Monday 29 May – Ilam to Miller’s Dale

Today was another public holiday in the UK – and then good folk of the UK will have been very happy to have had a second fine, dry, sunny public holiday in May 😊  May be they should invite us over more often – better weather since we arrived !

We had a glorious start to the day.  Leaving Ilam YHA we walked up Dovedale for about 7-8km, and it was just beautiful.  A lovely river bordered by deciduous woodland, with steep escarpments never far away.  Even better than canal walking!  In those first few hours we passed the Dovedale Steps – stepping stones that we had to take across the river – then Jacobs Ladder, a sharp ascent, followed by some weirs and also caves in the cliffs next to the river. So plenty to see and do.  Debs and Jo were in a campsite further up river, and walked down to meet us and then do the return walk with us, as Dovedale lead in to Wolfscotedale.  So company for us for a couple of hours before they peeled off to head back home. Leaving us with more lunch – yay!

Reluctantly leaving the River Dove we then went back to our country lane walking to take us to Hartington and then north to Parsley Hay, narrowly avoiding Custard Field Farm (yes, really).

From there it was north to Monyash, where we came across the concept of well dressing. The well is decorated with floral garlands and ribbons, which remain in place for a week or so, and it is thought to have originally been a pagan celebration of a reliable clean water supply.  The one we saw in Monyash was a striking combination of petals, leaves and straw.

It was then on to Flagg and ultimately Millers Dale.  The afternoon became eventually more about the destination than the journey simply because this was another long day with many hills at the tail end of the day.  And to be honest because the last part of the day along the Limestone Way was along some fairly rugged tracks.  But to be fair, it was another fine day (at times almost too warm!) and with the scenery becoming more “Peak like” as we went on.

We were thrilled to finally reach our destination  – YHA Ravenstor at Millers Dale – at about 6.15pm.  Showers and dinner have never felt so good!  Ravenstor is a good deal smaller than Ilam but a charming little hostel in an old stone building, set away from the road in a peaceful little slice of woodland.

Distance:  29km

Sunday 27 May – Abbots Bromley to Ilam

After an impressive thunderstorm overnight, we awoke to clouds clearing and plenty of sun. We and the farmers were both happy!

After having such a wonderful stay at our B&B, Marsh Farm, with a delicious breakfast, it was with some reluctance that we set off for what we knew would be a long day. At least we had the luxury of Debs and Jo transporting our bags yet again, and even supplying sandwiches for lunch!

Originally we were going to follow mostly farmland ways, but after yesterday decided on a hurried redrafting of the route to follow lanes instead. Initially we followed a trail through Bagots Wood, a replanted woodland, then emerged onto minor roads which we followed for most of the ensuing day.

Walking along minor roads has its pluses and minuses. On the plus side, the absence of stiles (and cows!) and a direct route means we could keep up a good speed. Countering this was the hard, unforgiving nature of tarmac, leaving us with some aching calf muscles. However it was a great day for walking and towards the end we were greeted by the start of the Peak District and its rolling hills, complete with drystone walls and plenty of sheep.

Our accommodation was YHA Ilam, actually a grand old home in the care of the National Trust. It is such a truly impressive building that, on first sight, Val needed some convincing that it was actually the YHA! But it was… and soon we were showered and enjoying dinner, afterwards joined by Debs and Jo for a final night together with us.

Total distance:  34km

Below: our impressive digs

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday 26 May – Lichfield to Abbots Bromley

Today took us from the cathedral city of Lichfield to the village of Abbots Bromley – or, rather, just outside, to the Marsh Farm B&B.

The first part was mostly lanes, through to Cannock Chase, an extensive woodland area. We met up with Debs and Jo and walked through the woodlands, dodging the puddles from the previous day’s rain. Cannock Chase is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)- actually, the smallest such area in the UK – and much is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It has mixture of natural deciduous woodland, coniferous plantations, open heathland and the remains of early industry, such as coal mining. By UK standards, it is a special place indeed.

All too soon we were out of the forest, through the town of Rugeley, a short stretch of canalside walking, some lane walking – then following the Staffordshire Way along footpaths across farmland to Abbots Bromley.

To NZ readers, ‘footpaths’ may conjure up images of reasonably well-formed tracks. In practice, a footpath in the UK is merely a right of way. Depending on usage, maintenance and the support or otherwise of the farmer, they can range from the delightful, easy to walk, through cropland or perhaps sheep fields, to the abysmal – generally those involving cattle. The latter are treacherous, uneven, always threatening to twist an unwary ankle. This afternoon fell into that camp, a slow, careful, tiring walk, carefully picking our way through dense grass, looking for a level bit of ground to put our next footstep. So… not our favourite!

We met up with Debs and Jo at our B&B, then drove a short way in their campervan to a bank overlooking a large reservoir. Debs and Jo then took great delight in cooking for us (we are possibly their first “guests”) and produced a wonderful pasta dish, complete with plenty of vegetables. We sat in the early evening sun, thoroughly enjoying both the setting and our really tasty and healthy meal. A feast indeed!

To complete the day, we repaired to the Crown Inn in Abbots Bromley to watch the European Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid. If you are going to watch a football match on TV then doing so in a pub, full of locals with everyone in good spirits, is a great way to do it – and so it proved. Whilst the result did not go the way we all wanted, it was still an absolutely enjoyable evening. We returned to Marsh Farm, a really warm, comfortable and welcoming B&B, for a good night’s sleep.

Finally, just a special mention for Debs and Jo who have been just simply legendary – transporting our packs and providing lunch and cooking dinner and being great company!  And what’s more, they are going to do more of the same tomorrow!  Thanks so much.

Distance:  27km

Thursday 24 May – Meriden to Kingsbury & Friday 25 May – Kingsbury to Lichfield

If you were waiting excitedly yesterday for a blog, let’s say: not every day deserves one. “Nothing going here, move along” would aptly summarise yesterday. A lane or two. Fields, lots of fields, totally lacking in charm, with hard ground underfoot. And what we thought would be the highlight – walking alongside a reservoir – turned out to be a walk sandwiched between a railway line on one side and thick woods on the other, the reservoir itself hidden behind the trees and behind an embankment. After that disappointment we weren’t at all surprised when our entry into Kingsbury through part of the Kingsbury Water Park (a network of lakes and the River Tame) likewise turned out to be a let-down. Our route took us around the perimeter of the park with very few views of the lakes themselves. But the day was improved mightily when we met Debs in Kingsbury and she drove us back to Debs and Jo’s flat in Narborough to spend a very pleasant evening and to stay overnight.

We woke today to heavy rain, but fortunately did not have to start super early as today was only 22km, so could wait till the rain eased off. By the time Debs dropped us back at Kingsbury around 11am the rain had settled to a very light drizzle.

It remained thus for much of the day, and was considerably cooler than in previous days, just 16 degrees. It gave us a chance to dust off our waterproofs! However, in compensation, the walk was actually a lot more pleasant than yesterday. It started with a far more interesting ramble through the central part of the Kingsbury Water Park before picking up a canalside walk for a few kilometres – always  bliss!

Even better, when we got to the village of Drayton Bassett, who should we see but Debs, in their campervan, to greet us with cheese sandwiches (made by Jo), crisps and a banana, – and we could sit inside to eat it all!

With Debs having offered to take our packs most of the way, and fuelled by our excellent lunch, we raced (well, walked faster than normal!) through the countryside, meeting Debs again on the outskirts of Lichfield to pick up our packs. Walking through Lichfield, we passed the hugely impressive Lichfield Cathedral, with three spires (the biggest such cathedral in Britain) and dating back to the 8^th century. It features some 16^th century Flemish stained glass windows, a soaring nave, and as we walked in a choir was practising, completing the atmosphere. We were so pleased to have ‘dropped in’. Even so, we were at our hotel by 5.30pm, and later on joined Debs and Jo for some scrumptious pies and mashed potatoes in a local pub.

Distances: Thurs 24 18km, Friday 25 22km

 

Tuesday 22 & Wednesday 23 May – Henley-in-Arden to Meriden – Days 28 & 29

After eight days walking, since Bath, we were definitely ready for another rest day.  There is an almost guilty pleasure in arriving at your destination and knowing that you can stay there for two nights rather than the usual one.

Having dawdled over breakfast and then skyped family, we decided to take up our hostess’ suggestion of catching the mid morning bus into Stratford-on-Avon.  Another sunny day, it was a great day for ambling around the city taking in the history, pausing at the canal to watch a boat passing through the lock.  We spent a decent length of time in “Tudor World” – a fascinating insight in to the life and times of the Tudors, including many interesting facts about Stratford too. Being the birthplace of Shakespeare, there is a thriving tourism industry!

Back into the real work today, we powered through the 27km, arriving in Meriden early enough to enjoy some quiet time reading in the sunshine of the late afternoon.  Rejoining the Heart of England Way, our route today took us initially up behind Henley-in-Arden and across pastures and crop fields before we joined the towpath of the Stratford Canal.  You will no doubt remember that we love canal walking, so we were happy campers.

Today we were again aware of the changing nature of transport in Britain over the past two centuries. At one point we had the canal, the railway line and then a motorway within 200m – and going under the flight path to Birmingham airport. Definitely ‘planes, trains and automobiles’ – plus walking for us, the oldest form of transport of them all!

At the Kingswood Junction we switched across to the Grand Union Canal and continued on up to Heronfield where we (by accident, honest!) found a canal side pub serving coffee and cold drinks.  Being about midday we felt compelled to partake, as you do.  From here on it was a mix of the Heart of England Way, Millenium Way and Coventry Way to take us into Meriden.  After a cloudy start, the sun broke through making yet another very pleasant day’s walking.

We have to say that at approximately one third of our way through our Grand Adventure it seems to be going very well.  A lady we were chatting to recently asked if our trip was living up to expectations – and we had to say that in fact it had surpassed them so far.  We are coping with the walking probably better than anticipated – physically, apart form the odd niggle and errant blister we are doing well.  So far we’ve covered 640km.

The weather has been spectacular so far – aside from a couple of rainy starts in the first week it has been sun, sun, sun, and in the last two weeks it’s also been pleasantly warm. And the British countryside has really excelled – with spring arriving a little late this year we have been able to enjoy the full impact of the glorious displays of bluebells and wild flowers, flowering hawthorn and chestnut, as well as all the cultivated garden trees and flowers. Our accommodation – largely booked online – has been fabulous.  The past poor reputation of British cuisine has been well and truly put to bed by any number of delicious meals, and the pubs have been just as Peter wanted!  Yes, overall we consider ourselves to be very lucky – and even if the wheels fall off now we have had four fabulous weeks already.

Distance:  27km, Total so far: 646km

Monday 21 May – Broom to Henley in Arden – Day 27

The day started bright and sunny, already promising to be warm one – forecast to be 22°. We looked back at the Broom Inn, looking very special in the morning sun. After navigating our way out of Broom, we followed the fields through to Wixford, a tiny settlement. It was easy walking, a windy route, a mixture of gravel tracks and footpaths, through to Alcester, an old Roman town. The river we crossed on the way looked very pretty.

The centre of Alcester is very handsome and full of lovely old buildings, some half timbered, very Tudor in appearance. While Peter went into  a local barbers and had an excellent haircut, Val had a brief look around the local 12^th century church. This had a collection of recently-woven tapestries depicting the various community and social groups in the area, which gave it a great “local” feel. We decided to have morning tea at a lovely looking café by the church – a lemonade for Val, a lovely flat white for Peter, and a large slice of cherry bakewell tart to share.

It took a bit of walking to get out of Alcester, but once we did we were completely in the countryside the whole way to Henley in Arden, over the next four hours. It was largely rolling countryside, mostly farmland (and mostly empty, though one field had a few cows in it) and a few wooded areas as well including Bannam Wood, an ancient woodland.

Complementing this, a Midlands rich-lister, Felix Dennis, took it upon himself to reforest some of this area some thirty years ago, recreating a link to the Forest of Arden, and replanting in broadleaf natives. While he has died, a trust is continuing on his work. The ultimate aim is to have replanted 30,000 acres, 120 square kilometres of new forest. Though only 12% complete, it is already England’s largest new native forest. We walked through some of the areas of new planting and were surrounded by fields full of saplings. An absolutely inspirational project.

We were grateful for the shady bits as the day was not only quite warm but also rather humid. Later on in the day, we must have walked a couple of kilometres through a succession of fields, all with high grass and connected by numerous leg-stretching stiles. A cry for ‘where have all the gates gone?’ could be heard from Val as she struggled over some fairly tall stiles. She (and Peter, it has to be said) definitely preferred the much-easier stile gates, requiring only a simple flick of the catch to get through. It was a case of “too many Harrys and Nobbys, not enough Bills” (Harry Styles, or Nobby Stiles for the older ones of you who remember the great English footballer, and Bill as in Bill Gates). Bad puns, yes we know…

It was nice to get to Henley in Arden, with its lovely main street. Even better, we had been told about a famous ice cream place there, and as we turned south to go towards our accommodation we were highly delighted to find it. The ice creams weren’t cheap but they were very tasty – Peter had cherry and Val had pineapple and coconut. They were delicious!

Tomorrow is a rest day, which we are so looking forward to. Our accommodation for the next two nights is Bridge House B&B, in a building dating back to the early 1600s. Now, dinner….

Distance: 22km

Doing it with such ‘stile’….

 

 

Sunday 20 May – Day 26 – Broadway to Broom

Today was a linking day in our adventure.  We were leaving the Cotswold Way, and the Cotswolds in fact, and traveling initially northwest to the Avon river and then following it round in a more north-easterly direction to our destination of Broom in Worcestershire.

It was a largely unremarkable day – following quiet country roads for the morning and then Shakespeare’s Avon Way after lunch.  Arriving at the point where we picked up the Avon river we were surprised to find a pub (yes, a pub… who’d have thought… ) and as it was hot, sunny and midday……  yes, cold drinks it was 😊

But even on these apparently quiet, low key days it is surprising what you see…

The following photos was taken as we walked in to the little village of Offenham.

You can imagine the conversation…

Alice. you see the neighbours now have a Merc AND an Audi..   Standards are slipping… When are they going to realise, those models are sooo common now.  Let’s upgrade..  What can be finer in the Corswolds than a great big yellow JCB digger!   And what’s more, if their pesky Merc gets in our way we do have the bucket on the front…..

Or how about this one ?  Seen on a farm lane this morning…

Tired of having to drive through mud and cowpats on your way to the milking shed ?  Why not help the environment and repurpose some retired astro turf !   It’s even got a white stop line – if we could just train those cows to stop…

 

So here we are at the Broom Hall Inn. Having arrived at 3.30pm, we repaired to the garden with The Observer (picked up on the way) and a pint of Butty Bach bitter for Peter, hoping later to post some more photos.

Distance today: 21km

*practically perfect in every way

Saturday 19 May – Winchcombe to Broadway/

What makes a perfect day?

Many things probably, too many to fit into one day, but if we had to pick a day on our route so far that encapsulated it, today would be that day.

On paper, it didn’t look a spectacular route, just a 16km walk between two Cotswold villages. But somehow, everything came together.

The distance, for one thing – after a series of very long days, we loved today being one of the shortest so far. It allowed us the luxury of time to take in more of the countryside. We tweaked the route a bit and started off on a different route, the Winchcombe Way, rather than the Cotswold way. For the first hour we were quite close to the Gloucestershire Worcestershire Steam Railway and could hear its regular toots and see occasional puffs of smoke as well as the train itself. The Winchcombe Way went up high enough at times to give us lovely views without scaling the heights that the Cotswold Way did, really the best of both worlds.

The day was yet another beautiful sunny, warm and lovely day. The fields were bursting with flowers, with the mayflower/hawthorn in full glorious flower. Again we struck lucky because it seems to have been a perfect year weather-wise to encourage the largest amount of hawthorn flower seen for many years. The fields that aren’t being grazed or planted are lush and green and liberally sprinkled with buttercups. This being sheep country, there were sheep of every shape and size – white, black, mottled, horned, skinny-legged, short-legged, and even some with mint sauce bottles already attached (only joking!)

We passed through a series of charming villages including Hailes, which boasts a ruined abbey, and a very cheery steward who advised us that taking the lower route was definitely the smart thing to do. He was busy hanging out Union Jacks because today of course was The Big Day. Next followed Wood Stanway and Stanway and then on to Stanton.

In many ways Stanton was the highlight of the walk today, both literally and metaphorically. It’s a gorgeous village, noted in our guidebook as “the quintessential Cotswold village”, and we have to agree; beautiful Cotswold stone houses including a 400-year-old farmhouse. It coincided with lunchtime so we went up a steep drive to the Mount Inn (hint: the name is a giveaway!) with wonderful views out over Stanton and the countryside beyond.  We sat in the sun with our drinks and a scrumptious slice of brownie complete with ice cream – yum! It was very hard to get going again… but we were on a mission. There was a big event we wanted to see.

No, not THE big event – the FA Cup final!

We really liked Broadway; it is very picturesque, not as pretentious as Winchcombe, and with an open and spacious feel – the village’s name comes from the width of the  main street. We made it there with plenty of time to spare before kickoff. In fact our hostess was still enjoying her late lunch in the garden complete with champagne to toast the happy couple (no, not us, the other happy couple!).  Having checked in to Hadley House, our B&B, we sat in the garden, reading today’s paper and revelling in the sun.  Then it was time to watch the game.

At half time we decided it would be ideal to watch the second half in a pub, to really get the full atmosphere. We’d already asked our host about a good pub, and on her advice repaired to the Crown and Trumpet (“it’s where all the locals go”). We scored a great table close to a TV and enjoyed our delicious meals while watching the second half – Stilton ploughman’s for Val, duck and apricot sausages for Peter. We are both paid-up members of the ABMU (Anyone But Man United) Club so were delighted when Chelsea won (sorry if we’ve offended anyone!). To top it off the pub specialised in real ales (Timothy Taylor Landlord bitter, Artists Ale, Black Rat cider), and had a superb atmosphere. We strolled back to our B&B in the evening dusk, as happy and content as we could be.

Distance: 16km

 

 

 

 

Thursday 17 May – Painswick to Charlton Kings, Cheltenham

While southern England does not usually convey impressions of lots of woodlands, there are some exceptions, and today was one of them.

We spent close to two thirds of the day walking through woodland, on a mix of footpaths and lanes. For one stretch of over four kilometres there were just the trees, the lane, us, and one solitary house halfway along. Much of it was open, conveying a light, airy and spacious feel, quite unlike the dense bush we are used to in northern New Zealand. It was absolutely delightful.  At one point we were quite high up and looking down a wooded escarpment, only to see a wild Muntjac deer roaming around below us, quite oblivious to our presence.  Wild deer are cherished here rather than being the infernal pest they are in New Zealand.

At other times we were walking along escarpments, high up in the hills overlooking Gloucester and then Cheltenham, with stunning views out and over to the Brecon Beacon mountains in Wales, nearly 80 kilometres away. Best of all, yesterday’s cloud had cleared to a beautiful, sunny day. In the entire day, we passed through not a single village, an oddity indeed. Mind you, the relative peace was shattered halfway through the day when we had to cross an extremely busy A road, a real assault on the senses! It was a relief to get back to the Way, high and peaceful with just the birds calling.

We had a lunchtime stop for hot drinks and a slice at a pub with the unusual name of The Air Balloon.  And we have to get used to talking to each other again as we had said cheerio to Mary in Painswick – sadly she had to go back to work in Worthing, though she really would have liked to walk further with us.  It has to be said she chose a great section to walk.

We arrived in Charlton Kings, essentially a village suburb of Cheltenham, and spent a very enjoyable evening with our friends Mary and Stewart, who had kindly driven up from East Sussex to meet up with us.

Distance today: 23km

 

Ah, communication. We take it for granted. In the 21^st century, that means the internet and mobile phones. It works a treat… until you’re out of coverage.

Coming from New Zealand, we are used to gaps in mobile coverage, but we imagined the UK would have saturation coverage. What has surprised us has been the significant parts of the UK where coverage is scanty or actually non-existent – as we have found the past couple of nights. Arriving at a pub and seeing no bars on your mobile phone is somewhat surprising! We could get patchy mobile phone signal in both places, enough for a text, but as for internet – forget it. That’s why you are getting three days in the one blog. But – as the Rocky Horror Picture Show would say – ‘the antici…………..pation!’

Monday 14 May – Bath to Tormarton

After our rest day we were feeling invigorated and ready for the next stage, along the Cotswold Way. And on a sunny day in late spring, there can be no finer place to be walking than the Cotswolds with its rolling hills, wooded forests, lush countryside, pale stone buildings and charming villages.

Our walk today took us up from Bath, to Weston, and high up on the hills to some great views west out towards Bristol, the Severn River, and Wales in the distance. It was a fairly gentle day with no challenging steep bits, largely rural through a variety of farmland – sheep, cows and arable. After the peace of the countryside it was a shock to encounter the noise of the M4 motorway, a reminder of the real world (or is it us living in the real world?)

The Cotswold way is not only great to walk, it is very well signposted, making it a pleasure to walk.

During the afternoon we encountered a number of runners, aiming to run 100 miles (160km) in four days as part of a charity fundraiser. This was their last day and it has to be said that some of them were looking the worse for wear!

It was great to have a ‘guest walker’, not only for a change in conversation but also as the bearer of sweets! (Jelly babies to be precise)…. Mary can definitely come again!

We arrived in the village of Tormarton which, despite its proximity to the motorway, was very quiet and peaceful. We were staying at another lovely B&B, The Old Smithy, and our host Joanna greeted us not only with a hot drink but some delicious brownie. After freshening up it was (surprise!) time for the three of us  to repair to the local pub for dinner.

Tuesday 15 May – Tormarton to North Nibley

Yes, there really is a village called North Nibley!  And we were very glad to arrive there at about 6pm after our second day on the Cotswold Way.  It was another gorgeous day – in fact even warmer – definitely shorts, t shirt and sunblock weather.  And the scenery is still stunning, with expansive views – and the Severn River rewardingly getting ever closer.

From Tormarton we travelled through Old Sodbury and Little Sodbury, through to Horton and Hawkesbury Upton, across to Wooton-under-Edge and finally to the Black Horse Inn at North Nibley.  Don’t you just love the names – so English!

The three of us had fabulous home made pies for our dinner (far too much food; must eat less tomorrow!) and then rolled upstairs o our rooms to sleep :}

Wednesday 16 May – North Nibley to Painswick

A cloudy and cooler day, in many ways better for walking even though the hazy conditions didn’t quite do justice to the views.

It was certainly a lot more hilly than the past two days, but we had a good variety of terrain, from open farmland to lovely woodland tracks.  In fact today probably had the most woodland walking – it was quite divine and although they are almost over now the bluebells carpeting the woods still gave them a magical blue sheen.

We passed a Neolithic tomb at Nympsfield which was approximately 5,500 years old – it is staggering to consider that we were touching stones that had been manouvered into placed by folk who lived so long ago.  The Cotswold area alone has nearly one hundred such Neolithic tombs.

Our route today took in Dursley, through wooded forests to Middleyard, then to Kings Stanley for a very welcome hot drink and slice of chocolate cake, round the edges of Stroud and finally to the delightful town of Painswick. The 16^th century coaching inn where we are staying, The Falcon Inn, is not only a superb little hotel but also has fond memories for us – we stayed here with Genevieve and Catherine back in 2002, so it was lovely to be back. Despite our best intentions from the previous night of just having light meals, our appetites and the divine meals on offer overcame our resistance… and it was worth it!

Distances: Bath to Tormarton 26km, Tormarton to North Nibley 26km, North Nibley to Painswick 25km.