Monarch's Way Walk 2022

  On Sunday 9 th July,   7 intrepid walkers set out on the 16 th leg of our Monarch’s Way walk, from Chipping Sodbury to Doynton. The forecast promised changeable weather. We were hoping that we didn’t get caught in a downpour, but brought raincoats and applied suntan lotion so that we were ready for all eventualities.   The first part of the walk took us out of the town, and into fields which afforded the first opportunity for a group photo.   Shortly we reached a common, where we managed to skirt the frisky bullocks. The Monarch’s Way book warns us that it is easy to go in the wrong direction on the common. In fact, unlike some of the earlier walks, there wasn’t much signage on the whole of this walk. It was sometimes challenging to find where we were supposed to be going, but Rod did a marvellous job, guiding us. The path took us through fields of barley (or was it wheat?) and maize. Not the easiest walking. Eventually we came upon The Wishing Well pub – w...

The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm, as we set off from Hawkesbury Upton for the 15th leg of our walk.  Lily was wearing her elegant Swamp Cooler vest to keep her cool as the temperature was predicted to rise to 20 C.  Di and Rod, Deborah and Lily the dog were joined by Ceris, Melanie, Jacky and Katharine (all repeat walkers having caught the Monarch's Way bug themselves!) We joined the Cotswold Way for a lot of this walk, so the route was familiar. We walked past the drovers' pool and up an stony old drovers' lane, through lush fields of wheat and oil seed rape. We followed the drovers' lane through fields for some time. There were beautiful views on both sides of us. To the West we could see the Severn Bridge and over into Wales - reminding us how far we have come on our walk from Stratford-upon-Avon to Bristol. To the East we could see over to the hills of the Ridgeway. Eventually we  reached a road, and immediately turned into some lovely shaded woods full of ...

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 L...

  Six of us gathered at Rodmarton for the first of our Monarchs Way walks for 2023. We left a couple of cars there, and drove to Cirencester to start the walk. The weather was nicer than we expected. The first half mile or so was along the A433, which was a bit noisier than in Charles II’s day, but very soon we diverted into the peaceful grounds of the Royal Agricultural College. We passed a Commemorative Plaque to the Monarch’s Way and soon found ourselves on a slightly muddy path across a number of fields. Before long we came to a bridge over the abandoned Thames and Severn Canal. Here we had the option to take a short diversion to see the source of the River Thames, but conscious of the fact that this was going to be the longest walk this year, we decided to forego this diversion, and instead we turned right, to follow the disused towpath West. This was the nicest part of the walk, along the disused canal, with overhanging trees, lush vegetation, and the glimpse of some deer in ...

 Steven (almost a regular himself) and Katharine joined the regulars, Deborah, Alison, Rod, Di and Lily the dog to walk from Northleach to Chedworth Roman Villa. Unusually, we started off in rain. We left the Old Prison and walked across fields to the pretty village of Hampnett. Here we visited the Church of St George,  where in Victorian times the vicar decorated the church in a medieval style. Leaving the church, we walked through fields of sheep, who eyed us warily, one of them stamping  its forelegs to warn us (or possibly Lily) to stay away.  Walking further along bridleways with lovely views, we eventually reached a complicated stile, which we all tackled in our own individual ways. We strode on through field and wold until we reached our lunch spot, close to the entrance to the Stowell Park Estate, owned by the Vestey family once the second richest family in Britain after the King, which encompasses much of the surrounding area including the lovely nearby vill...

Steven, Louise, and Susannah joined the regulars this time, for five miles, Moreton-in-Marsh to Broadwell.  Di’s logistical planning worked well; having left Louise’s car at Broadwell, we all regrouped for the obligatory starting photo in Moreton and set off down green lanes and across a number of fields in warm sunshine.   Alison’s navigational skills were called for as the book instructed us to follow a course of 210 degrees to the farthest corner of a field. Fortunately, Alison had her compass (although we could actually see the stile we were aiming for…).  This walk did contain some pretty complicated stiles.....   We had planned to stop for a Sunday lunch at the Coach & Horses in Longborough,  but found out when trying to book that they weren’t serving food as the Landlord and Landlady had got married and were on their  honeymoon. But they were happy to sell us drinks to accompany our packed lunches in their garden. Rested and refreshed, w...