Rambling Pete

The Cotswold Way 2011

 

A day full of ups and downs – my GPS trace looked like a comb. We had a fine evening at the Rose and Crown and once more a good breakfast – I’ve not had a bad one yet. I loaded up the bumbag with juice and some snacks, slapped on the factor 50 and ghost like slipped out into the day. I was soon back across the fields to the edge of the escarpment and looking forward to seeing Hetty Begler’s Tump – a Neolithic burial chamber, despite it sounding like something less alluring. I walked a little along the road to take me to the entrance of the drive, as there isn't a direct path leading to the barrow. When I got there I found it covered up with tarpaulin and scaffolding as they are doing repairs to secure the capstones from falling into the tomb –so they are lifting them up and rebuilding the walls exactly as found before replacing the caprocks. They have sheets of plastic onto which they have traced the positions of the wall stones so it can be replicated – it all takes a long time, and I wondered if such detail was necessary as the Victorians would have rebuilt as they wished after ferreting around the innards of the barrow. There were a couple of guys working on the barrow but no photos as the jobs worth wouldn’t let me near the site, or even take my camera for a quick shot. So I nipped through the back of the site to rejoin the Cotswold Way in the woods dropping steeply down the scarp slope on slippery leaf mould - thank goodness there were lots of trees to bump into. Back on the Cotswold Way path I had about a mile through woodland and narrow sunken paths before crossing some fields past Hodgecombe Farm. Across the fields I had a good view of the hill ahead going steeply up to Cam Long Down – a shapely hill and well worth the effort for the views from the top - steeply was the name of the game in places. I met a lot of people to chat with today coming towards me - an American who had lived here for many years and only just started to enjoy the hills, and a local up on top with his whippet who came up here everyday. Up on Cam Long Down, an isolated hill just near Dursley was yet another site of an Iron Age Hillfort, one of a series all along the Cotswold Escarpment. Looking back across the valley I could see the flat topped site of Uley Bury, a big fort that covers over 32 acres, but apart from banks and ditch there isn't much to see. Downham Hill close by is another flat topped hill and if it didn't have the remnants of a hillfort on top, I'll be a Chinamans Uncle or whatever it is they say. 

interesting ivy - it's had it's legs chopped off before it kills it's host

the covered up barrow of Betty Heglers Tump

another delightful sunken path took me along the scarp beneath Uley Bury hillfort

down from the scarp it was a short walk to Cam Long Down

looking across to Downham Hill - probably another fort up there

looking back to the escarpment

up near the top of Cam Long Down - Dursley in the distance

the view from the top looking a long way back along the Cotswold Way

  on the top looking over to Dursley

I saw my first swallow of the year, skilfully flying around catching flies, although a local told me that they had been here for 3 weeks or so, but not yet in any numbers. It was flitting around looking for mates – but no one to perch on the power lines with. The views from Cam Long Down were great, and I could see the edge well defined as I looked back towards the north west. I dropped down over to the plain once more near Dursley and unsurprisingly the local streams were running dry – they’re desperate for some rain here. I checked the maps and noticed that not for the first time the route differed between the Landranger OS map and the Harveys strip map. The strip map is more up to date and anyway the path is clearly marked with the acorn symbol of the national trail - it's such a well worn path as well that you really cannot get lost unless you make an effort. Into Dursley the way cuts through the streets, and the many shops in the small town provided a good top up point for juice and chocs – no chance of losing any weight on this walk. Then it was a real kick in the nuts – a steady plod up a leafy incline, all the way up to Stinchcombe Hill, and the local golf club. It was just a straight long steady incline and thankfully no false summits. The local golfers were all throwing their balls in the air and whoever's ball landed together, paired up – well they would wouldn’t they. This part of the walk had a 3 mile walk around the perimeter of Stinchcombe Hill, but I couldn’t be bothered with a pointless detour and made directly for the viewpoint to the west side of the hill via the track that crosses the golf course – but to be honest I could already see that the views would be hazy so went part way around to glimpse down on the Severn Bridge and the M5 - blimey there's a lot of cars zooming up and down the country. From my perch above Hollow Combe I could see across the valley to North Nibley, my lunch stop, and beyond that the Tyndale Monument. I followed the contours around the edge of Stinchcombe and soon dropped down the scarp slope on the way downhill to Nibley. Out of the woods it was pleasant walking across crop fields with the Tyndale Monument prominent up above North Nibley. I passed by a friendly house with a green painted fridge, selling cold water for 50p to walkers or anyone else who was thirsty, but my bumbag was still loaded so I gave it a miss. From the valley another uphill leg across fields and up a narrow lane, with lots of wild garlic flavouring the air, and I was soon in North Nibley at the Black Horse Inn. A great lunch and a nice drop of Stanford Press cider – aaaagh - I sat chatting to a local about the Lake District and the restaurant L'enclume in Cartmel - small world. I also chatted with the landlord who told me that his pub accommodation gets block booked by the holiday companies come June or July.

the fields across to Dursley

a grand residence just on the edge of Dursley

this guy invented a strange looking bike amongst other things

part of the long steady ascent after Dursley to Stinchcombe Hill

Stinchcombe Hill from Hollow Combe - see the M5 snaking north

on my way down to North Nibley

the Tynedale Monument above North Nibley appears - lunch beckons

a lovely spring day in the Cotswolds

 

not a place I'd like to live

Greatly refreshed I set out into the sunshine and up the lane to the next waymark. There followed a killer climb, up the lane, then up a side path with handy handrail - with me belching away involuntarily as the way led me uphill to the Tyndale monument . This was built to commemorate the guy who translated the bible to English – I wished he hadn’t bothered to be honest. When I got up there I thought it would be rude not to go to the top, so I did – 121 steps later the view wasn’t that different. The stone spiral staircase was a little dark in places and the walls felt a little grubby, but the breeze was nice and cooling. The way followed the edge into some more woods just for a change, and then along the field edges, with freshly ploughed red stony soil, passing by another fort, hidden deep in the woods at Brakenbury. Out into the open above Wotton under Edge there is a small stand of Scots pine, planted as replacements to the original trees that were planted to celebrate the battle of Waterloo. The views down over the village weren’t spectacular, but the path dropped steeply down through some more woods to the town. It was fairly busy as I put blinkers on to pass by the pubs for the mile or so through Wotton. I wandered through allotments on the edge of town and then once again up a steep path up to the top of the scarp slope, before turning back along another promontory and dropping down a delightful deep, sunken lane to Wortley – very apt as Paul Weller’s Wildwood came on the I-pod. I finished at Wortley and returned down the road to Wotton under Edge to another nice B&B and out for a cheap Romanian meal. I chose to walk beyond Wotton under Edge to reduce the mileage for the next day, but if you chose this for a stop you'd have to arrange a lift back to Wotton, as Wortley is just a few houses dotted around a bend in the road. No rain again, but a shower tonight – do I feel lucky?

the steep path up to the right is the way to the monument - tough after a good lunch

looking back down on North Nibley with Stinchcombe Hill across the valley - the River Severn in the distance

the Tynedale Monument...and another topograph

hillfort remains at Brakenbury Ditches

across the fields towards Wotton Hill

Wotton Hill above Wotton under Edge

planted to commemorate some battle or other

the parish church

back up on the top above Wotton under Edge

a lovely sunny end to the day

that's a helicopter not an insect on the lens

the last drop of the day down from Wortley Hill

and another sunken lane to Wortley

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