Cotswold Way Day 2 Winchcombe to Cheltenham

Everyone had felt a bit tired the previous night after the first day’s walk, but they were all up refreshed, ready to have breakfast at 7.30am. After visiting the small co-op and bakery to purchase lunch, we set off with the weather looking good for today's walk. Leaving the White Hart Inn at 9.15am, we turned left through the village past the old cross, down Vineyard Street with Victorian Almshouses, over the river and out of town, heading towards the beautifully sited village cricket club, continuing uphill, before arriving at the wonderful Belas Knap Burial Chamber. This is owned by English Heritage and is free to enter.

Belas Knap is one of the finest historic sites on the walk, and 4m high at its highest point. It is 54m long, 18m wide and dates from around 3,000 BC, before later being used by the Saxons. At least 38 burials have been found in the 4 chambers, some with Roman coins. The views are sublime, and it is amazing to think how long this area has been settled for.

After Belas Knap the path heads west, then north, with views looking back to Winchcombe (11.15am), we did feel that we had come round 3 sides of a square! But that does seem to be the nature of this walk, never seeming to take the most direct route, probably the most scenic instead. Continuing we circumnavigated the imposing Postlip Hall, check out the wayside spring found on the left-hand side of the boundary wall, before climbing again to reach the top of Cleeve Common. The common is a site of special scientific interest. It contains the highest land of the Cotswold escarpment at 330m and a golf course. The weather changed from beautiful sunny morning to rain, we called into the very conveniently located Cleeve Hill Golf Course café, for a welcome drink and snack whilst watching the heavy rain fall. (6 miles) This is the only food stop available on this day.

Fortunately for us the storm passed, and we left (12.30pm), with fabulous views to the Brecon Beacons and Mendip Hills in the west. There are many paths here, but we followed the edge of the escarpment visiting the trig-point at 317m with another topograph. Eventually Cheltenham came into view, but the weather worsened in the west. We could see heavy rain falling in the distance, together with lightning striking some of the small hills. It was fairly scary to be at the top of the escarpment, and wondered if we should leave. But we continued on our path, keeping an eye on the distant storm.

We were very lucky and the storm did not reach us, and stalled over Cheltenham instead, we only had a small shower of rain. In the distance we could hear and see the smoke from the heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire railway line with 10 miles of track through the countryside.

This stage of the Cotswold way ends by Dowdeswell reservoir on the A40 London Road. I could not find any accommodation at this point, instead we had booked the London Inn in Cheltenham. In our guide book, it mentions bed and breakfast at the Koloshi curry house, this appears now to be a restaurant with no accommodation. We debated whether to follow the true Cotswold Way path and walk 1.5 miles along the main road to our pub. Instead, we opted to turn right through the woods, along a footpath which would bring us out on the A40 but closer to our destination. This turned out to take a long time, the path disappearing at times, and also having many stiles and lots of mud. Eventually we emerged on the road, turning right and arriving at our destination at 3.45pm.

The sun had re-appeared, so we sat out in the lovely beer garden. We ate in the pub's restaurant, where large portions of food are served. Alternatively, there are plenty of eateries in the local vicinity. Otherwise, a bus or taxi could be taken the 1.5 miles to Cheltenham city centre, which is really worth checking out having many fineGeorgian buildings.
We all loved the day, with the thunderstorm creating lots of excitement. Belas Knap burial chamber is really worth visiting. We were happy to have walked 27 miles over the first 2 days.

[ Ссылка ]
Cotswold Way Café | Relish Group (relish-group.co.uk)

STANWAY - Stanway House & Fountain (stanwayfountain.co.uk)
London Inn, Cheltenham | Homepage (thelondoninncotswolds.com)
Distance 13.12 miles (21km)
Duration of Walk 6 hours 45 mins
Average pace of walk 31 mins a mile
Steps 32337
Elevation 1463 feet (445m)

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