Cotswold Way

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 ...

Stage eight - Wotton under Edge to Old Sodbury After a hiatus, we are back to the task in hand... Stage eight saw us up at the crack of... 0540, in order to be out the door by 0630, in order to park the car in Stroud and walk to Merrywalks bus stop by 0710 for the bus to Dursley, which in turn would link to Wooton-under-Edge, our start point. A 'West Gold Group Dayrider' from the Stagecoach app for £15.50 seemed to cover the travel for the day for all three of us, and the free parking in Stratford Park in Stroud helped, with only a ten minute walk to the bus stand. After a short ride to Dursley, we headed to Sainsbury's, being the only place likely to be open at about 0730, where we bought pastries and a much needed coffee, along with some snacks for the walk. From the get-go, we knew we'd have to keep up a reasonably quick pace in order to reach our destination before the bus arrived at the Dog Inn in Old Sodbury. Soon off the bus and on our merry way and the day was a...

Stage seven - Dursley to Wotton under Edge Back on the trail Strava; CW stage 7, Dursley to Wotton under Edge After a long break of some three months we were pleased to once again be back on the trail. Once again and for the second time we were privileged to have number one son with us on part seven. Logistics are still manageable at this range and so our plan for this stage was; drive to the start of the route, walk, then retrieve by bus. Since I had a prior arrangement in the evening, we needed to make it reasonably short, so Dursley to Wotton at approximately eight miles seemed doable. Checks for bus times complete, we set off to the start point and parked in Long Street car park in Dursley, the bonus surprise being parking is free up to 23 hours. Soon we were off once again and not long after making our way through the main shopping street were heading up May lane, past the Old Spot inn and up Hill road. From here the trail leaves the road and climbs up through the leafy apth to th...

 Stage six - Edge (Maitlands wood) to Dursley One day, four sites, zero flights Cotswold Way stage 6 - Maitland Wood to Dursley Two months on, and considerably warmer weather and our story continues. We'd eyed up our next day to continue the walk: Probability of sun; fair to good; not too hot; and most importantly, likelihood of rain; nil. The best bit was, we could catch the bus from the end of our road and be at the start point within 15 minutes. Within minutes we were on our way... As seems to be the 'norm' now, we began the day with... giving up a considerable amount of height. The route from Maitland's wood descends past Stockend, affording a glimpse through the trees along the way, of the view to the severn and Forest of Dean beyond. It was quite chilly at this point, as the warming of the morning sun were blocked by the hill on our east. Still, we were kept warm enough by our exertions. Soon, we were approaching and then crossing the road up to Haresfield Beacon,...