Cotswolds walking holiday

The King's Arms, Stow-in-the-Wold

I had never really been to the Cotswolds before, and while I greatly enjoy walking - particularly in the UK - I had never organised a walking holiday over a few days where I would walk from one destination to the next. My health hasn't been entirely great over the last few years (now largely fixed) and so my fitness had degenerated. But, when a friend from Australia had expressed her desire to do such a thing when she was visiting this May, I leapt at the chance. I was looking forward to seeing if I could do it, and enjoy it, and to see a part of England that people always rave about.


So it was that on Sunday, 6 May 2012 I met up with my friend at Paddington station, where we had a nourishing lunch at the Fuller's pub up top. We caught the train to Moreton-in-Marsh, a fairly busy service to Hereford via Oxford. Almost everyone left the train at Oxford, leaving us in peace for a little while. We arrived in good time and set off to find the Monarch's Way to Stow-in-the-Wold. It was drizzly and grey, but as we walked it fined up and got quite warm. We got some sun, which was nice. It did take a bit of time and a few wrong-turnings for us to get used to the scale of the map, which included a bit of a traipse along the Fosse Way, an A road that follows a route laid down by the Romans. This was after we had meandered through Longborough, a fairly typical Cotswolds town. We took a little under four hours to walk to Stow-in-the-Wold and we arrived in good spirits for the rest of our holiday. We found our inn very quickly and checked in to a good sized twin room up and around some creaky old wobbly stairs. After a bit of a freshen up, we wandered about Stow for a little while before settling on a pub for dinner. We were bemused by the antics of a new manager, and by some of the regular restaurant punters who shared their outrage at the manager's treatment of his staff. The manager was certainly on the officious side and didn't really pay attention to actually serving his customers. We were reminded of some characters from Fawlty Towers, and while none of that affected our enjoyment of a rather good steak, we did head back to our inn for a pint of local ale before bed.

Breakfast on Monday was at 8, and delicious. We didn't dally, knowing we had quite a few miles ahead of us to Winchcombe, where our second inn was booked. 


We headed south along the Roman road for a little while, breaking off into fields along to Lower Slaughter, a beautiful little Cotswolds village. Unfortunately, the rain started up, which dampened spirits a little until we filled up on some tea at a little tea shop near the old mill. Revived, we set off again, and the rain held off for a bit until we arrived at Bourton-on-the-Water, site of a Roman settlement and now a hub of kitsch tourist activity. We didn't stay. We found the Windrush Way, along the Windrush river, swollen in flood water. Fortunately, our trail was up above the river line so we weren't affected by that. But, the rain did return and while tramping through one of the fields of yellow rapeseed flowers, our boots and trousers got soaked through. We managed to dry out a fair bit for a lovely lunch at a pub in Naunton. The pub itself was lovely, with a good mix of locals and visitors on this bank holiday. I always love pubs that welcome dogs, and this one had a dog belonging to the pub doing a lot of the welcoming.


We continued on through Guiting Power village, and then Guiting Wood. We saw loads of lambs (mostly twins) and loads of pheasants. The last part of our walk was a bit of a slog through the rain, which finally eased off again when Winchcombe was in sight. Fortunately, despite the wet, it wasn't actually cold. We again found our accommodation - the White Hart Inn - very easily. This time we had separate rooms, and a three course meal waiting for us, which we booked for 8 pm. That left us an hour to shower and freshen up a bit - and to check that everything in our bags were dry. We had double bagged most things in plastic bags, which had all done the trick nicely. The only problem was blisters forming because our boots had got so wet. 

View of the Cotswold Hills

Hailes Abbey

Dinner was three courses, mostly from local produce. We had actually passed one of the farms where the meat in the sausages - a speciality of the pub restaurant where we were staying - was sourced. They were delicious, washed down with local bitter, but three courses was a little bit too much. Anyway, as we were both pretty tired we headed pretty much straight to bed.

Breakfast on Tuesday was again at 8, but this time we headed out to have a little look at the town. Not much to see, really, but the sun was out. We set off at 10, and although our feet were sore with the blisters, it was amazing how quickly it was to warm up and get in the swing of things. We had a bit of a climb out of Winchcombe where we joined the Cotswold Way. 


We stopped off at Hailes Abbey (remains thereof) for a little look. Then at Hailes Apple Orchard for a pleasant apple juice. Then we were off through Hailes Wood, and up through sheep fields to a fantastic view of the Cotswolds Hills. 

Gates to Stanway House

We pressed on through some very muddy fields to Stanway House and then to the highlight of our walking tour - Stanton village. We had a late, very light lunch and a pint of much needed ale at the pub on the hill, and then pressed on to Broadway. There we had planned before we started on our venture to catch a bus for the last leg to Chipping Campden in order to avoid a fairly steep climb late in a long walking day. It turned out to be a really good idea since our blisters were hurting pretty badly. We met it in good time, and enjoyed the travel to Chipping Campden where we easily found our inn, attached to the Red Lion pub. We had separate rooms again, mine being right up the top in the rafters. Dinner was rather good again, but again we were early to bed. My feet had swelled up a bit, and I realised that I might be allergic to the stuff in the anti-blister adhesives I'd been using. The relief was amazing quick when I cleaned them off and used other plasters. 

Stanton village

On Wednesday after another good breakfast we took a little look around Chipping Campden, which was much nicer and interesting than Winchcombe. From Chipping Campden we walked across fields to Broad Campden where we re-joined the Monarch's Way and then to the rather lovely little place of Blockley. There we had lunch at a pub attached to a proper hotel. This again had staff who reminded us of Fawlty Towers, but not in a way that destroyed our generally happy moods. We had a good Ploughman's.


We pressed on. While we had enjoyed some sunshine in the morning, the rain was back with us as we strode along fields to Moreton-in-Marsh. We made it in good time, and checked into the Bell Inn. We had a little cottage next to the pub with two bedrooms, and a living room, plus a kitchen area. After a bit of a rest I had a little wander about the town, which seemed to have shut down. We headed out for dinner initially going to the Bell Inn, but it had closed its kitchen, and just about every other place was closed for various reasons. We found one place serving food where we had a decent meal. Then back to watch a bit of mindless telly before bed.
Next morning at breakfast, the landlord of the Bell Inn explained that the weekend coming would see an annual festival in Stow-in-the-Wold that tended to attract a lot of trouble makers to Moreton-in-Marsh and the surrounding area. That's why the pubs had all closed up, and we had actually been incredibly lucky to have planned our trip the way we had. The only reason the Inn gave us the booking was because my friend had organised it online from Australia!


Anyway, aside from the blisters, we greatly enjoyed our walking holiday. I'm certainly willing to organise similar in future and now have a good idea about the distances and terrain I can do. My pack was just right, and apart from a few miscellaneous items I could have done without, I'd packed the right gear. This was also the first time I'd tried a walking pole, and the benefits were immediately obvious. I would never go walking in the UK without the right Ordnance Survey map, but this walk emphasised just how you do need them. While the trails were very well marked around villages and towns, the marking tended to peter out in the fields just where you need them the most. Plus, they don't often point out helpful directions e.g. 'to Winchcombe', or even 'north', etc. Still, the work to keep the paths, gates and styles in good repair was greatly appreciated by these two walkers!

Cornwall (Kernow)

St Ives beach

My first visit to Cornwall was when I was a toddler. I have no active memory of it, but I do have vestiges of the feeling of liking it. The family story is that I adored Tintagel castle. Part of my mother’s family originated from there, or so we think. My parents have a story of them on a visit once, going into a pub there and seeing people who looked identical to the family reunions usually taking place in country New South Wales. Only these old men wore woolly jumpers and drank pints of bitter or ale flavoured by the log fires warming their stone pub, whereas the Aussie folk would have been in work trousers and downing Tooheys or the like.

Since moving to the UK, I’ve travelled to Cornwall a few times. I stayed in Penzance once, back in November 2006. I stayed at the Youth Hostel and went on a few walks along the coast. I visited St Michael’s Mount one day before hail storms drove me to a pub. On another night, a storm whipped the sea up onto the road and I discovered the Ship Inn and a fabulous sea food dinner.

Two Australian friends announced they were visiting Europe this northern spring and asked if I would like to go with them to Cornwall. They were hiring a car and planning on visiting Tintagel, Boscastle, St Ives and as one of them is a bit of a foodie who loves seafood, to check out Padstow. 

I said yes.

We caught the train on 25 April 2012 from London Waterloo to Salisbury where we picked up the car. We drove to Boscastle via Stonehenge and the northern tip of Dartmoor, mostly dodging the rain. That bucketed down in sheets mostly while we were on the main roads but we were lucky in that when we stopped for a nice pub lunch at the Mulberry in Cheriton Bishop (Devon) we didn't get soaked. I had a tasty enough Otter Ale in a fun glass (see right) and the first of many fish meals, a not bad fish and chips. The weather (and the car) was against us so we pressed on to the Atlantic coast.

The rain lightened up when we got to Boscastle so after we parked in the expansive car park that doubles as a flood plain, we wandered up to the harbour area (see left). The tide was obviously out, but as it wasn't tipping down with rain pretty much everyone was out clambering over the rocks and looking at the amazing coastline with its jagged grey rocks and pounding sea. 

But, the rain returned just as we were heading back to the village to check into the Riverside hotel. Friends of mine had recommended we go to see the Museum of Witchcraft (see right) as an example of something odd. We paid over our three quid each and were immediately into a 1970s film appreciation school or something, focussing on the various depictions of witches dating from then. I understood the point that they were trying to make: that the popular image of witches is a confused one and not exactly accurate. The next little section was into the historic suppression of witchcraft and women (and some men) who were believed to be witches. This was immediately sobering because while I was certainly aware of some of the medieval tortures and tests, seeing a selection of these implements along with contemporary and more modern descriptions of how they were used highlighted just how brutal they were. Seen through the prism of the resurgent war on women in parts of the USA, that brutality is horrifying. The next room was devoted to various old rites and festivals, many of which are still celebrated today in parts of England and Cornwall. Then through an interesting array of folk medicines and biographies of traditional healers, then upstairs to a collection of various items including devil and satanic items. All in all, I'm glad I went to it, and it did provoke some interesting discussions about belief and non-belief, and history, and interpretation while we three nursed a pint each of Cornish ale in an atmospheric pub surprisingly full of locals rather than tourists. But, the museum is such a bizarre mis-match of things and ideas that jar it really does need a good curator to come and give it a good think and shake up.

The hotel was not full, and we had a pleasant enough dinner although the fish was not cooked too well. We planned out the next day but retired early to the sound of rain. I had a good night's sleep, but my friends had to deal with an alarm clock left set for 3 am by some American tourists the day before, so the hotel people explained.

In the morning, one of my friends and I went for a short walk around the harbour and through some fields and back down into the village before breakfast. The weather clear, cool, and the paths surprisingly not too muddy given the amount of rain. We met a chap walking his Jack Russell, both of whom were very friendly. As we were going the same way as the walker, he chatted to us about the village. He and his missus had moved to Boscastle five years ago (so after the flood) from Yorkshire. She is an artist but they both loved the place and stayed. The bluebells and wild garlic plants were out in full bloom and my friend and I were ready for a good breakfast when we returned to the hotel.

We drove the short distance to Tintagel and headed to the castle, which had a few school parties. We mostly avoided them and enjoyed the spectacular views in peace. English Heritage has done a pretty good job with the castle in terms of laying out information on the different sections. The ascent to the peak on the island part was in good nick, as were most of the other parts. I loved the place again, mostly because of the sea, the rocks, the windswept wildness of it. It might not actually have anything to do with Arthur, the Round Table, his knights, Merlin and dragons, but the place is so evocative it's not at all surprising that various poets and novelists have drawn inspiration from here.

After the awesome might of Tintagel, we headed to Padstow, which was a contrast. We arrived a bit after the lunch time crowds, but they were still ambling about. After a bit of a meander, we found Rick Stein's Fish and Chip shop down on the south quay and managed to grab some lunch before it closed up for the afternoon. I had a grilled bream, which was rather nice. It reminded me of Doyle's in Sydney.

We then roared off to Penzance where we had rooms waiting for us in a new guesthouse - so new, it didn't yet have its name plate up. Ameria House is the name, and I have no problems recommending it. We went for a wander about the town and I found the Ship Inn again, where we had dinner. 

After a lovely breakfast, we packed up the car and headed to St Ives. There, we were greeted by the sun and a chap practicing his para-gliding. We walked along the beach, then through the town and to the harbour. We visited the Tate and were all disappointed by the exhibition there and the lack of any permanent exhibition showcasing local art. But, the views from the cafe were magnificent. We went to the Barbara Hepworth sculpture garden and while I'm not really a fan of her work, in situ I could understand more about what it is she was trying to capture being the great ancient stones and how humans interact with them.

On the advice of a person at Boscastle, we headed to the small village of Lamorna on the south western end of Mount's Bay. This was to try a Newlyn crab sandwich, which we did, and it was delicious. Unfortunately, the rain had returned, and while we stopped off at Mousehole so my friends could have a Cornish cream tea (one used the clotted cream as butter, the other didn't - who is right?) we headed back to Penzance to have a final wander around. On advice from a ticket office bloke in Penzance station, we deposited our luggage at a nearby pub / hotel and then headed back to the Ship Inn for dinner. It again didn't disappoint. 

Finally, it was time for the sleeper train back to London. We had a chat in the dining/lounge car before heading to bed. I slept amazingly well, but woke as we  were heading into London Paddington at 5 am. Interestingly, they allow you to stay on the train until about 7 am. I had breakfast then farewelled my mates as they headed off to mainland Europe for a bit.