Walks along the Cotswolds Way

There are a great many good walks in the Cotswolds, however the Cotswolds Way deserves special mention as it cuts through the whole area, running 105 miles from Chipping Campden in the north to Bath in the south. The path is well waymarked, and you can get away (just) without using a guide-book, though personally I always feel more comfortable with one

• Chipping Campden to Winchcombe   (to Winchcombe 18 miles)
  What more pleasant place to start than the pretty village of Chipping Campden . It is then an easy walk the 6 miles to Broadway , via Dovers Hill, where they have strange cheese rolling competitions down the hill, and the Kiftsgate stone, where locals met to meet out justice. On past the folly of Broadway Tower (the second highest point in the Cotswolds) and down a very steep path into the (tourist) village of Broadway                                                                                   From Broadway the path goes on through the charming villages of Stanton and Stanway. Of note are the medieval cross in Stanton and  Stanway House, a Jacobean manor of some repute built by a local squirearchy.
  Hailes Abbey is the next landmark, before the footpath drops down to Winchcombe.

• Winchcombe to Dowdswell Reservoir, Cheltenham - 12 miles
  Leaving Winchcombe you pass close to Sudeley Castle, pass the Neolithic burial chamber of Belas Knapp Long Barrow. then across  Cleeve Common, which offers good views from the top, before dropping down to  Dowdeswell
  reservoir on the outskirts of Cheltenham

• Cheltenham to Painswick - 17 miles
  There is a steep ascent to Carlton Kings Common, past the charmingly named Devils Chimney, before climbing up again to the village of Birdlip. Yet another climb to get up Cooper's Hill, where they also used to roll cheeses (funny thing about the Cotswolds that the escarpment seems to have attracted cheese rolling fanatics!)                                            The path goes past Prinknash Abbey (strangely not an old building) before descending to the old wool town of Painswick, with its topiary churchyard and large wool church
  

• Painswick to Uley - 17 miles
  The footpath heads due west out of Painswick to climb Haresfield Beacon ( great views from here as you would expect from a "beacon")  From the Beacon , the path turns south through woods, before crossing the old Stroudwater Canal. After the canal there is a   steep climb through woods to reach Nympsfield Long Barrow (amazing how ancient man built these things on high points all over Britain). Then the inevitable descent to a village - Ely
  

• Uley to Hawksbury Upton - 17 miles
  From Uley its not far to Dursley, the most westerly point on the Cotswolds Way. Here you turn east and head back uphill through woods to North Nibley. Just past the village there is a prominent memorial to William Tenderly, erected in 1866 it commemorates the man who translated the bible from Latin into English, and was later burnt at the stake as a heretic). The next village is Wotton-under-Edge.                                                                                                          The under edge bit means that it is at the bottom of the edge of the Cotswolds (the steep escarpment that marks the end of the Cotswolds) - this means that the next bit of the path has to be uphill to Wortley (formerly rich from woollen mills), and the Somerset Monument to the village of Hawkesbury Upton .

• Hawkesbury Upton to Cold Aston - 16 miles
  From Hawksbury its on to  Horton.  Horton Court dates from 1140, and is owned by the National Trust. The next point of reference is Little Sodbury (there is a particularly fine hill fort at Sodbury Hill), followed by Old Sodbury on on through the grounds of Dodington Park. On past Dyrham Park, an impressive 1690's manor house owned by the National Trust, before reaching Cold Aston

• Cold Aston to Bath - 9 miles
  From Cold Ashton, the path takes you past a memorial to Sir Bevil Granville who was died here during the Battle of Lansdown ( it is curious how the English built these memorials in the countryside). Then past hill fort  and across Bath Race Course to reach Weston and the suburbs of Bath. The whole hog takes you into Bath past the Royal Crescent and ends at Bath Abbey

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