2nd October 2011 Leckhampton Hill, Glos

This was a walk done many times before, starting out at my front door and making a circular trip around and up Leckhampton Hill and back. This is a 6.5 mile walk which takes around 2-3 hours depending on the pace and the company!

This time it was done with Mike, Liz, Geoff, Shona, Dean and Trudy, plus two friends (Rich & Flick?) from his apartment building - 9 in all, a record!


We left Croft Street, following streets up to Burrows Field, then through Leckhampton village, Collum End Rise and then up through fields towards Daisy Bank Road. The stretch from the fields to Daisy Bank Road follows the old tram track which used to take quarry stones down to the tram terminus at the Norwood Triangle. 


Norwood Triangle

We followed the road, passed the car parks for walkers, bikers and dog walkers and headed along, past houses on Our left until the road, which has turned into a track, meets the extension of Sandy Lane in Charlton Kings. We turned right along the track towards Seven Springs and past Lilley Brook golf club on our left until we joined the Cotswold Way, turning right up the escarpment to walk along the hill top. The new dry stone wall (see previous walks e.g. 17th March 2011) is now complete and looks marvellous. We then followed the escarpment with great views of Cheltenham and beyond.

Devil's Chimney

The escarpment with the new dry stone wall on the left, leads to the highest point on the Cotswold Way (925 ft) and has great views over the town and as you follow the track, you can also see the various hills towards to Malverns and even the Black Mountains in Wales. It is a site of Iron Age hill fort and long barrow and famous for its old limestone quarries. Old tramway lines criss-cross the hill from the days of limestone quarrying and the remains of kilns and quarries are still very much in evidence. It is a site with a great deal of cultural and historical significance as much of the stone removed from the quarry on the Hill was used for buildings in Cheltenham - and also parts of Magdalen College, Oxford. 


The track leads past the Devil's Chimney, a substantial pillar of stone left standing next to one of the upper inclines, but nothing is known as to who left it there or why. 

Just after the chimney, we stopped for a team photo and once done, we started downhill with a choice of routes. The quickest is to follow the old tramway path but this is quite steep, so we opted for the more leisurely descent towards the car park where I re-joined Daisybank Road and the tramway path which we'd followed on the way up. We re-traced my steps over farmland, Collum End Rise and Burrows Field before getting home, showering and racing to the Jolly Brewmaster for refreshments.






An OS view walk is below, courtesy of QUO digital mapping/OS

28th September 2011 Fostons Ash to Sheepscombe, Glos

This was a Wednesday morning walk with Mike which I'd done previously with Robin and Liz. It is a pleasant 5 miler taking a couple of hours with the opportunity for a (longer) stop at the Butchers Arms in Sheepscombe if required.

We parked at the Fostons Ash pub and made our way back along the road to Birdlip (B4070) , crossing to use the footpath in the bushes, until we reached the farm where we went through the gate and joined a path to the left, dropping down towards the woods.

Fostons Ash Pub & Restaurant, Nr Birdlip, Glos

We followed the track in the woods and were quickly away from the road noise in a lovely setting with banks of trees either side and bright sunshine. The track follows the valley floor with a number of paths criss crossing, but keeping to the main track we admired the well kept woodlands managed by the National Trust and the Ebworth Centre. Eventually the track comes to some typical Cotswold houses on the edge of the picturesque Sheepscombe village. The track becomes a single track road as we passed more houses going to the centre of the village. The Butchers Arms pub is on the right and we stopped outside for liquid (water) intake and a snack - well this was before opening time! The weather was fabulous, bright sunshine and really warm, hardly the weather for late September.

Butchers Arms, Sheepscombe

Mike @Butchers Arms

Old Vicarage

After a short stop, we admired the old vicarage, turned sharply to the right and started to climb, passing more pleasant houses until we emerged at the top of the incline near the Sheepscombe cricket club - land donated by Laurie Lee and very picturesque indeed. We turned to the left, entering the wood called Lord's Wood and followed the track uphill, keeping straight ahead until we entered Saltridge Wood, keeping the open fields to our right. After Saltridge Common Wood we followed the track through open fields, heading more or less in a straight line towards the minor road to Cranham. When we reached the road, we turned right for a short while until we reached Overtown Farm where we left the road and followed a path across the field towards the entrance on the B4070 to the Ebworth Centre. We noticed that the farm had plenty of visitors to its organic meat outlet and I made a mental note to Google the farm to have a look.

Overtown Farm Organic Meat

We followed the B4070 back towards the Fostons Ash, keeping to the footpath behind the bushes and fired up the car for the return journey to Cheltenham.

An OS view walk is below, courtesy of QUO digital mapping/OS