The previous day’s heat claimed one victim in our group and today was another hot one as we walked from The Swan in Wotton-under-Edge to The Dog in Old Sodbury. It wasn’t a day of dramatic landmarks, but I knew it was a good one when Texan Max described the day as “a lovely walk in the countryside.” One highlight was Hawkesbury Upton’s village shop. More on that below!
The previous day’s multiple climbs in the intense heat took its toll on Tracy, even though she’d drunk copious amounts of water. So Dean and Tracy had a rest day, finding a fine cafe in Wotton-under-Edge before catching an Uber to Old Sodbury.
The rest of the gang were rudely shaken at the start of their walk by the very steep hill on leaving Wotton. As we weren’t rushing for a taxi this morning, we could take our time over breakfast which was fortunate. Indeed, we find this walking all the more satisfying if the walk is from hostelry threshold to hostelry threshold rather than taking a taxi. Today’s bonus was that both accommodations were right on the Cotswold Way. We met other walkers who had struggled to find a place to stay and were having to take a taxi back to where they had started. We were glad I’d booked early – about ten months ago.
After that first hill, the day was as Max described – a lovely walk. The trail meandered through undulating woodland and small villages on a variety of trails. We were saddened by the lack of signage to Nancy Farmer’s Bottom and the missed photo op. We enjoyed a very small detour (that we at first missed) to St. Kenelm’s Church in Alderley which had a beautifully crocheted scene of the Cotswold Way in an enclosure just outside the church wall. We found a couple of ripe blackberries and some raspberries that were hanging over the trail. We failed to find fossils in an old quarry but we discovered a waterfall! We chose the bumble bee as a photo theme rather than a specific color. Another short detour was to a Long Barrow, a ~5000 year old burial site, which in practice, is just a grass-covered mound of dirt! Our diversion into Hawkesbury Upton was longer than hoped. However, the fresh sandwiches and sausage rolls from the village shop were most welcomed and Stephanie explained she would never buy lunch from a place like that in Texas, the closest being a convenience store at a gas station. To make the visit even more English, I got them to try a Ribena (a black currant drink that I grew on) which they described accurately as like grape juice. We smiled at the direct approach one villager took to getting drivers to slow down in their village, asking motorists to “kill the speed, not the children.” Our OS Map helped us find a shortcut back to The Way. I ended the day with a drone flight to get some sunset pictures.
I spent much of the hike explaining “recent” British history, from the founding of the Church of England to the Northern Ireland troubles and UK’s relationship with Europe. Fortunately the others had insufficient knowledge to point out my copious errors so I just spoke with confidence 😎. The whole day was a simple variety of great sights. So that is how the day is described by photos below. No explanations, just a sequence to describe the day. Follow along, sharing our walk and enjoy!
While not as hot as yesterday, there was still plenty of oppressive heat but it had cooled down sufficiently by nightfall to be comfortable. It seemed the heatwave was over, Tracy had recovered, and our team would be back to full strength for the next day’s hike.
The Adventures of the Cajunlimeys 