"Now the light falls across the open field, leaving the deep lane shuttered with branches dark in the afternoon." TS Elliot
So, we had long planned to do this, but how best to go about it? The CW is nominally about 102 miles long, so clearly for us it was not going to be likely we would find a 10+ day period when we could attack it in a oner! Nevertheless, it did seem to take a long while to get ourselves organised to take it on, even in short bite-sized stages. Finally, on a whim the day came when we got under way. That day was Thursday 2nd of June 2021.
I am now writing this up, six months later, so it's probably going to be a bit shorter (thank God I hear you gasp), as I try to rack my brain, with the aid of some photos, to recall the journey.
The conundrum with a task like the CW is a logistical one; whether to drive to A, walk to B, then somehow repatriate the car, or the other way round, or some other method. We started the Cotswold Way by doing the above, i.e. we drove to Chipping Campden on a bright, sunny summer's day, paused for a few documentary photos and then, without further ado; set off on our way. Sadly, Kyle was working, so he was unable to join Lara, Elena and myself.
Fairly soon after leaving the beautiful hamlet of Chipping Campden, the CW starts its first gentle climb up to Dover's Hill and our first view over the northwestern landscape.
From here the route wends its way through woodland and open fields in a southwesterly direction until you arrive at Broadway Tower, an unusual triangular structure with a small cylindrical turret at each corner.
After a coffee and cake reward for our morning's exertions, we headed downhill and into Broadway town, which is a very beautiful setting indeed under normal circumstances however, it was now decked out with colourful bunting and stalls set for a street party in honour of HM Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Here we stayed a short while to soak up the views and to stock up on more water for our onward journey.
Soon on our way again, the CW began to elevate us back up, almost as high as we had been an hour or so earlier and then back on our way over the rolling countryside.
The route winds south uphill over Laverton hill before turning west again and we descended into Stanton, which was to be our finishing point.
Here our logistical planning had hit a snag, as we had originally hoped to catch the Pullham's 606 coach back from Stanton (or further on had we got that far). Alas, a short distance before our goal, as our attention began to focus on getting back to the car, it dawned on us that this was an extraordinary Bank Holiday designated by Royal command and therefore no buses were running.
As we made our way first to a pub, to await a taxi, and then back down the hill from the pub (which was also closed for the holiday), we spotted a slow worm basking in the sunshine at the side of the road. Given my history of finding strange serpentine creatures in far away places and handling them, only to later find they had been venomous, I was steadfastly forbidden to touch this particular one, even though I was quite sure it was harmless. That, and the fact that I was feeling a bit of a wuss!
After some extended effort, we located a taxi proprietor actually operating and, as it happened he was being kept busy with pick ups and drop offs all around the Cotswolds that day. Once he arrived we were soon on our way back to the car and then in turn on our way home.
As dusk settled in, we noted news that fire beacons up and down the country were being lit as a further element of Her Majesty's celebrations and so we made the additional effort to climb Robinswood hill, which sits above our home. We watched the beacon lit there and from that point could see beacons up and down the Cotswold escarpment, as well as others across to the west in the forest of Dean. After admiring the view for a short while, we made our way back down and I enjoyed a quiet drink, whilst watching the beacon burn on from my own garden. A very satisfying day and a credible start to the Cotswold Way adventure.
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