The Cotswold Way

For some reason I thought that this was an old historical trail, and I was somewhat disappointed to discover that it was only recently, in 2007, designated the name National Trail.  It follows the limestone escarpment on the western edge of the Cotswolds, and goes for 102 miles (164 km) from Chipping Campden to Bath. Of course, you can go the other way (north) if you want to.

It is an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in fact, the largest in the country. It says in the guide book: "the Cotswold Way is steeped in history, passing Neolithic burial chambers, ancient hill forts, Bronze Age round barrows, Roman villas, historic houses, churches and abbeys." You feel as you trudge along, up and down the sheep fields, quite annoyed that the route goes round in a big loop here and there to take in the odd iron age burial mound, but so be it. We have done just short of 30 miles and that in 2 days, which was pushing it, rather. But I am so glad we pushed ourselves. Even though the last 3 miles of each day were painful for the feet and all the muscles of forward propulsion seemed to have been exhausted. After a bath, or a shower, we went on to have very enjoyable evenings.

I wish I had some good photos to put up but they are nearly all awful, because it seems that I was shaking like a malaria victim whenever I stopped, so they are very blurred.



Chipping Campden, Graham Green lived here.

On the first day our first task was to climb very high, to Broadway Tower, and that was quite hard, and we also stopped for a beer in the village of Broadway which was probably a mistake as that was only a third of the way along.

Not my photo - obviously, but you can see it is a fab tower, built by Lady Coventry to
impress the neighbours. The Pre-Raphaelites used to stay here.

The village of Broadway is insanely pretty.

Very old orchard with an overplanting of daffodils - lovely primroses. This was in Stanton
- a village with neither tea shop nor loo. We were cross!



Gateway to Stanway House designed by Christopher Wren.



First day - many vistas and fields.

On the first night we walked a little way off the trail to stop at this farmhouse Bed and Breakfast. it was a genuine farm with 300 acres and 300 sheep, which were being fed as we arrived - our host told us that the grass had stopped growing. I recommend this place. Out host, David, drove us to the pub for dinner and then picked us up and drove us back. Fantastic: as we could not have walked another step, and the dinner at the pub was very good.


Our B&B - it was worth finding - it was lovely.

 There was a tiny Anglo Saxon church just next to it.

Humble but very beautiful inside.

North Farmcote is very close to the ruins of Hailes Abbey, but more interesting than ruins is the Old Church at Hailes, which has medieval wall paintings of St Christopher, and St Catherine (I thought it was Mary Magdalene). I thought these were the most interesting things we saw.

The Wall paintings were added during this period of Abbey ownership. Opposite the entrance is a painting of St Christopher. On the south wall (shown on our third photograph) is a secular scene of a huntsman, with three dogs racing towards a hare crouching underneath the branches of a spindly tree.

Other paintings on the walls of the nave are less distinct, but those on the chancel walls give a taste of what must have been their original splendour. In the recesses of half-blocked windows on either side of the altar are paintings representing two female saints. On the left, north side is St Catherine of Alexandria (the best preserved, shown on our seventh photograph) and on the opposite wall, St Margaret of Antioch. Elsewhere the walls are painted with a mixture of roses and heraldic arms, interspersed with figures from medieval bestiary

http://churchdb.gukutils.org.uk/GLS608.php#prettyPhoto

On the second day we stopped in Winchcombe for coffee and that was a very lively and pretty small town with a lovely (expensive) deli.

lovely Winchcombe - we didn't really explore it - hadn't time.



Second day - incredible weather. Outside the entrance to Belas Knap Iron Age long barrow (restored). This means Beacon mound. This is one of the entrances and they lead to four small burial chambers, which were found
to contain at least 30 skeletons.


The remains showed that fourteen people inside, including a child, had died of fatal head injuries.

 

 


Beech woods on hillside.

We walked past farm buildings and being townies, took photos of the young animals.



Cleeve Hill: This is the highest point on the National Trail and you can have a cup of tea
on the veranda of the golf club and enjoy the most wonderful view and hear the larks singing.



I could have taken thousands of bad pictures of lambs.
Rest assured, meat lovers, there are plenty
 of lambs this spring, although ewes are hopeless mothers.

Topiary garden not on the Cotswolds Way, but not far away.