Leaving Lower Kilcott with a long plod up Clay Hill

We’d intended to set out nice and early as we had a fair distance to cover so had arranged for breakfast to be left out for us but by the time we’d eaten it and got ourselves sorted it was later than we’d hoped. Full breakfasts in B&Bs definitely take a lot longer than our more usual practice of pausing for a couple of cereal bars on the first hilltop! The day started with a climb up a wooded lane that opened up to a level track with nice wide views.

The Somerset Monument, near Hawkesbury Upton

We passed a monument that was very similar to the one we’d visited the previous morning above North Nibley. This one was slightly more ornate but not open to public. After passing Horton Court (a National Trust property but currently closed) nestling in the trees a short distance off to the right and spotting the previous day’s tower in the distance the path began to lose a bit of height.

A folly built for the millennium as a nesting site for swallows and barn owls. Looks nice too!

Another hill fort and a steeper descent past big a house with a nice folly-cum-giant-nesting box took us through Horton, and on past a reservoir into Little Sodbury. It’s a tiny collection of houses with a pretty church, a manor house and earthwork remains of a huge fort covering an area big enough to house a fair sized village and small farm itself. The perimeter ditches and high mounds of the fort gave quite good shelter from the strong, chilly, morning breeze. The village also has a road sign to Old Sodbury which I posed in front of while Jill took my photo but it took us so long to get my head lined up to mask the ‘bury’ my smile was well past its best. We decided we might not be the first ones to try that joke anyway.

The church of St John the Baptist, Old Sodbury

The walk continues on through Old Sodbury village but before the descent into the village we called in for a quick look at the church at the suggestion of a man tending the grounds. It’s an attractive building and contains some interesting historical curiosities. The exit from the west side of the churchyard has very long views from the edge of the escarpment and two people were sitting at easels by the wall painting them. We stopped for lunch at The Dog Inn (very good food) and I got a bottle of pop from the filling station across the road before heading off again. We said ‘Hi’ to a couple that we’d seen previously at a bus stop near Seven Springs on day 3 but they were getting on a bus again so we didn’t have time to chat. I guess they were doing the walk from a central location and travelling to the sections by public transport.

Crossing the M4 at Tormarton

Dodington Park followed which was a large and very pleasant area of woods and grassland attached to Dodington House, and brought us to Tormarton, a nice little village near to a bridge over the M4.

Not quite in full bloom yet but already dazzling in the spring sunshine

A series of long straight paths then took us west across fields and then along a lane lined with blackthorn in full flower to the A46.

Blackthorn hedges – a rather more traditional British spring flower

I think we must have hit a busy time of the day (late afternoon) as we had to wait ages for a gap in the traffic to get across the road. We had a rest at a picnic bench next to a car park just after the crossing and enjoyed ice creams bought from a van that was doing a very brisk trade. We’d expected to find loos there as it was a very popular stop but no joy. Obviously lots of motorists had expected them too as the wood alongside the car park was full of people wandering deep into the trees for a few minutes before returning to their cars and driving away!

Electricity pylons used to seem enormous but then somebody invented wind turbines!

The route passed through the wood (we didn’t see any unwanted views, thankfully) then across more fields past a huge, solitary wind turbine and under power cables close to a shiny new pylon. We skirted Dyrham Park but were disappointed by the view of the house when we finally passed by on the road as it was in the process of having the roof replaced and was encased in scaffolding and tarpaulins.

Pennsylvania – no not that one, this one’s in Gloucestershire

More pleasant rolling farmland and a brief section of trees through Dyrham Wood brought us to an area called Pennsylvania where we waited for some time again to cross the A46 this time, but it was then an easy stroll to Cold Ashton.

Cold Ashton manor house

This is another very small village but with more than its fair share of big and very old houses including a grand manor house with an interesting garden gate. The main road westward through the village soon turned into Greenway Lane and then on an increasingly steep downhill stretch became a narrow track, eventually bringing us to Hill Farm where we were booked in for the night.

Hill Farm near Cold Ashton. Stylish self catering accommodation.

Hill Farm is a different sort of place to stay with two self catering options; one a self contained traditional shepherd’s mobile hut and the other an en-suite barn conversion with an adjoining but separate small dining kitchen. Both were really comfortable and quite recently fitted out to a very high standard. Although it’s run by the couple that live in the nearby house the woman was away on holiday and the man was busy with his day job but he was around long enough to welcome us and show us around. He then left us to get ourselves sorted out and heat up the pre-cooked meals they’d left in the kitchen fridge as prearranged when we booked. All very nice and I can thoroughly recommend it.

Day 6 | Introduction | Day 8