Wednesday 7th April 2021
After two days of walking in the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty of Cannock Chase, I thought I’d move on to another A.O.N.B., to one that is almost as close to me as the Chase, and that is the Cotswolds. I had been to the Cotswolds only once before, twenty years ago in the middle of September when events internationally dampened my enthusiasm for further walking, but I shouldn’t have let that prevent me from returning until now. Returning to Chipping Campden, where I had started my walk in 2001, I set off through the picturesque village where all the buildings are built from the same cream-coloured Cotswold stone and soon joined the Cotswold Way that follows a course along the western escarpment of the Cotswolds from Chipping Campden to the city of Bath. I had decided that I would start walking along this national trail, so now climbed steeply out of the village on a path that was decorated with many wild plants, though few were in flower, and this brought me to the escarpment edge of Dover’s Hill. The weather was not great as it was very cold and overcast, but it was great to be walking somewhere other than at home.
The views across the Avon Valley were grey and hazy, though the views at my feet of celandines were much more pleasing, as I walked past the trig point to the viewpoint that is the highest point on Dover’s Hill. After crossing the car park I now found that the next couple of miles on the Cotswold Way are rather dull as I walked beside a road and, after a brief interlude of a wildflower-rich copse, a very long grassy field along what the Ordnance Survey map describes as the Mile Drive. This was very tedious walking so I was relieved when I finally reached the end and after crossing a couple of arable fields reached Fish Hill Picnic Place. Primroses decorated this delightful little place and the delight continued on the other side of the A44 trunk road through a narrow wood before climbing onto the open hillside where in the distance I could tantalisingly see something peaking over the horizon. As I got nearer I discovered that it was Broadway Tower that sits at the top of Broadway Hill and is a famous landmark in the Cotswolds.
I passed this way in 2001, but I have very little memory of the walk and I am not even sure what route I had taken from Chipping Campden. I took loads of pictures now, but without the sun shining they do not look as good as they would have done if I had taken some pictures twenty years ago. After walking beyond the tower along the escarpment, I couldn’t work out where the Cotswold Way goes next until I realised I shouldn’t have passed the tower, so I retraced my steps back to the tower and down the path that descends the hillside all the way down to the bottom of Broadway Hill, one of the highest hills in the Cotswolds. This long descent shattered my knees making me wish I had brought my poles or knee support to prevent the pain. At the bottom of the hill I came into another of the picturesque Cotswold villages, in this case that of Broadway, and as I walked through I reflected that, for me, I could do without going through the villages as I prefer the natural sights of hill and plant. However, the picturesque villages are an iconic part of the Cotswolds, so the trail has got to go through them, and if only so the villages can benefit from the passing trade.
Leaving the village behind, I climbed up again to the gorgeous woodland of Broadway Coppice that was smothered in wildflowers, especially wild garlic and dog’s mercury with some primroses adding to the colour. This was sadly short lived and soon I was walking along a wide farmer’s track to a farmhouse on the edge of Buckland Wood where I turned right up to a gate and left the Cotswold Way to start my return journey back to my car in Chipping Campden. When I reached the edge of Buckland Wood, after crossing a field of horses, I stopped to have my lunch and thought about my plan for the return journey, which had involved a much longer route than already taken. I was already very tired and was soon cold, so once I had eaten I decided to head straight back to Broadway Hill (avoiding the village) and retrace my steps along the Cotswold Way. Upon returning to the farmhouse on the edge of Buckland Wood, I took a path that skirts the edge of the wood where I found an abundance of wildflowers including wild garlic that lifted my spirits despite the ramson not being in bloom.
This put a spring in my step as I tried to warm myself up after my inaction during lunch dashing along the path and even running down the hill beside Lydbrook Plantation. After a short walk beside a road I turned right opposite a church onto Coneygree Lane that climbs steeply up Broadway Hill and is decorated with the most delightful wildflowers including some early bluebells that had already bloomed. I was ecstatic as I climbed through this wonderland that also included wood anemones, primroses, dog’s mercury and violets that made me feel as light as a feather and as if I had never been fitter, I sailed up the hill. Despite feeling tired when I had eaten my lunch I was now feeling really fit and vigorous after the previous few days of feeling very tired by this point in the walk. I thought I must now be getting used to walking long distances again, and I loved it. At the top of the lane I continued the climb past some holiday cottages just as the sun tried to break through the clouds, but failed, and it was overcast again by the time I reached Broadway Tower again where I rejoined the Cotswold Way.
When planning this walk I had tried to avoid walking over the same ground again on my return, but there is something to be said for doing exactly that. When I was walking along the Mile Drive in the morning, I was constantly thinking about navigation, where the path went next, but on my return I no longer had to worry about that as I knew exactly where I was going. I could just relax and enjoy the walk, so the Mile Drive seemed considerably shorter than it had earlier and I felt it wasn’t long before I was nearing Dover’s Hill where I turned right, avoiding the top, and headed straight down towards Chipping Campden. This was a really enjoyable walk, despite the poor weather, possibly because of the abundance of wildflowers and some really satisfying ascents and descents that helped me to stretch my legs, though the highlight of the walk was off the Cotswold Way in Coneygree Lane. I don’t have fond memories of my walking in the Cotswolds in 2001, so I feared for this walk, but I was pleasantly surprised. My impression of the Cotswolds had been of farmer’s fields, tourist-filled villages and grassy hills, and this has kept me away for twenty years, but this walk proved me wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment