A fine December day or so it was for a couple of hours on this walk. This view looks towards Winchcombe which can just about be seen in the middle of the picture and beyond the first hill (in shade).
For the second time around I am nibbling away at walking the Cotswold Way. The last time I walked it was long before it became a National Trail in 2007. For today’s walk I am leaving Macclesfield early as I’m en-route to Portishead but it’s a December weekday on the run up to Christmas. I first need to fight my way through the Birmingham traffic and get to Broadway in Worcestershire by 9.20am but all this hinges on a relatively clear run. This will allow me to find parking, don walking gear then walk to the bus stop to catch the 9.35am bus to Winchcombe for this linear walk back to Broadway. A window of fine weather of a few hours is on the cards but rain is forecast to edge in from the west later in the day and so being December it will be dark by 4pm.
With around a quarter of hour to spare I arrive in a rather grey Broadway with rain in the air and I am thankful that I didn’t leave it any later to set out from home.
The little bus which runs from Stratford upon Avon to Cheltenham and back a few times a day arrives on time and is decked out in full Christmas decorations from trimmings, fairy lights, balloons and even a small Christmas tree. It appears that most of the passengers and the driver know one another and on the journey from Broadway to Winchcombe there is a lot of banter especially when a couple of the balloons pop giving everyone a fright. The journey is by far from direct and is taking me an on mini grand tour of all the villages between Broadway and Winchcombe.
I am the only one to alight in Winchcombe as everyone else is off to Cheltenham to do Christmas shopping. Today Winchcombe is only a large village but a millennium ago was far more historically important. In Anglo-Saxon times it was the chief ‘city’ of Mercia and was even once the county town of Winchcombeshire. I wander down North Street lined with many old buildings then turn left into Hailes Street to leave this rather empty village. Today it appears that I am the only walker to be around.
My plan is to follow the Cotswold Way all the way back to Broadway, a distance of about thirteen miles and as I leave the village I take a right turn onto a minor track named Puck Pit Lane. This track runs towards Hailes on what is turning out to be quite a grey morning so where is that promised sunshine? Where the track finishes I stop for my morning break on some logs and calculate that I will only just get to Broadway before dusk. The path to the village of Hailes isn’t exactly the easiest as it has been well used and the surface has been churned up with hoards of feet making it quite slippery. By the time I reach the slight remains of Hailes Abbey, the sun is beginning to make an appearance. There is little left of Hailes Abbey other than a few arches and during the winter months it is closed. Founded in 1246 by Richard, Earl of Cornwall they abbey thrived until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. Close to the abbey remains is the isolated Hailes Church which is famous for its medieval wall paintings but today time is not on my side to pay a visit.
Ahead of me now lies a fairly log ascent but at least it’s on a good track and later I turn left onto a fine grassy path passing through medieval strip lynchets to reach the hill fort at Beckbury. This is an excellent spot to stop and admire the view and to get some photographs and with the sunshine it is probably going to be the best part of the day. A monument on the edge of the escarpment is locally known as Cromwell’s Seat which is reputed to be the spot from where Thomas Cromwell watched the destruction of Hailes Abbey during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The next section of the walk is delightful and I continue along the escarpment in the winter sunshine and it is so nice to be out walking in sunshine in the middle of December and not feeling cold and along this section I meet a couple of walkers and we chat awhile. Continuing on my way I join a track leading to Stumps Cross and here I come across the remains of a cross shaft. A cross has existed on this site since the 10th century but it was destroyed in either the 16th or 17th century. Several years ago what was left of it was destroyed by a vehicle but the cross shaft has been recently restored and coated with muck to encourage rapid ageing.
I have a long descent next towards the small village of Wood Stanway but after a very short distance I come across a seat with a excellent view across the Vale of Evesham. It’s in too good a position not to stop for an early lunch. Today there is a light southerly breeze and this seat is in a sheltered position as its facing northwest but I would imagine that there are few winter days where it wouldn’t be cold sitting at this location.
With still many miles to walk, getting to Broadway will be fine timing before dusk but the walking ahead is good and mostly across grassy meadows with grazing sheep. From Wood Stanway I head north and later cross the B4077 to reach the very picturesque small village of Stanway which makes the village feels that you have just walked into a period film set. The village is dominated by the Jacobean Stanway House which has been the location of many films including Jeeves and Wooster and Vanity Fair to name a couple. The fountain in the grounds is said to be the tallest in Britain but it isn’t operating when I pass by.
To reach Stanton I continue through fields resembling parkland. The sunshine of earlier has gone by now and it was beginning to look a rather gloomy and a typical dull December afternoon so my camera goes into my rucksack for the rest of my walk. Stanton I find is another very attractive village with many old houses of the honey coloured Cotswold stone and again could quite easily be transformed into a period film set.
A long ascent lies ahead of me to reach the second hill fort of the day at Shenbarrow which stands just shy of a thousand feet above sea level. I ascend in the gathering gloom and at the top the view to the west is misting away as rain is edging in. Bredon Hill which was quite clear earlier is now just a misty outline and in the air I can feel spots of fine rain. I stop briefly for an afternoon break and the brief fine interlude of earlier has now been replaced by a very grey and gloomy cloud cover and the light is very poor despite it being early afternoon. Well I suppose this is mid December.
As I continue to the west of Laverton Hill Barn, a fine rain sets in but at least the weather is in my back. It’s not heavy enough for an umbrella and I just plod on northwards and later join a track with many water filled pot holes. I pass another couple of walkers heading in the opposite direction into the weather, heads down with umbrellas into the rain. Reaching Broadway Coppice I veer right to make a descent through woodland and the village of Broadway is now in sight in the gathering afternoon gloom. Reaching the village the street lights are coming on and here it was then only a walk through this most attractive village to reach the car.
Beckbury Hill Fort is a good vantage point to survey the Severn Valley. On its edge is this curious stone column with no inscription on it but it is reputed to be known as Cromwell’s Seat and is said to be the spot where he watched the destruction of nearby Hailes Abbey during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The Cotswold Way runs along part of Campden Lane and when winter weather conditions are like this, it takes some beating with only the sounds of crows in the trees.
My lunch stop on a seat with a view on the Cotswold escarpment. This view looks north west overlooking the small village of Wood Stanway. With a light southerly breeze it was most sheltered on this day and even after a twenty minute stop it didn’t feel cold.