Monarch's Way Walk 2022

We left a car at the Royal Oak at Leighterton, and then eight walkers assembled at Tetbury for this Easter Monday walk. After the obligatory start line photo, we set off, out of Tetbury and past the very stately Elmestree House on our right, and the Highgrove Estate on our left. No Monarch to be seen on the Monarch's Way though.  The forecast was mainly dry, but we had a stiff headwind to battle against for the whole walk. Although not quite as muddy as on the last walk, the ground was soft underfoot, and walking against the strong wind was quite tiring.  Westonbirt Arboretum’s nice mossy wall provided a comfy lunch stop. Suitably revived, we pressed on. After the Arboretum, the path dropped down into a wooded valley which was sheltered from the wind, but very muddy.  But by now the sun was shining, and the scenery was beautiful, especially as we climbed out of the valley, across a flowery meadow and farmland, from where we could see our destination, the village of Leighterton. Deb

  Nine of us assembled for this walk, starting at Rodmarton and finishing at Tetbury. The obligatory group photo was taken just outside Rodmarton. The regulars, Rod and Di, Alison and Deborah, and Lily the dog,   were joined on this walk by Carl and son Hudson, Katherine, Ceris and Steven. There had been a lot of rain in the previous few days, so we expected the way to be muddy in parts. Little did we know! Leaving Rodmarton we passed through a couple of ploughed, and muddy, fields. Hudson used his compass to navigate us safely on a course of 200 degrees to eventually reach a busy road which we crossed with care. We walked for about a mile along a lane until we reached the village of Ashley, population 50 (according to the Church website), where we stopped at the beautiful church of St James for our picnic.  The Church dates back to the 12 th century and was a beautiful and peaceful place to stop. We had expected the weather to be sunny by this time but we were out of luck, and as w