P20047291046 Broadway Tower.		P20047270852 The view from Leckhampton Hill.

Background

The Cotswold Way is a 100-mile walk, which heads northwards along the Cotswold escarpment. It is not an easy walk, but the exhertion is well rewarded with some superb views.

The path is not yet an official National Trail, although I put it in this section as it is soon to become one, and work to do this was obvious as I walked along it. On the way from Bath to Chipping Campden it passes many historic sites, including burial mounds, neolithic hill forts and even a Civil War battlefield. It passes through many picturesque villages and towns, many replete with superb buildings made out of the golden Cotswold stone.

It is not a walk that is ideally camped; most of the land is not very remote and campsite on the Way are few and far between, and although it is possible to wild camp I would not really reccomend it; leave wild camping for more remote areas and use B&B's as a base from which to explore the beautiful villages in the evening.

P20047280892 The view along the western edge of Cleeve Common.		P20047260729 Descending from Cam Long Down towards Hodgecombe Farm.

The walk statistics:

 

Total duration of walk	1 days, 23 hours and 28 minutes
Stopped time	7 hours and 0 minutes
Shortest completed leg	Stanton to Chipping Campden at 10.4 miles
Longest completed leg	Tormarton to Dursley at 19.9 miles
Average distance per leg	17.13 miles

The walk in full:

	No.	From	To	Distance	Status
	1	Bath Abbey	Tormarton	17.8	Completed
	2	Tormarton	Dursley	19.9	Completed
	3	Dursley	Painswick	16.7	Completed
	4	Painswick	Dowdeswell Reservoir	18.2	Completed
	5	Dowdeswell Reservoir	Stanton	19.8	Completed
	6	Stanton	Chipping Campden	10.4	Completed

Further information

If you want more details of the path, then have a look at the following book. I used this book throught my walk, and it proved to be invaluable.

More Cotswold Way photos

P20047290990 Houses in Stanton.		P20047290998 A track near Laverton Hill Barn.

P20047291000 Flowers in a field near Burhill iron age fort.		P20047291018 Broadway.

P20047291022 The view back towards Broadway from the climb up to Broadway Tower.		P20047291039 The view from Broadway Tower.

P20047240536 The Royal Crescent.		P20047240600 Cold Ashton church.

P20047291057 The path at the end of the Mile Drive.		P20047291085 The Market Hall in Chipping Campden.

P20047291089 Chipping Campden.		P20047280876 The path near Ham Lane.

P20047280882 Heading north along the Cotswold Way past Happy Valley.		P20047280899 The trig point on Cleeve Common.

P20047280908 The ascent out of the Washpool Valley.		P20047280940 The descent down into Winchcombe near Wadfield Farm.

P20047280952 Winchcombe.		P20047280957 The path leading towards Hailes.

P20047280982 The path between Stanway and Stanton.		P20047270811 Looking towards the trig point on Painswick Hill.

P20047270830 The view from the path leading from Birdlip to Birdlip Peak.		P20047270834 Looking downhill from the Barrow Wake viewpoint car park.

P20047270840 The view from Crickley Hill.		P20047270862 Looking along the edge of Hartley Hill.

P20047270868 The path descending down Ravensgate Hill.		P20047260711 Dursley market house.

P20047260719 The view from the summit of Peaked Down.		P20047260749 The Stroudwater Canal north of Kings Stanley.

P20047260762 Looking southwestwards from near Haresfield Beacon.		P20047260770 The trig point on Haresfield Beacon.

P20047260785 The lych gate by Painswick church.		P20047260803 Painswick.

P20047250627 Sodbury Camp, an iron age hill fort.		P20047250641 Looking towards the Somerset Monument.

P20047250674 Looking towards Brackenbury Ditches hill-fort.		P20047250693 The view from Stinchcombe Hill.

P20047250704 The view from Tubbs Shelter.		P20047240524 Bath Abbey.

P20047240558 The trig point on Penn Hill.		P20047240575 A view from Kelston Round Hill.

P20047240607 A pond on the way to Dyrham.		P20047240608 Dyrham House.