Countrygoer Classic Walks in the Cotswolds

Andoversford to Winchcombe: 8 miles / 4 ½ hours   Map: Ordnance Survey 1:25 000 Explorer OL45 The Cotswolds, or 1:50 000 Landranger 163 Cheltenham & Cirencester

This walk of 8 miles offers an experience of some quintessentially Cotswolds countryside, as it leads through fields, pasture, woods and river valleys, passing some pretty villages, with views on the highest hills of the Cotswolds. It culminates in the town of Winchcombe, passing through the grounds of Sudley Castle.

Most of the walk is very well sign posted, however, a map is essential for easy navigation. Also, if the weather has been wet, gaiters could be a good idea…

Getting there: Catch P1 Pulham Coaches bus from Cheltenham Spa to Andoversford at 0900 or 1030 Mon-Sat, 1205 on Sundays and Bank Holidays

From the bus stop, continue along the road in the same direction. Turn left by the White's farm machinery store as indicated by the footpath sign. Cross the A40 with help of the traffic island, and continue up a metalled track which rapidly becomes a narrow footpath by the side of a water treatment plant. Follow the path across the old railway and on in the same direction past the ponds, ignoring the path which joins in from the left, to Syreford.

From Syreford, continue straight on, then follow the path as it bends through yew woods. Past the woods, the path follows the side of the Coln valley, eventually joining the wider track/bridleway leading to the village of Sevenhampton. Continue up a narrow road through the first part of Sevenhampton, but at the junction take the path between the river Coln and the road which soon crosses the river and continues, through some fields and across a track, past the manor house and the church on the left hand side. As the path splits, follow the footpath signs across the river and into Brockhampton (pub lunch opportunity if you got the later bus) via a surfaced narrow lane.

On reaching the road in Brockhampton, turn right, then left at the next cross roads and continue going straight ahead (North) along a footpath through the fields. As the path reaches the road, go left and then take the immediate right turn at the cross roads, and continue down a narrow tarmacked lane to Charlton Abbot. Go past the Manor House and to the entrance of the church on the right. Ignore the footpath going down an overgrown lane, and go through a stile instead, leading into the field below the church.

Cross the field on a diagonal, hopping a tape fence at a safe crossing point (the fence is electrified), then follow the line of another tape fence down the hill and towards a strip of woodland. Go through the stile and cross the narrow woodland passing a pond on the right hand side, then past another stile and turn left, following the line of the scrubby wood. Turn left through a sign posted gate, and follow the line of electricity pylons and an overgrown hedge keeping the woods on your left, as the path joins a grassy track leading down the hill.

At the bottom of the hill, turn right to join a track and continue past a wooded area with a stream to the abandoned farm at Waterhatch. Follow the track between the farm buildings, and at the junction leave the track and take a narrow path to the left, heading on a level ground for a strip of young woodland. Across the stream you come to a T junction. The track to the right leads into Spoonley Wood and the remains of a Roman Villa. The route follows the grassy track to the left, through a sleeper bridge and a stile, to cross a small plantation and bearing right across the field nearing the hedgerow on the left. The route then joins a track, continuing along a fence past the pond.

Go through a gate in the fence, followed by a stile, and left along a field boundary - this leads to the grounds of the Sudley Park, reached through a stile in front of you, followed by a stone bride. Follow the footpath across the grounds, heading for the wall of the Adventure Playground and following the wall as far as a metal gate, through which you enter the drive to the Castle.

The drive leads on to the gatehouse, from where you follow the road to Winchcombe. You can combine the walk with a visit to Winchcombe (shops, cafes, pubs, restaurants) and a visit to Sudley Castle.

Getting Back: The Cotswold Connection 606 bus (Castleways) at 1352, 1528, 1648 and 1747 Mon to Sat;
165 (Castleways) at 1445, 1745, on 2045 Sundays