Cotswold Way Alderley to Randwick

Friday 26th May 2017 Alderley to Dursley 9.5 miles

Day 4 and another sunny day on the Cotswold Way. We had a bit of a delayed start as I had mislaid my sun hat. No sign of it in either car or my rucsac. A quick phone call to the Dog Inn in Old Sodbury established that I had left it there after we finished yesterday. I’m not used to wearing and having to look after a sun hat in the Peak District!

Hat retrieved and we were on our way at the crack of 11.30am! In a bit under 2 hours we were back in the Swan in Wotton under Edge, where we stayed last night.

After refreshments we were on our way heading up Wotton Hill, a good viewpoint from the edge over the surrounding, mainly flat, countryside. There were several ups and downs today so a bit more of what we’re used to in the Peak District. Very warm too, car gauge registered 24°C at the start and 28°C at the end.

There was another tower monument. This time dedicated to William Tyndale, one of the men who translated the Bible. From here we dropped down to farmland for the last section to Dursley. We stayed at Underhill House, a b&b next door to the Old Spot Inn.

Wotton under Edge

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Field of barley

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Tyndale monument

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IMG_20170526_225221 Wotton Hill View

Saturday 27th May 2017 Dursley to Randwick 9.5 miles

The forecast for day 5 wasn’t good, showers of rain until early afternoon. We could see rain in the distance but we stayed dry and a pleasant 17°C. No need for waterproofs for any of the 5 days.

After shuttling cars around we were on our way out of Dursley. There were a few small ups and downs to get the heart pumping but nothing major. As yesterday, lots of woods to walk through with views every now and then. Came upon a carefully excavated burial mound on Frocester Hill / Coaley Peak, Nympsfield Long Barrow.

Near Stroud we came upon what looked like a new vineyard covering a large area of hillside. Hadn’t thought of Gloucestershire as a wine making area before. Then we had a bit more up before we finished the Cotswold Way at the Vine Tree Inn in Randwick. Not many people know that this is the end of the Cotswold Way! This was where we finished last year so that completed the walk for us. That made it 52 miles for this trip and a total of 104 miles for the entire Cotswold Way walk, spread over 2 trips and 10 days.

As far as the photography was concerned, I took less than 3 rolls of Ilford 400 Delta film on this years trip, that’s under 30 negatives. The countryside was less striking than the hills and mountains I’m more used to so I definitely had to work harder for my black and white photographs. I carried my Mamiya 7 camera with 65mm lens every day and the 43mm extra wide angle lens as well on the first day.

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