Blog

I waited for my cab outside the beautiful and relaxing Burleigh Court Hotel to take me to Cold Ashton to restart my walk. I had had a very relaxing day off with Helen, eating well, visiting the farmers market in Stroud and the Long Table, listening to the Bob Porter project. The plan was to walk with just a day pack to the Fleece in in Hillesley for Sunday lunch with Helen and then to walk on for the rest of the day with my full pack again. If I could manage the 27 miles to Dursley, I’d be one day behind. The good news is that I’d re-calculated the distance from there to my next milestone, meeting my friends Bondy and Anna at Alcester. I’d have four days of relatively straightforward walking of 20 miles or so a day across the Cotswold Way. I hoped to make up at least 10 miles of my 20 mile deficit during that time. I had spotted a couple of nifty shortcuts in the days to come, which would help.

I had a very pleasant chat with a taxi driver who advised me to check out Old Spot beer and Double Gloucester cheese whilst in Gloucestershire and we arrived at Cold Ashton at 6:45. I set off walking and was immediately impressed by how well signposted the Cotswold Way is and how well they maintain the path. It was mostly easy walking over grass and before any time at all I had walked over 2 miles and through the pretty village of Dyrham, which posts a very impressive looking hall pictured here.

As I walked over the top of Hinton Hill, it became misty. The walking was still a real pleasure but there’d be no good views for a while. 

Blue sky started to emerge as I arrived at Todmarten  at 9 o’clock. Leaving Todmarten the scenery immediately became very lovely. I passed the wonderfully named old Sodbury and a splendid green valley where sheep and lambs were grazing. Even the “keep out hiking bastards” signs I passed by a large house failed to dampen my mood.

Past Old Sodbury and then Little Sodbury, Iron Age forts, beautiful houses built from Cotswold stone, buttercup meadows, shady woods and an old folly I went. Fabulous views of Gloucestershire appeared on all sides. I was hungry (all I’d eaten was a chicken pie from the farmer’s market the day before).  It was 11:15. I had probably 4 miles yet to walk but for once I was going to be early. I continued on, the sounds of church bells ringing in the valley below heralding the end of morning service and that it was time that everybody got ready for lunch.

And I was on time! For the last mile or so I departed the Cotswold’s Way down a hill on a minor road, passing the time of day with the lycra brigade cycling up it. It had been a very good morning. I was loving the Cotswolds as were many others I passed, out for a Sunday morning walk in the sunshine.

Helen and I had a lovely lunch, roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and sticky toffee pudding with custard. She had had to carry my pack from our hotel room to the car and now seemed much more appreciative of the heightened degree of difficulty carrying such weight. Her advice was to take my time and not to push it too hard, which was kind. I knew I had every chance now to catch up some lost time whilst still enjoying my walk so that’s what I intended to try and do. Having said our goodbyes, I left the Cotswold’s way for the time being and headed towards Wooton-under-edge using the direct route along footpaths. Wooton was a small town, very pretty and I imagined it would be busy and interesting to visit. However, it was Sunday afternoon, most shops were shut and I walked straight through headed to Dursley. The walk to Dursley began with a steep climb to a place called the Overlook, affording excellent views across half of Gloucestershire. What followed was a beautiful shaded wood and a climb to what I first thought was a watchtower of some kind. The view by the tower was possibly the most breathtaking I had seen on my whole walk. You could see several counties as well as both Severn bridges in the far distance. I met an interesting man called Colin with his dog Ruby, who explained to me that the tower was a monument to William Tyndale, burnt at the stake for translating the Bible from Latin to English. I climbed the tower to get an even more astonishing view. This would make a fabulous wild camping spot but it was just 5:20, much too early to stop. Perhaps another time.

I arrived in Dursley about 6:30, had a drink at the Hoptician, that had won all sorts of awards for their cider and headed out again to find somewhere to camp. I arrived at a likely spot and chatted to a woman with her dad who advised me there was a great place in a couple of miles, so I continued onwards finding the path plunging up and down along the side of a wood on a steep hillside, no flat ground whatsoever. At 8:45 I was worried I’d find no place to pitch my tent. The terrain ahead of me looked like more of the same. Finding one semi flat area covered in leaves a few feet from the path I decided to cut my losses. This was so remote. It was unlikely anybody would walk by until the morning.

Day Summary

Lovely to see Helen.Lovely to walk without my pack. Many miles gained. Lovely.