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