Today the end of the section was obvious as it was the last section finishing on Ivinghoe Beacon. I parked the car in a car park near the beacon and walked down the hill to get a bus towards Aylesbury. I could not see a bus stop so I walk along the road to the top of the hill but still could not see a bus stop, so I walked back to the bottom of the hill and waited for the bus. It arrived on time and I pointed and waived at the driver to get him to stop. He did stop but said that this was rather unorthodox and I should have used the bus stop. I told him that I had tried to find it but was unsuccessful. I paid my fare to the other side of Tring and then walked down the hill to the road to Halton and Wendover. I chose my spot to thumb a lift and within 5 minutes a man in an old Ford Capri hooted and stopped for me. He cleared the passenger seat and said how nice it was to see a hitch-hiker. He gave me a lift right to the Ridgeway.
It was another lovely day as I set off on the final section. I passed a field with several helicopters in it and then saw another one coming into land. I guess the owner was a pilot who had invited some of his friends over. Next was the beautiful bridge across the A41 bypass. I found this a bit scary due to the height. I carried on passed Tring Station (which is out of the town), passed the Herts and Middx nature reserve of Duchies Piece until I saw the beacon ahead. There was a steady climb until I crossed the road and made the final ascent to the beacon. I arrived in sunshine and got someone to take a photograph of me. I rested a while and watched the model gliders being flown on the windweard side of the beacon. I put my boots back on and started walking back to my car. Some other walkers had arrived, and I over-heard one wonder if anyone ever walked the entire Ridgeway. I chipped in with "I've just completed it". One man looked over and said to his friend "this is the man I met a few weeks ago. It was Ed (from day 3). He told me that Claire and Gareth had just started walking the coast to coast the previous day. I had only been on the beacon for half an hour: what a coincidence!
