On the Cotswold Way

Yesterday we set off on our first days hike, a short hop from Chipping Campden to Broadway. The weather was cool, breezy, and cloudy, but no rain. Everyone we talk to complains about how rainy it has been. We have heard that it was the wettest April on record and that more rain fell that month than in a typical year. So we consider ourselves lucky, especially since we have sunshine today.

 

The trail way-marking is very good and there are other hikers along the way. This country has a long history of sheep ranching and we walked through pastures filled with new lambs almost from start to finish. There was a short climb at the beginning that got us to the top of the ridge, which we followed until the descent into Broadway. So we had long views across valleys checkered with bright yellow fields of rape seed. Above Broadway we passed the Broadway Tower, an old keep. The top of the tower is the highest point in the Cotswolds, a bit over 1000 feet elevation.

 

Broadway is filled with old buildings made of the local yellow stone and is quite a tourist haven. The Cotswolds are to London, as Napa is to San Francisco. We toured Broadway and ate at a pub before catching a bus on to Winchcombe, where we stayed last night. The bus ride was interesting because the bus picked up a large group of junior high kids from a school just outside of town. The kids all over Europe use public transportation to get to school and the bus schedules change based on school holidays, so you have to be careful when reading them.

 

Winchcombe is a more normal town and we are staying on High Street at Wesley House, where once again we have low door ways. Every town here has a High Street in the town center. The streets here are narrow and there are more normal stores, rather than galleries. I went out early this morning to collect cheese, chocolate and buns for our lunch today. The hotel is in a cool building but featured another low bridge door.

 

We just got in today after a 15 mile hike from Winchcombe to Charilton Kings. The weather was cool, but not as windy as yesterday with plenty of sunshine. Did I say it is a joy not carrying all of our stuff and how easy the hiking is? One reason for the easy hiking is that the big climbs here in the Cotswolds are maybe 500 feet. We did a couple of those today, one up to a neolithic grave site and another to a British Ordinance Survey triangulation monument at the highest elevation in the Cotswolds. It being Saturday there were lots of hikers out, including two American couples, that we ran into several times.

 

Looking back at Winchcombe

Belas Knap, 3000 BCE burial site.

 

The Postlip, ruined manor house.

 

 

At the Cleeve Hill triangulation station, an especially exciting moment for Rhonda.

 

Rhonda loves dandy lions and never could understand why people try to get rid of them. This field of them shows why she is right.