Rambling Pete

The Cotswold Way 2011

 

A wonderful site to wake up to is the St Michaels Church in Painswick, replete with 99 Yew trees in the church yard – they have never been able to grow the 100th as the Devil won’t let them. I think they should try again when Manchester City have won some silverware – sometime soon methinks (they won the cup as I was typing this up). Plenty of woodland on the agenda again, probably half of the day and yet another dry day, even though I dodged a shower at the end of the day. The walk out of Painswick took me past some wonderful Georgian architecture and out into sheep pasture as I dropped down the hillside from Painswick. Into the woods I had to pause whilst some tree felling above the path took place, making a dash for the other side before big branches started to rain down. Out of the small lane and once more walking up the other side of the valley to Edge, a pub this early in the walk was not a welcome sight. On the way up passing a halfway sort of marker stone, randomly placed in a field – one side says ‘Bath 55 miles’ and the other says ‘Chipping Campden 47 miles’ - I wonder why they didn't move it on another 8 miles? Once up on the edge just beyond Edge I was in woodland once more , in and amongst much evidence of past quarrying. The path through the mature beech trees was wonderful in places, walking on a carpet of beech nuts along gently sloping paths in dappled sunlight – but….there is a lot of it, with restricted views down to the plain. The woodland occupies the scarp slope for a long way, and occasionally there was a clearing, and even though it was hazy I could see the River Severn and one of the bridges than span it. As I approached the end of Stockend Wood near to Haresfield Hill I passed by a small cow barn that has Chuckie the doll sitting in a window at Ringhill farm – weird, but at least it was waving a flag after the royal wedding. A quick lung buster up a steep lane had me up at the high ground and the first hillfort of the day at Haresfield Beacon. II was pleasant walking across the close cropped grassland – the views down over the plain were limited due to the haze, but Gloucester was clear, big and about 7 miles away. 

out of Painswick and into the fields

dry cracked ground everywhere

not the halfway mark

as you can see - cruel deceivers

wonderful mature beech and a pleasure to walk on the soft mulch of leaves

soft and fuzzy - the camera

Ringhill farm and the patriotic chuckie

uphill to Haresfield Beacon

the lumps and bumps of the old hillfort at Haresfield

looking across the edge to Standish Woods

 

 about as clear as it got for a while

There was a lovely field full of grass, with big dandelion seed heads fit to blow away - a nice contrast the white and green. A quick scoot around the contours led me to another promontory with a lovely view of the M5 – but at least I couldn’t hear it, and another splendid topograph with two Cotswold Way markers pointing at each other. From the topograph I took a direct line back over to the car park - no refreshments here but a NT van set up selling memberships. Then it was deep into beech woodland of Standish Wood again for the next 3 miles, but at least it had some archaeological interest with a long barrow, two small round barrows and a cross ditch hidden amongst the undergrowth - I did have to ferret around a bit to spot them, which wasn't easy within all the old quarrying hollows. Further along the path winds downhill in an old walled lane called Thieves Lane, but there weren’t many out and about, just the odd dog walker now and again. Out of the woods and into the light the path clearly marked as a green line across yellow grass down to Ryeford and manages to avoid Stroud and Stonehouse. No much of interest around and to be honest this part of the walk was a little bit lacking in interest as it passes between the two urban areas. Crossing the main road was ok as there are a set of lights and I was soon away from the road noise and skirting around another small town of Kings Stanley and the old mill buildings - I stood and watched the pigeons racing around their loft, pretty quick they were.  The alternative route along the Stroud canal appeared to be closed, but I wasn’t going that way anyway as it would have added a few miles on and kept me closer to road noise. A steady plod uphill followed through more pasture, skirting the hamlet of Middleyard,  before once again walking into thick beech woodland at Stanley Wood….you can have too much of a good thing, so it was on with the I-phone – tune in and tune out. Some 3 miles later I was at Nympsfield Long Barrow – it hasn’t got a roof like some of the others, so you can see all the internal bones as it were. I think there was a shower just before I got there and I could here the pitter patter of the raindrops on the leaf canopy – but I was dry – good old thick woodland.  Shortly after the barrow I walked up to Coaley Peak where there are fine views out to tomorrows walk down to Dursley and beyond – but first I have to get past Hetty Pegler’s Tump - that’s not the barmaid but a long barrow. A bit more flora and fauna today with a fine orchid – I’ve no idea what it’s called but it was nice. The last thing I saw before I got to the pub was the back end of a storm cloud passing through – ha ha – dry again.

the topograph looking down over Stonehouse - note the markers pointing at each other

above Standish Woods

one of the hidden barrows in the woods

the green line made it a simple task of following your eyes down between the towns

a nice easy stroll down through the fields

the squeeze stiles are very distinctive

racing pigeons at King's Stanley

racing horses at King's Stanley

across the fields to Middleyard

but it was a bit confusing across this bit

the River Severn and it's bridges appeared in the distance

Nympsfield Barrow

you can see all the chambers

the local hang gliding club have a perch here at Coaley Peak

Coaley Peak, with the Severn in the distance with the Welsh hills beyond

at Nympsfield just in time - the rain clouds pass me by again!

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