Five like-minded people started in 2008 from the Cardingmill Valley in Shropshire and by walking three days a year finished at Start Bay on the South Devon Coast in May 2019.
Into the Cotswolds
Day 7 03-Jun-2010
Crossing the Rivers Severn and (Stratford) Avon on our Way to the Cotswolds
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| Worcestershire |
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| Francis, Brian, Lynne & Hilary, Tiltridge Vineyard, Upton-upon-Severn |
Mike and Alison T drove down the next morning and we were supposed to meet them and Alison C, now living in Cheltenham, at the Upton car park where the previous walk had finished. As we were about to leave Tiltridge, Alison called to say she had missed her connecting bus and needing rescuing from Tewkesbury.
Tewkesbury is not a long detour and we were only a little late at the start. Had I driven like Nigel Mansell, who was born in Upton, we might have arrived on time, but I chose not to.
In what had become the almost traditional sunny weather we set off down the High Street....
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| Francis points out the White Lion, High Street, Upton-upon-Severn |
...and crossed the River Severn.
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| Crossing the Severn at Upton |
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| Wychavon |
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| Crossing the river Avon |
Over the river we arrived in Eckington where we paused for a glass of lunch at the Bell Inn.
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| Eckington |
We had now crossed the valley and stood at the foot of the Cotswolds where we would spend the rest of the 2010 walk and all of 2011.
Refreshed, we left The Bell and headed for Bredon Hill.
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| To Bredon Hill |
Bredon Hill offers enough of a climb to raise the heart rate and loosen any limbs that had stiffened up at lunchtime, but as a hill it has featured more in literature than in the annals of mountaineering. We reached the top where A E Housman had been before us.
Here of a Sunday morning
My love and I would lie,
And see the coloured counties,
And hear the larks so high
About us in the sky.
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| The 'coloured counties' or at least the Severn Valley as seen from Bredon Hill |
Having climbed the scarp, the descent was more gentle, passing through fields of barley; the healthy grain destined, according to the signs, to be wasted on the production of Carling.
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| Carling, what a waste! |
The old buildings of Eckington were black and white, but now we were in the Cotswolds the main, and in some villages only, building material was Cotswold stone. Passing through Overbury.....
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| House in Overbury |
...and continuing to the end of the day's walk at Conderton we had plenty of opportunities to admire the mellow honey-coloured stone.
Lynne, Hilary and Alison T met us at Conderton and transported us to the Tally Ho B & B in Alderton.
Day 8 04-Jun-2010
Conderton to Winchcombe
We returned to Conderton after a substantial breakfast.
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| Conderton |
A couple of kilometres of relatively flat farmland (outside the boundary of the official Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) brought us to the surprisingly redbrick village of Beckford. Despite having only 600 residents it has the air of a larger and more self important place.
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| Marching through Beckford |
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| Gloucestershire |
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| Tewkesbury |
We crossed into Gloucestershire and although we were in the Tewkesbury rather than Cotswold District, the countryside became typical Cotswolds with gentle climbs up wooded hills followed by long descents into fertile valleys. Up and over Alderton Hill took us to lunch at Gretton.
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| Descending Alderton Hill |
It was descending Alderton Hill that I noticed the sole of my right boot was splitting from the upper at the toe. The boots were hardly new, but I didn't think that ought to be happening.
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| Wildflowers, Gretton |
The afternoon started with the ascent of Langley Hll accompanied by the slow, inexorable disengagement of right sole from right boot.
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| Nearing the top of Langley Hill |
By the time we started on the descent into Winchcombe the sole was flapping with every pace. Soon it became so detached that a careless pace would fold it under my foot.
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| Down towards Winchcombe |
Under normal circumstances the long and gentle descent would have been a very pleasant walk, but hampered by my flapping sole, and a little concerned I might have to hop the last mile or two, I was relieved to make it to make it to the town on two feet.
I went in search of duck tape, Mike and Francis went off for a cup of tea and a cake and others sought out a beer. All quests were successful - actually I got duck tape and a beer.
For a town that has been continuously inhabited for over a thousand years Winchcombe has few notable landmarks. Buildings of different eras jostles elbows, but as they are all of warm, weathered Cotswold stone they come together to form a pleasingly harmonious whole.
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| The Old Almshouses, Winchcombe |
We returned to Alderton for a shower and then back to Winchcombe for dinner at the Wine & Sausage Restaurant in the White Hart. The evening ended with more beer at a table outside the Gardeners Arms in Alderton, the warmth of the evening lingering even after the sun had gone down.
Day 9 05-Jun-2010
Winchcombe to Andoversford
After judicious application of several metres of duck tape I was reasonably confident my boots would see out the day. We returned, again, to the delightful town of Winchcombe and after a brief altercation with an elderly dog walker who seemed to believe that people from out of town should not be allowed to use the street parking, we set off up the Postlip Valley towards Cleeve Hill. We traversed a small and ugly industrial area before reaching the wooded valley - even in the Cotswolds, it seems, people have to work.
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| Up the Postlip Valley |
We emerged on the grassy lower flanks of Cleeve Hill where butterflies flitted through the short grass. One Common Blue (or Holly Blue) obligingly sat still long enough to be photographed.
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| Male Common Blue, Cleeve Hill (maybe a Holly Blue, but probably not) |
Unlike other Cotswold Hills, Cleeve Hill is a bare grassy dome....
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| Nearing the top of Cleeve Hill |
...the top offering excellent views over Bishop's Cleeve and Cheltenham racecourse beyond.
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| Bishop's Cleeve |
The hill is also crowned by a couple of telephone masts, which might be unsightly, but at least Mike was assured of a good signal.
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| Mike takes a phone call, Cleeve Hill |
The rest of the morning was spent on a long descent down a wide valley which grew wider as we went.
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| The descent from Cleeve Hill |
It was several, maybe even many, kilometres to the village of Brockhampton and it began to feel something like a route march. Eventually we made it and found Lynne, Hilary and Alison T waiting for us at the Craven Arms. We were soon joined by Matthew and Heather, the 'Crane offspring', who would join us for the afternoon walk.
The weather had not been up to the standard of the previous two days and it rained while we were having lunch. As we were sitting round a large table under an even larger umbrella, we just stayed put and let it rain around us. It was a passing shower and we left Brockhampton in renewed sunshine
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| Francis strides out of Brockhampton |
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| Cotswold |
It is a brief step from Brockhampton to Sevenhampton. Alhtough we had been in the Cotswolds for some time, it was on that short stretch we finally entered the Gloucestershire District of Cotswold. The lush, flower-filled valley from Brockhampton to Sevenhampton and on to Andoversford (brevity in village names is not a quality much admired in these parts) provided a short but very pleasant afternoon's walk.
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| Passing Sevenhampton |
We reached Andoversford and the end of the 2010 walk fairly early...
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| Andoversford - The End (for 2010) |
...so we could all sit in a car for an hour for or more on our way home while our legs stiffened up. I felt a little sympathy for Mike and Francis, who had to be in work the following morning, but not enough to spoil my Monday of relaxation.
Introduction
Day 1 to 3 (2008) Cardingmill Valley to Great Whitley
Day 4 to 6 (2009) Great Whitely to Upton-on-Severn via the Malvern Ridge
Day 7 to 9 (2010) Upton-on-Severn to Andoversford
Day 10 (2011) Andoversford to Perrott's Brook
Day 11 (2011) Perrott's Brook to the Round Elm Crossroads
Day 12 (2011) Walking Round Stroud
Day 13 (2012) Stroud to North Nibley
Day 14 (2012) North Nibley to Old Sodbury
Day 15 (2012) Old Sodbury to Swineford
Day 16 (2013) Along the Chew Valley
Day 17 (2013) Over the Mendips to Wells
Day 18 (2013) Wells to Glastonbury 'The Mountain Route'
Day 19 (2014) Glastonbury to Langport
Day 20 (2014) Along the Parrett and over the Tone
Day 21 (2014) Into the Quantocks
Day 22 (2015) From the Quantocks to the Sea
Day 23 (2015) Watchet, Dunster and Dunkery Hill
Day 24 (2015) Dunkery Beacon to Withypool
Day 25 (2016) Entering Devon and Leaving Exmoor
Day 26 (2016) Knowstone to Black Dog on the Two Moors Way
Day 27 (2016) Morchard Bishop to Copplestone
Day 28 (2017) Down St Mary to Drewsteignton
Day 29 (2017) Drewsteignton to Bennett's Cross
Day 30 (2017) Bennett's Cross to Lustleigh
Day 31 (2018) Southwest Across the Moor from Lustleigh
Day 32 (2018) South to Ugborough
Day 33 (2018) Ugborough to Ringmore
Day 34 (2019) Around the Avon Estuary to Hope Cove
Day 35 (2019): Hope Cove to Prawle Point
Day 36 (2019) Prawle Point to Start Bay: The End
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The Last Post
That's All Folks - The Odyssey is done.