quite challenging, even with Wellingtons or walking boots, especially when the tractors have been busy and when horses have usurped what vestiges of a foothold remain.
At the bottom you can turn right on to the road that takes you directly to the junction of the gated road to Milton - but I would suggest you take the opportunity, via the pleasant winding footpath, to explore Daeda's Wood which is on your left. Turning right at the road junction or out of Daeda's Wood, you have quite a stiff climb which brings you out at the lay-by where the bottle bank is situated. You can struggle up to the main road by this rather insalubrious backwater - where the £400 warning signs seem to attract rather than deter the litter louts. I prefer to turn left and cross over the main road below the summit of Deddington Hill, though care is necessary with the continual fast traffic.
There is a reasonable footpath up to the top though, alas, it is not by any means litter-free. An extraordinary number of smokers, Coca-Cola addicts and fast-feeders seem to want to leave their mark along the roadside here. In the light of this one can appreciate all the more the young healthy trees which John Scott took the trouble to plant there some ten years ago. In the late autumn you will find that the last tree at the top will provide you with a nice rosy apple to refresh you now that you have reached the rather noisy last lap of your journey back to the village along the Oxford Road. But do please leave one for me too.
