The second day of the St Frideswide’s Way began in Abingdon, following the Thames Path towards Culham. The river at Abingdon was like a mirror.

At Culham, I made a diversion to the church, only to find it locked. Looking at the empty noticeboard, I wondered whether it ever opened.

I had high hopes for All Saints’ in Sutton Courtenay, which has always been open on previous visits.

This time, however, a notice on the door said that it was closed because of the Abingdon Drama Club’s production of 1984 (at the church where the author George Orwell is buried).

Rather than following the Thames Path, the way kept south of the River Thames in order to visit the churches at Appleford and Long Wittenham.

Along the way, the route passed the site of the new river crossing being built between Culham and Didcot.

The surroundings had an Orwellian feel, with the land scoured to make a new road and notices at the nearby quarry warning: “Property under constant surveillance” and “Keep Out”.

Things improved as the walk went through Appleford and Long Wittenham, on to Clifton Hampden, and along an interesting stretch of the Thames Path between Clifton Hampden and Dorchester, looked after by the Earth Trust.

There was, however, one final encounter to enliven the walk, as it grew dark. A cow had found its way to my side of an electric fence and ran around me in a semicircle, thudding the ground. In the gloom, I wondered whether it might be a bull. Fortunately, the situation never developed into anything like Orwell’s Animal Farm where the animals take over.