Breakfast wasn’t included in the room price at the Black Horse and when booking we’d decided not to bother, we thought we’d be ok with a cereal bar stop en route. We were ok with it on the day but there was a definite feeling of regret when we checked out with the strong aroma of bacon in the air!

Starting the day with a hill climb as usual. A fairly gentle ascent though and the hill is called Nibley Knoll so that was worth a smile!

The route almost immediately heads uphill to the impressive monument that overlooks the village, although we didn’t climb the steps up the bank as they were closed for repair. The less steep way up the track actually allowed us a level approach to the tower and a better view of it than we would have had from the direct climb.

The William Tynedale Monument

The monument’s enclosed by iron railings with a kissing gate that we could just squeeze through with our packs on so we went in and sat on the steps around the base to eat our breakfast bars. The guide book said the key to the tower door was kept in the village but it now appears to be permanently open with an honesty box set in the wall in the entrance requesting a pound per visitor. An information board explains it’s a memorial to William Tyndale who was born in Gloucester in 1490 but spent much of his early life in the Nibley area. His claim to fame is that he was the first to translate the New Testament bible into English – a deeply controversial act as The Church considered Latin was the only appropriate language for such a sacred text. He completed the work in Germany and had copies smuggled back to England, for which he was eventually caught and burnt at the stake.

The view from the top of the tower back over North Nibley with Stinchcombe Hill on the right

Three of us went up the tower (Jill hates narrow spiral stone staircases!) and enjoyed the extended views. We were obviously not really much higher than tower base but it raised us well above the treetops so we could see a full 360 degrees.

Nice woodland on Nibley Knoll

We moved on across Nibley Knoll through nice light woodland to Brackenbury Ditches; the earthwork remains of another hill fort.

Rural equivalent of street art? Better really – it made us laugh!

Then it was an easy, level stroll along a pretty lane with woods on the lower, right hand side and open fields to the left.

It’s that stony soil again!

We’d wondered how the farmers managed to grow crops in the really sandy, stony ground and saw the answer here. A tractor was towing a machine that was shovelling up the earth and dropping sifted soil back out of the bottom and depositing the stones into neat rows out of a side chute. It was a noisy, dusty process but pretty effective.

A Waterloo memorial overlooking Wotton

A steep descent took us into Wotton-under-Edge, passing a memorial on the way consisting of a stand of pine trees enclosed by a circular stone wall.

Heading into Wotton-under Edge

We stocked up with lunch for the current and next day at the Co-op and Tesco Express stores. Wotton has a surprisingly small centre though; by the time I’d finished my ice cream we were out the other side and heading back uphill.

Easy lanes and tracks on the high ground to Wortley Hill

It was mostly road walking for a mile or more past disused quarries, then it levelled out on tracks for a while before plunging back down through a wood.

A spectacular sunken path thick with spring flowers at the lower end

The path gradually sunk lower into the ground as it descended until we were enclosed by high, wild flower covered banks with fallen trees forming bridges above us – very jungle like! We emerged on to a gentle slope down into the valley and eventually followed a road alongside a brook to Lower Kilcott. This is more an area than an actual village with a well spaced collection of farms and houses, one of which was our B&B, Bridge Farm.

Bridge Farm B&B, Lower Kilcott – lovely house and people

It’s a very attractive and very old cottage that’s been extended into quite a large house over the centuries, although even the newer parts are old! We weren’t entirely sure whether we were booked in for an evening meal there as although our impressive array of food preferences and allergies had been discussed we never confirmed it with them. The plan B was to stroll the easy mile over to the community owned Fleece Inn at Hillesley but it turned out we were expected to dine at the B&B anyway so after showering and then relaxing on the lawn in their large garden we enjoyed a delicious and very generous home cooked Thai meal perfectly matched to our requirements.

Day 5 | Introduction | Day 7