Buckingham to Cumberland County

On the road again! Ryan dropped me off at the New Canton boat landing in Buckingham County on Tuesday, where we ended our paddle trip on the James River last week.  For the rest of the day I walked through the northeast tip on the county and shortly into Cumberland County.  I passed lots of logging trucks along the way...or they passed me, I suppose.  I had associated Buckingham with tree plantations and slate, and I wasn't dissapointed!  In fact, after getting a chance to talk a while with Mr. Bryant of Bryant and Sons general store, he made sure I knew about Buckingham slate and pointed out his "established in 1965" sign out front.  Once I crossed into Cumberland, I wasn't sure how they would feel about slate from next door...but, it turns out they do like slate in Cumberland too.

In the afternoon I had a chance to visit with Bill and Stephanie Osl who run a cattle farm in Cumberland.  They were very nice to have me for dinner and spend the night on short notice.  Bill also sits on the Board of Supervisors for the county, so he was able to fill in my non-existent knowledge of Cumberland.  Agriculture (mostly poultry barns) and logging are the primary businesses in the county and history of the jurisdiction goes way way back.  I learned about a new reservoir that the county and other surrounding localities plan to build in future years to provide water from the James River to its citizens, as well as an exciting new prospect of a poultry litter "digester" that would capture the methane from decomposing poultry waste and convert it to energy.  It would be the first of its kind built on a communty scale.  Right here in Cumberland County.

Glad to be out again,

Laurel
P.S.  My achilles felt decent after a day's walk, though a little creaky.  As my brother said, I'm just not 20 anymore.

Mr. Bryant of Bryant and Sons store points out his slate sign.

I crossed through the northern tip of both counties, near the James.



Tank farm, northern Cumberland County.



Dairy in the distance.



Stephanie and Bill Osl.  Bill sits on the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors.



Stephanie Osl feeds bulls right out of her hand. Woah.



Stephanie and Lucy on their daily walk.