1/6/2019 - walking from Stanton to Snowshill and the Edge (circular walk)

Well, the walk notes did say that it was the hardest in the series , but we found the climb on this one a bit difficult.

I for one had legs still crying out "help" after the climb above Bath a couple of days ago, and they were seriously unhappy about a steep climb rising out of Stanton at the start of this walk.
There was about 400m of climb over the 12km of walk.

The map that we downloaded with track notes to help us find our way. 

Our track (as far back as the pub, where we stopped for a long, cold cider on the way back to our car) 

Our first challenge was to find the start of the walk "Towards the top of the village, just down from The Mount Inn".  Amazingly, this was found easily.  On the way we enjoyed the beautiful old stone homes.

This lamp-post was the one we were looking for at the start of our walk. 

These were the signs that we were following along the way (at least for the time we were on the Cotswold Way).  We deviated from the main track to complete our circular walk, as instructed.

 The paths were varied and attractive.  sometimes wide and sometimes narrow.

We met quite a few horses on the way.

 We went through some lovely wooded areas.

This was the view of Snowshill as we approached, leaving the woods and heading across fields.

The church

One of the many kissing gates (again well used and enjoyed)

This horse was pretending to be a zebra, but he didn't fool us.

one of the common flowers along the path today. 

on one section of the walk someone had bothered to place a rock on each fence post (every metre or so) for quite a long distance.  

We wondered if these lumps of dirt were mole hills? 

rewarding views all the way to Wales towards the end of the walk. 

I loved the name of this walking path (which way does this go??)... Wyche Way....

The cider at the end was well earned, and we headed home to rest, drink tea, read and listen to the Aussies playing Afghanistan in the cricket.

31/5/19 Heading from Bath to the Cotswolds

We just made it out of our place in Bath by 10am. We headed for Bourton on the Water, which had  been recommended. 

We enjoyed the patchwork of green divided by hedges as we drove along. 

 Bourton on the Water  has lovely old stone buildings, but there were lots of cars and some minor traffic jams.  It is mid term break this week and there were a lot of families with small kids in town . There were a lot of people in town everywhere of all ages, shapes and sizes. 

 The kids were having a wonderful time playing in the water, which runs through town with lots of little walking bridges over it.  The water is only about 15cm deep - enough to get a little boy's shorts wet if he is kicking around in it. Some kids had no shoes on, some had socks on  - this gave a really great "wet foot" effect on the paths when they came out of the water and ran around.

There seems to be a tradition of playing in the water.  We went into a church fete and found a picture on the wall of football being played in the water.  The explanation nearby said that each August Bank Holiday the players form Bourton Rovers FC and play a match in the river (some in fancy dress)  as a fund raiser.  

There were some lovely gardens backing on to the river  but I'm not sure I would like to live in such a busy place even with a nice garden. 

 Beautiful stone buildings

The dogs were enjoying the summer day.  There were a LOT of dogs around.

Some of us could not resist icecream.. Rhubarb crumble icecream (very Rhubarby)   and honeycomb were the choices of the day.

We had a nice lunch at one of the many eating places (boy were they busy) 

 Then we drove along beautiful country roads to our home for the next few days

We had to laugh at some of the names of places on the way.  The Hollow Bottom was a pub.

This grey house is our new home.


The sheep are our new friends,  They come in to our yard to visit and then have trouble getting out again over the grid.

A bit of a climb up the hill shows the views that we are overlooking. 

This seat doesn't get many people sitting on it.

We drive up this little lane (Rising Sun Lane) , over the grid and up the walking track to the left to get to our home. (to the right out of picture) which is right near Cleeve Hill.

May 30th - Skyline walk of Bath

We walked into Bath this morning to tag along with another free walk in a different part of Bath.  The walk was supposed to start at 1100, but the guide never arrived, so at 1110 we pulled the pin and walked home again.  

While we were waiting Ben persuaded me to take a photo of the wooden Abbey door that faces the square.  A very impressive door. 

After  a little bit of preparation we headed off instead to walk the Skyline Walk.  This walk takes in a circuit of the Hills surrounding Bath and allows you to look down on the city from above.  It also takes you into limestone meadows with wildflowers blooming and woods, through lots of kissing gates (we made good use of them) and along lovely paths. 

The weather was much warmer today (predicted19C) with little chance of rain, so we took our chances and travelled light - one backpack with a few essential supplies of water and snacks. 

track of our walk from home and back again - 12.5km approx. 

This map is not facing north.  Beware. 

different map of the walk. 

This is the view from just past 2 looking down at the university, 

Lovely family taking a break after a steep climb (and wondering what they had got themselves in to) . 

 There were a series of lovely benches along the way with great quotes on them.  If we realised they all had quotes we would have deviated to others on the path that we caught sight of, but didn't actually have to walk past.  Here are some of them..

Hither from noisy crowds I fly.  Here dwells soft ease and peace of mind.  Richard Graves 1755

I am gone into the fields to take what this sweet hour yields. - Percy Shelley  1792 - 1822

If a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, rejoice for your soul is alive
 - Eleonora Duse 1858- 1924

Sweet blossom, opening to the beams of day. - Jane Bowdler 1743 - 1784

Trevor spotted this butterfly on a mushroom as we walked past on the narrow woodland path.  

No walk is complete without a permanent orienteering course. 

huge cliff abut 10m high

Stone stile being crossed with style. 

 We stopped for lunch overlooking some sports fields, and sat on the top edge of a sloping lawn which surrounded the fields on three sides, dangling our legs down the slope.

Drystone wall being reconstructed, The wooden structures show how wide to make the wall,  The plumbers line shows how high to go. 

Long jump pit with a gate on it!

This narrow, steep  pathway ran between private properties from the meadow above to the road below. 

wildflower meadow.

A community nuttery.  In years to come the whole community will benefit.  Forty almond, sweet chestnut, cobnut and walnut trees were planted on this national trust land and will be ready for harvesting in a few years time. They have a grass mowing day when you can learn to use a scythe here. 

one of the skyline walk markers

These places have their own skyline view all the time (but a tough walk in to and out of the city centre) 

An apple orchard also on the walk and on national trust land. The grass is managed by allowing a local farmer to graze his sheep here.  This also saves the local ranger time and effort. 

The Bath skyline spread out before us at the end of the walk. 

 Rather than leaving the walk in the recommended way, we decided to leave under this huge Oak tree , and made our way to the canal path. 

We stopped to pick up for tea at our local supermarket (and Cornettos to eat on the way home) before one last look at the canal boats being prepared for their next trip away.

We can see why this walk comes highly recommended.  It is 9.5km for the walk itself, and the path is well used, so easy to follow. You just have to get to the start of the walk, which is quite a climb from the city centre. The views are spectacular and the variation in scenery is great.
An excellent way to spend one of our days in Bath.