Monarch's Way Walk 2022

  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 ...

  We had a lovely sunny morning for our last Monarchs Way walk; a short, easy but triumphant stroll into Cirencester. There were six walkers (Deborah, Jacky, Andy, Chris, Rod & Di) plus of course Lily the dog to round us all up. A short uphill stretch out of North Cerney led us to a field where we admired a buzzard circling in a clear blue sky, before taking a straightforward, and gently downhill, walk across fields, and through some woodland, following the course of the River Churn.   We went under a massive flyover carrying the A417, and arrived in the village of Baunton. Three very convenient benches in the churchyard were ideal for our lunch stop,  and suitably fortified, we continued through Baunton, across a couple more fields, and into Cirencester.   We took a slight detour round Cirencester as some of our party had never visited the town, and arrived at Jack’s Tea Room for tea and cake to celebrate the half way point of our Monarch’s Way challenge. Some...

    There were eight of us on this, our penultimate walk of 2022. The regulars, Deborah, Alison, Lily the dog, Rod, and Di, were joined by our neighbours Alasdair and Louise, as well as Melanie and Steven.   The first part of the walk was a steady climb through Chedworth Woods; lovely autumn colours but the occasional shower.  Then along the top of the valley, looking down on Chedworth. The path took us steeply down into the valley, and steeply up the other side. We passed some lovely Cotswold cottages, and crossed a series of fields. One of the fields contained two large, beautiful, but over-friendly horses which caused consternation for some of our number. Melanie became chief horse whisperer and enticed the animals away from those who were not so keen on getting up close and personal with them.  After that little drama we were ready for some lunch, and the rain began again but only a light shower.   Di did well (with her fractured wrist in plaster)...

 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...

  The walk from Bourton on the Water to Northleach was to have been our busiest to date, as twelve people had put their names down for this one. But a variety of circumstances beyond their control meant that several people had to drop out, and so Alison and Deborah’s nephew Carl was our only visitor. So Rod, Di, Alison and Deborah with Lily the dog left a car at The Old Prison at Northleach, and drove to Bourton, where we met up with Carl.  After the obligatory photo at the start  we set off across a number of fields until we came to a field with horses. Lily was put on the lead, but studiously ignored the horses, as we climbed the first of  today’s hills. We were glad of our waterproofs as a brief shower passed over,  but by the time we reached Clapton-on-the-Hill the rain had stopped. We decided not to explore Clapton and pressed on, past Goms Hole (apparently Gom may havebeen a hermit who lived nearby, or alternatively he was a sheep stealer who was hanged he...

We enjoyed glorious weather for this walk. There were six of us, and Lily the dog. The regulars, Di and Rod and Deborah and Ali were joined by Steven and Vanessa.  We started earlier as the weather was forecast to rise to 25 degrees mid-afternoon. Meeting at the Fox Inn in Broadwell, we climbed steadily on the road out of the village, passing the gates to some parkland on the left. At the top we took a cool tree-lined lane which ended in a tarmac access road.  Following this road brought us to two wells, the first one small, but the second a large rectangular structure, full of water. This Stow Well was built in Roman times - it's said it's never since failed to produce water. Lily didn't need any second invites, she was in like a shot cooling off. We continued up the access road into Stow-on-the-Wold where we walked down the busy A429 until we came to a footpath for Quarwood Cottage. We continued along a green lane, eventually crossing several fields until we reached t...

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...