Cotswold Way

03 November 2023 Conclusion of a lovely walk. And what an epic journey it has been. We awoke and got ready for what was to be a lovely breakfast feast. We'd arranged to be down for breakfast for about 08.30, but typically we found we were up and ready before then. As we walked downstairs we saw our dried boots waiting for us in the hall. The day outside was a little dull, there had been some morning drizzle, but we knew it was set to perk up. The lovely breakfast was a great start. Very soon we were fed and watered and ready to make a start. One or two obligatory start of day photos later and we were away. We retraced our steps across the field back toward Greenways lane. This time the flock of sheep were in the first field, as though they had followed us and had been waiting all night. Onto the metalled road and the day started with the worst possible terrain for me; steep downhill on tarmac. Aching as I was (I usually require a few minutes to get all the joints working properly a

We had already pre-booked accommodation for the night between the penultimate and final days of walking and a hotel in Bath at the finish. Now that the time was upon us, we heard the news that storm Ciaran was due to hit sometime during this period. As the time drew closer, it became apparent that we would encounter poor weather on Thursday, but there was a good chance of reasonable weather on Friday (the final stage).  All things considered, we thought this was a fair outcome and so we braced ourselves and got up on Thursday morning for the train down to Yate, some thirty minutes or so by rail from Gloucester. We arrived at the basic, modest Yate railway station, as light drizzly rain began to fall. With about an hour until the 620 bus, which passes Old Sodbury, we decided to call a taxi, which turned out to cost exactly £10 and was much more comfortable and convenient than waiting for the bus. Soon, we were being off-loaded at The Dog Inn, Old Sodbury, exactly where we had stood five