All my bags are packed

It's nearly time for the off. My friend Irv is picking me up on 30th and we're driving down to his house in France where he has a few things to sort then we're off to face the Pyrenees. I realise now that I've got a week of training left so I'm doing a bit more of the Cotswold Way. This is a blog about the bit from Stanton to Cleeve. The viaduct is part of the disused line from Cheltenham to Broadway. The line from Cheltenham racecourse to Toddington has been reclaimed by a railway preservation society and it's quite odd to hear the old steam whistles sounding in the far distance. I abseiled off this bridge as part of an outward-bound management course a few years ago. Not my favourite activity! This is the gatehouse to Stanway House, a Jacobean Mansion. You can imagine what the house is like if this is the gatehouse. The church next door has been a place of worship for 1,000 years and was owned by the Benedictine monks of Tewkesbury Abbey until Henry VIII dissolved the momasteries. On a bright spring morning this is a lovely stroll through local history. There's a micro-brewery (Stanway Ales) on site which supplies the local pubs

This is my least favourite thing about walking; a bull in field sign. Informative it may be but give me some more details. Is it in there at the moment? Will it have a go at me? What colour is it? My MO is to have a quick look to see if I can see him hiding amongst the cows and if not to walk along the edge of the fields reasoning that a decent rush of adrenelin will get me over the 4 foot high hedge, back pack and all.

OK, I know that these aren't bulls but I did see and hear an awful lot of sheep with their relatively new-born lambs. Much gambolling in evidence. I don't think the local farmers were hit as hard by the recent snow as those in Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland. The next couple of miles are through the meadows at the foot of the escarpment along the Winchcombe Way past Hailes Abbey. Hailes was a huge pilgrimage site in the middle ages until Henry came along and purloined it.

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Mid-morning sees me having a cup of tea in a Winchcombe tea shop. Winchcombe is another one of those lovely, honey-coloured Cotswold towns. This is the courtyard of the old George inn (now apartments) which was originlly built to house the more well-heeled pilgrims. The dissolution obviously killed off the pilgrimage in the UK. Henry really made his mark around here. You can tell from the grandeur of the church that this was once a very important place. In Saxon times it was so important that they had a royal mint set up here.

 


 So far today I've taken the easy option and not climbed to the top of the escarpment but now there's no choice so I rejoin the Cotswold Way for the climb to the top of Cleeve; knowing that this holds a surprise for the walker. The path gets really steep as you make you way up to the top of the escarpment. This is a distant view of the 15th century Sudeley Castle. Catherine Parr, one of Henry's wives, lies in the chapel here in her marble tomb. He was a monster (Henry) but what an outrageous idea. Set yourself up as the head of your own church and give yourself a divorce. Nick the church land making yourself very wealthy and lease it out to the locals which brings in huge incomes. I can imagine the "Why didn't I think of that before?" thought-bubble when his advisors raised the idea

The path climbs through the trees until it breaks into windswept open fields. Spring is late and the hawthorn hedges are bare and offer no cover against the strenthening wind.

 

Before too long you come to the neolithic burial mound known as Belas Knap. This type of long barrow mound is common in the area and they're known as the Cotswold-Severn group. Sorry if this is turning into a history lesson but there is a lot of it around here. What I like about Belas Knap is that you can't drive to it so invariably you find yourself alone here. I ate my sandwiches, somewhat irreverantly, sitting on the north side of the tump protected by its bulk against a stiff wind.

The aforementioned suprise is that the walk declines to take the straight, flat route to the masts on the top of Cleeve but drops through woods back towards Winchcombe. I hate "down" on the Cotswold Way as it is a precursor to "up" and that's exactly what happens on this bit. The walk does pass the wonderful Postlip Hall which is owned by a sort of housing association who hire out their huge tithe barn for the annual Cheltenham beer festival. It's a very family friendly do and you can eat your picnic and have a few beers while the kids run around in compete safety. The next climb finishes at the Cleeve Cloud golf-course which offers sustinance to walkers and golfers alike. Great day out. 13 miles up and over the escarpment (twice) and the legs are feeling OK. A couple more Cotswold walks then the Pyrenees.