The Cotswold Way Day 1: Chipping Campden to Toddington

Hang on. Toddington isn’t on the Cotswold Way. But it’s close and it was a fine end to our first day’s walk.

Today’s challenge was logistics. The first challenge was getting the twenty miles from Cheltenham to the start of the Cotswold Way, and then back to Cheltenham after a day’s walk. While there was one bus in the morning, it took two hours on a very winding route, and we didn’t fancy a late start feeling car sick. I’m nervous when I start a trek, so we took the easy option of a taxi. I booked it last night with Starline Taxis, after a couple of other firms were booked up. While waiting for it outside our apartment, we learned the Strozzi Palace service apartments are built in what used to be an electricity substation.

Our taxi driver was Jan who moved here from Afghanistan in 2006, having been an interpreter. His wife and young son have returned and he is looking forward to following them soon. We had a great chat for the 45 minute / 46 GBP ($60) ride and were dropped off right in the middle of the charming village. After a quick visit to the local facilities, we were ready to go!

We were soon out of the village and climbing our first hill, which meant the views opened up. It was a beautiful day and the views did not disappoint. I fear the photos, even Apple’s fancy panoramic ones, don’t come close to capturing them well. It was great to be walking along the edge of fields and saying hi to sheep again.

The main landmark on this section of the walk is the Broadway Tower, and 18th-century folly. It came into view as we walked along the top of the escarpment, and it brought a lot more walkers. It was a good place to stop for lunch. The steep descent into Broadway was not an issue and we were soon back in another picturesque Cotswolds village.

While there were several shops in Broadway, we didn’t need anything and just kept going. The path climbed gently for a while, allowing us to enjoy blackberries, sheep, cows, and wildflowers.

After about 10 miles, we started a steep descent into Stanton. This was hard on the legs at the end of our first day, but we just took it slowly. This brought us into another fine picturesque village.

We were in Stanton about 3pm and the bus to Cheltenham was a bit before 6pm. We discovered the bus does not stop in Stanton itself, but on the main road about a mile away. It was two miles to Toddington, about a mile on the Cotswold Way and then a mile along a B road. With a pub and a bus stop, Toddington was calling us, but the walk along the B road was rather hair-raising, with little to no space for walking and cars whizzing past when large farm machinery wasn’t passing by. We will aim to avoid that road when we return to start tomorrow! After a two hour wait, the bus arrived on time and it was a smooth one-hour ride back to Cheltenham, where we met up with an old friend who will be joining us tomorrow.

Today’s Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vMq5eYrVr8q

Today’s stats:

13.4 miles with 1575 ft ascent over 5.5 hrs of walking time. If felt good, but this was just the first day. We travelled a bit further than planned, and need to avoid the B road tomorrow. Let’s hope the weather remains like this!