Cotswold Way

The weather has turned decidedly autumnal now. Temperatures have cooled off, but, it's been surprisingly dry and the sun is still warm, perfect weather for walking. We've been taking advantage.

We're blessed in this part of the country with mostly easy walking and lots to see on the trail. There is a national trail nearby, the Cotswold Way, with easy access, by local bus from Bristol, to its southern end.

The trail runs from Chipping Campden in the north, to Bath in the south. So, far we've done all the day accessible bits of the trail, from Alderley to Bath, about thirty miles of the total 108 miles and hope to finish it all someday. The trail is well-marked, easy to follow and not crowded.




With the perfect weather it's been a pleasure to stroll along and pass through field, forest, manicured estate grounds, bucolic villages and many ancient sites and monuments. In just the third of the trail we've done so far, we've encountered a number of monuments and follies.

We've walked through many large estates, like Dodington Park, home of Sir James Dyson. We were unable to see the house, hidden from view by newly planted forest, but, the landscaped park we passed through, laid out by Capability Brown, was manicured beyond belief and so picturesque.

We wished we had had time to go inside Dyrham Park, built late 17th century, a National Trust property that was the setting for the film Remains of the Day, but, it was getting late, so, a walk by the gates was all we did.

There were also 'small' estates, like this lovely home...

We weren't short of interesting village sights either.

Did you ever wonder what would happen to all those iconic red telephone boxes that are now mostly obsolete?  In Old Sodbury, they've found an interesting solution, a combination defibrillator station and lending library!

Rural sights also abounded, from curious sheep...

to miles of dry stone walls, built without mortar. This example is new, but, there were many miles of original walls to see and marvel at the skill required to build them to last hundreds of years.

We approached Bath along a ridge which provided this spectacular view over the town.

We then descended into the town and right by the iconic Royal Crescent.

We're hoping the weather holds for a while longer to enable many more enticing days out on the trails.