Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Walking the Cotswolds, Part 1

Part IV: Winchcombe to Leckhampton/Cheltenham
Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006

Oh, it's so hard to begin all over again. <sigh> Still, here we go. Upon awakening at Oaklands and getting the rest if our gear into our packs, doing the usual under-the-bed check for books and so on (can't forget my latest Dick Francis), we trundle downstairs and take a seat in the dining room, ready to see what they'll serve us for breakfast. The night before, Esmé quizzed us on what we'd like in the way of food in the morning. I think both of us simultaneously said "Anything but a fried slice or black pudding!" She replied that she hated both also, so we were all set with our second Full English order.

The dining room had quite a few tables in it and we took one nearest the door and I think next to a window. One table had fresh fruit on it and another had various cereal boxes, 3 carafes of fruit juice (pommegranite, apple & orange), yogurt, a plate of sliced mango (yum) and various jams etc. We helped ourselves to some muesli and Paul had some mango as well. When we were half way through that, Esmé brought out our breakfast plates and for one thing, the sausages were a HUGE upgrade from the tiny ones we had at Treetops. Always a good sign. I was all set, what with butter and plenty of whole wheat toast, egg, mushrooms, tomato and coffee in a french press (they call them 'cafetieres' one owner told me - someone correct me if I'm wrong). Heavenly. Tom Anderson, the owner, sat down across from us and chatted and we LOVED hearing his view of world politics, Bush, Muslims, The Great War and I can't think of what else. What a nice man! Apparently he had had bypass surgery a couple of years before and the family had decided then to switch usage of the large home from elderly housing to a B&B. Good choice.

We tossed the packs on and were on our way with a very sunny day and good feelings after our short stint at Oaklands. We highly recommend them if you're ever in Winchcombe. Our shoulders were just slightly sore from the previous day's walk but our sneakers were dry (thanks to that water heater closet) and the air felt great. We walked past the restaurant (Restaurant 5) where we almost ate, past the restaurant where we did dine (Plaisterer's Arms), past the "good" restaurant, The Corner Cupboard, where we couldn't get a table, down the high street and to our first kissing gate on this part of the path and thence to the first sign for Cleeve Common. We ambled on steadily, climbing up on a shallow incline through high grass now and then but mostly on paths.

Sheep sheep sheep and more sheep. The path ran along a long drive right through a farm, actually, two farms: Hill Top Farm and Wontley Farm. The owners must be so used to walkers coming through that you get barely a look and almost never a wave. Apart from the farms we really saw no one. You can see from my photos a few pics of people but the only time we did see anyone - I took a photo! We were that surprised! Actually we had hours and hours when we saw no one and either had good conversation or we (read: I) huffed and puffed up the hills. We made our way up to the "masts" which we figured out were what we would call radio towers. Good, at least we knew where we were and where we did or didn't want to be. We didn't want to bother doing the whole Cleeve Hill "walk" which actually takes you north (we were headed southeast) and loops around through somewhat arduous hilly walking and then south again. No, we decided early on that if the Cotswold Way signposted us through areas just for walking's sake (read: scenery), we would opt out and continue on in the direction of the nearest B&B and FOOD.

Again, if you look at the photos you'll see a very white-looking gravel path. This was at the back of that farm we just walked through and ahead in the picture is a hill. ALWAYS a hill and of course we had to climb it to keep going in the right direction. Oh well, got to work off that big breakfast.

[It was somewhere on this second day of walking that we saw a large group of people walking towards us. Oh no. Major company in an otherwise very quiet, glorious day. Not that I mind company but we were having a great time alone! Note that we do not do "tours". Still, they were headed toward us, with a "group leader" (groan). Anyway, as we neared the group, a long mostly single line, we of course said Good Morning and after a one or two answered with foreign accents I asked one of them where they were from and got the answer "Germany". I hastily switched to Guten Tag and got a MUCH better response and lots of smiles. I never took German in school and neither did Paul but I did spend some time in German youth hostels in the early 70's and was thankful that I could conjure up Guten Morgen and Guten Tag. Both worked just fine thank you. There were 30 of them!]

We never stopped for lunch so we always had that B&B in our minds and the (hopefully) handy pub down the street. We passed a couple of riders on their horses, had passed golfers on or near Cleeve Common, constantly, at each turning it seemed, having a view of Cheltenham down to our right or west. I knew we wanted to get below Cheltenham and then follow the way west but this was already taking much longer than I had envisioned in my hours of map reading. It took a LONG time to get up and over Cleeve Common and it was taking a long time coming down and Cheltenham was still standing there in front of us. Did that city never end? It was well past noon and we still had a way to go if we wanted to get past at least Leckhampton.

At the three masts we found a small road on the map that ran south, parallel to the CW, so happily took that. At times roads were the best alternative if we needed a rest as we could skim along fairly quickly and not worry about rocks, roots and gullies - almost heaven. So down we trod, still seeing Cheltenham at every clearing, on our right. Through Colgate Farm and into Dowdeswell Wood. We find the trees huge, the path wide and the shade restful. What a great day! Our feet are sore, sure, the packs get heavy as the day wears on, too right, the backs get stiff from not being able to stretch, but still, it's beauty all around us and we know it.

We had been descending through Dowdeswell and passed a gate with a sign: "Tea. £1.50 Biscuits (3) £1.25, Scones..." Appalling prices! I didn't care if we had to starve! The idea that these people were out to scalp walkers just hit me the wrong way. Actually I can't remember the exact prices but they were high to say the least but it was a B&B and they served tea (sort of) for a Price. I looked at Paul to see if he wanted to take up these scalpers at their prices and got a "no" glance so we continued on and came out at the Dowdeswell reservoir which is on the A40. It was almost 3 pm and we STILL hadn't passed Cheltenham. How different everything looks on the map! Really, I didn't take into account all the hills. Everything was either an upward grade or down. Rarely was there flat walking and if you have walked at all you know that the downhill tracks can be every bit as gruelling as the uphill. Anyway, we were getting hungry and the breakfast was all used up. It would be great to find somewhere - anywhere.

On the A40 we spied a sign: "The Waterside Inn". Oh my WORD. Could they be open? Could there be FOOD? We made a beeline across the busy road and charged in. Sweaty, a bit grimy, looking a bit lost and hungry. Are you still open for lunch??? The barman said they were just closing the kitchen and it's late (it was 2:50) but maybe we can do you a sandwich or something. We said "GREAT". So we scanned the menu and each got a version of a Ploughman's lunch. Charlie the barkeeper said - take a seat over in #1 and we'll bring it over to you. What'll you have to drink? Paul ordered two pints of the local (what else??): "Old Speckled Hen Ale" and we sat and took our sneakers off (sounds like a trend continuing here?). Not a soul in the place. See the photos. We consumed the Ploughmans, reshod our feet, used the facilities, took a couple of photos of Charlie (who knew all the U.S. sports teams and needled me on the Red Sox demise in the pennant race) and we were off.

It was around 4 p.m. and because we had perused the map at the Waterside, we knew we had some uphill walking ahead of us AGAIN, which of course meant slow going. Oh well, we were now fed and watered and raring to go. If you look at the OS map, right at Dowdeswell Reservoir, you will see all the little topographic lines crowding together and becoming numerous. Uh oh. Read: HILL. Up we go through Lineover Wood. It was shady though, that much was good, but it was extremely slow-going. So slow and so grueling that I took no photos (!) also, it was quite dark so we just kept our heads down and climbed. On the map the path goes through Lineover uphill in a southerly direction and then turns abruptly west. As we took this turn we could eventually see daylight at the end of the path and hopefully a view to see exactly where we were. Or at least a view of something other than trees, gorgeous as they were.

Finally, Paul was perhaps 20 yards ahead of me and at the clearing. Yea! I put my head down even lower and walked as fast as I could to where he was. I picked my head up and saw Ravensgate Hill.

It was a long dirt track almost straight up and I was already well knackered. I couldn't believe my eyes. Paul said "I know. I didn't have the heart to tell you but just thought 'Oh no. Wait til she sees this. Poor Liz.'" In the photo is doesn't look all that bad. Really it doesn't. But I have to tell you - it was that bad. Also, the photo doesn't show the whole path as the first pic wasn't taken at the bottom. It was long and it was steep.

I tried various things to get myself up that hill. I would count my steps up to twenty then take a rest. Paul would put his hand out behind him and literally pull me up 20 or 30 feet. Then I'd rest and he'd wait with me. Then he'd get behind me and put his hand on my backpack and push me up 20 or 30 feet. Rest. Then we'd both keep on trudging. He did this for various hills the whole 100 miles. I thought I loved him before this walk, but it seemed that nothing compared to the way I loved him now. Big time. He was always asking if he could take my pack for me and just carry both and I always answered "No, I can do it." But I didn't say no to the help up some of the hills. I took that because it was just taking us too long to cover the distance that we needed to.

OK, we're at the top of Ravensgate Hill which from then on became "Ravensgate H_ll" in my recounting of the tale. In my Mark Richards' booklet, The Cotswold Way, I had scribbled down various B&Bs with their phone numbers and addresses. There was one for Wistley Cottage which is somewhat past Ravensgate, so we headed for that. It wasn't even to Leckhampton (which is really just the southernmost part of Cheltenham) but we didn't care. Give us a B&B and let us soak in a hot bath. Believe it or not we had a bit more hill to climb (Wistley Hill) until we came out onto the A436. We walked along this very busy road looking right as we walked - looking for a sign for Wistley Cottage. I thought it couldn't be that far after all we had just come up Wistley Hill so can Wistley Cottage be far behind? Famous last words.

I could see ahead that the A436 intersected with the A435 so we decided to cut across a ploughed field there at the junction and continue on through the fields as there was just about no shoulder on which to walk on the 435. According to a circle I had drawn on my map, Wistley Cottage should be somewhere along the 435. We looked and looked. No signs of Wistley and no signs of ANY B&B. Hmmm. Now Paul had gone down the embankment from the farm and walked along the road for a bit so as not to miss any signs that might have been there. He came up to me (walking parallel to him in the field) and said the walking area along the road had become wider somewhat and we might make better time down on the road, so down I went. We walked and walked and walked along the 435 until we decided "just a bit more and then we'll turn back".

We did turn back and I said "oh well" Wistley Cottage is nowhere to be found - and stuck my thumb out for a ride. Fat chance. The cars were zooming by as it's now past 6 pm and people are headed home from work in Cheltenham. How time flies when you're having fun! Ah ha - a bus stop. Well, we may as wait for a bus and take it back in the direction of Seven Springs - we're bound to see a B&B sign somewhere up there. We waited for maybe 10 minutes, no bus came and we again and decided to walk. Both of our thumbs came out as we walked but we had no takers. Can't say I blame them as the road was extremely fast and crowded and there was really nowhere to pull off and give a couple of walkers a ride. We're "old" people (!) - Paul was 53 THAT DAY, and I was 55 (turned 56 Nov. 1) and pretty unthreatening looking but still, no takers.

We walked back to a road for "Hartley Farm" and took it heading west towards Leckhampton Hill. The actual Cotswold Way backtracks somewhat to north of this road but heads once again into hilly territory and I had had enough of hills for one day. This farm road was deserted and besides, we could watch the sun going down. Uh oh. Note the phrase: "Sun going down". Deserted and getting dark and still no sign of a place to rest our heads. If you look at the photos (after the one of me lying on the bench near-dead) you will see a beautiful pastoral scene of sheep grazing (do they ever do anything else?) and the shadows lengthening. That was exactly the spot and the road past Hartley Farm.

Anyway, we passed two young women apparently walking home from somewhere, deep in conversation. Me: "Excuse me. Do you know of any B&B's in this direction?" (The direction they were walking from and we were walking towards) They said they really couldn't think of any but if we continued on we would come to the A417 which would take us into Cheltenham and we would certainly find something there. Groan! We didn't want to go BACK into Cheltenham after we had just spent the entire day trying to get PAST it. So we walked on, hoping to find something. We passed another young woman out walking her small dog and asked the same question and she gave us the same answer "Cheltenham". Groan again. We came out onto the 417 and as all the houses seemed to be on the other side of the street and there was a sidewalk there, we crossed. I told Paul that I could see twinkle lights on in one of the gardens and hey, they might be advertising rooms. I'm an optimist. So I walked up the road a bit while he took a much needed rest on a stone wall. After a few minutes I came back and noticed that he was talking to someone in a car who had just come out of the Hartley Farm road.

"She wants to know if we want a ride." I yelled as fast as I could get the words out: "YES!! Yes we want a ride!!" It was the young woman with the dog. Apparently she had gotten back to her car from walking the dog and then was driving home and spotted Paul sitting on the wall. He said he must have looked a little forlorn sitting there all alone but really he was just resting and waiting for me to walk back up the road and we would continue on. How wonderful of her! Here we were, two crazy American walkers, the night was upon us and she knew we were looking for a place to stay. People can be so so kind. We thanked her a million times as she shovelled the stuff off the seats (she was around 21-22 and reminded us of our own daughter and her car). Paul jumped in the back with the dog and I got in the front.

She said that there used to be a B&B "somewhere along here - my Mum lives on this street" but we scanned all the houses and buildings and couldn't see any. The lights were peeping on here and there. Suddenly she said, "Oh there's my Mum behind us! She must be wondering who on earth I have in my car." So she pulled over and ran back to talk to her mother while we stayed in her car and looked at e v e r y s i n g l e building to try to find a sign that said "rooms". She was back in a few minutes and said "No, the one that was on this street has been closed for a while - it's too bad you're not at the top of Cheltenham where the racetrack is because there are a million B&B's up there. But she does know of one just down the road but it may be a little expensive..." We said "WE DON'T CARE - anywhere is fine!" So we drove down the street, around the corner, up a bit and she rolled into Beaumont House. She waiting until I ran in to see if there was a vacancy.

The gentleman at the desk, upon my asking about a vacancy, said "Um, well, just a minute, I'll get my wife. We may have a room - I'm not sure." I thought this was rather strange but had to wait while he fetched his wife. Out came the missus and she was Chinese! (Our daughter is Korean) A tiny, extremely elegant looking woman. Her husband was a large, jovial anglosaxon Brit. I liked this place already. She said something like, "Um, yes, we have a room but we're waiting for a family arriving tomorrow so it's set up for them, and we have to change it around a bit for two people." So, that was why Sir wasn't sure - it was set up for a family of three and had to be hastily made up for two if we were to have it. I said "But there IS a room? I need to tell our driver so that she can leave." "Oh! Yes!" So off I went back out the door to tell the young woman (never did get her name! : [ ) that there was indeed a vacancy and thank you SO SO much.

She actually apologized and said she thought it might be expensive. I told her please not to worry, that we had plastic and knew how to use it! So off she went and up the front stairs and in WE went. Fan Bishop had a young man go up and make up the room ready for two people and she s l o w l y showed us how the lock worked on the front door, <sigh>, where we would have breakfast, <sigh>, possible places for dinner that night, <sigh> ... I JUST WANT TO GET TO MY ROOM AND A BATH. Paul whispered "she has to stall to allow the housekeeper to set the room up". Oh. Just a few more minutes and finally, up we went.

It was huge. It was heavenly. It had 9 foot windows. It had a flat screen TV, a king-sized bed, two large easy chairs and a desk. In the bathroom was a tub WITH a shower (how lucky are WE???), and last but not least, Gilchrist & Soames soap, shampoo and, oh how I had missed this, CONDITIONER. My hair felt like straw and I hadn't packed any conditioner. Have we died and gone to heaven? Far from it, but this was a taste of it, I was sure. As she was showing us into the room, Fan said that the room was usually £99 but we could have it for £89. If she had said it was £189 it wouldn't have made a bit of difference to me. We were there to stay the night and we were very glad of it. It was 7:30 p.m. Happy Birthday Paul.

Well, we had already decided that if we did indeed find somewhere to stay that we would stay put, soak in the tub or take a long shower, depending on what the room provided, and we would NOT step out of that room until breakfast in the morning, and we didn't. And it had both a tub AND a shower. What could be better than this??? We peeled off our outer layers, kicked our shoes off, I took a few pics and then started the water in the tub. Paul just sat in the sitting area in front of the tube and played with the channels - just chillin', happy as a clam. I didn't find out until the next day that he had a migraine starting. Again, Happy Birthday Paul. So, after we had both bathed and washed out some clothes, I made us tea and we had the biscuits that were provided on the tray. A birthday repast! We had the most channels on the TV that we were to experience the whole 9 days - I think there were all of six. In the other B&B's there were 3 or perhaps 4 - and this was Sky TV! We're not in Kansas anymore.

Because we were so ridiculously happy with Beaumont House, I will insert their website here and also that of Oaklands, while not as elaborate, every bit as enjoyable: http://www.activehotels.com/servlet/...mp;language=en (it's long but if you cut and paste it really does take you to a good site), and: bandbatoaklands.co.uk

So, we're off to dreamland in our king bed, under crispy sheets, aches and pains of the day slowly fading away and wondering, if the room is this good, what will breakfast be like? Thank you Lord that we didn't have to get out our "space blankets" and curl up in some field and try to sleep because it really was looking like that for a while, or that we didn't have to try to find a cab and have it take us to a Holiday Inn which we REALLY didn't want to do - worse than sleeping in a field! God provided that young woman and he provided us with a place to lay our head that night and he gives us good things ... but sometimes we have to wait for them.

Total miles for the day: a "wimpy" 16.03! But they were all hills. Can't wait for breakfast.