I had already done my annual European hiking trip, but Amy wanted to get in on the action, so I planned another one before we closed the door on 2024. We would fly into London, and take a train North to the Cotswolds. From the town of Painswick we would hike south towards Bath along the Cotswold’s Way. The Cotswold’s Way is 100 miles, but we were starting halfway through on account of this being Amy’s first time tackling one of these.
The general plan was to hike 10-15 miles each day for 5 days, with a pub stop halfway through each day. The elevation should not be too difficult, making it a nice introduction to multi-day backpacking. We would be carrying everything we flew over with, but since we will in BnB each night the weight would not be terrible. On to the history section of this lecture
My country primers are usually fairly easy to digest. Unfortunately, when looking into the history of the English Empire, you quickly get lost in the weeds. So, I will keep this very top level. We could go back thousands of years but I like to start after the Iron Age. So that puts us around the time of Jesus when Romans were the big kids on the block in what today is England. We are flying right past Stonehenge, which is exactly what we did on this trip. I don’t discount the importance or the impressive human accomplishment that it represents, but I just don’t feel I would get much out of standing in a field looking at oversized Lego pieces. When the Roman Empire began to fall apart, the outer reaches of the empire coalesced around the Mediterranean, living a void on the island, which the Anglo-Saxons gladly rowed over to fill. They battled with Vikings for years, creating the modern English Empire. We are about 1000 AD at this point. Here is the random Battle of Hastings you throw out at Jeopardy questions even though you really have no clue what it is all about. Turns out it was the last time England was invaded (William the Conqueror and the Normans). Followed soon after by the other random English words also thrown out on Jeopardy; The Magna Carta. The beginning of a very, very basic democracy (King is not a God). The Hundred Years War, The War of The Roses; a bunch of Henrys, Richards and Edwards brings us through the Middle Ages and up to the start of Colonialism as the global map expanded. This led to direct conflicts with Spain and a Civil War between loyalists to crown vs country. Then you have a lot of infighting between Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England till they are finally settle under UK flag. Colonies slowly gain their independence across the world after a lot of very ugly wars, leaving a public relations nightmare the crown is still trying to clean up. This brings us up to wars with US, France and Germany x2.
All our transportation was delayed starting with the first flight out of Detroit. By the time we got to Painswick, after a 3 hour stopover in Stroud for lunch, it felt like the annual 30hr trip to Thailand.
We took a 3 hour nap before regrouping for a stroll through town. Not really too much to these Country villages. A cemetery, a church, and a pub pretty much covers all your needs. We walked up to Rococo Gardens but decided not to pay the 15 Pound entry fee after looking at the website pictures. Everything is expensive in England, even way outside of London. I think we averaged around $75 for each meal for 2 people.
We stayed at St Michaels the first night, but their restaurant was closed. I walked over to The Falcon down the block to make dinner reservation. It looked like it would be a great meal, but it turned out to be just average. That would prove to be the trend for this trip. English food is pretty bland, and they seem to compensate by loading on the salt. I mean even the bread was salty.
The people here don’t seem to mind, but as I have read in numerous WWI/II books, they are just tougher than us soft Americans. They are used to living on top of each other in cramped conditions, poor weather and barely edible food. Not sure which came first, the tough individual or the tough conditions.
The next morning was overcast as we had breakfast downstairs at St Michaels. We were on the trail by 9am
The jet lag was doing a number on me so I took an hour nap, only to be woken up by a random dog licking the side of my face.
The hike today consisted of approximately 10 miles ending in the small town of Kings Stanley. The trail descends from Painswick to cross the Wash Brook before climbing again onto Edge Common – an open area of grassland with views back over Painswick. The Trail then plunges back into woodland emerging at Haresfield Beacon, and Iron Age hill fort with views of the escarpment and River Severn. The route then descends gently through Standish Woods, with beautiful displays of bluebell and wood anemone in the spring, to emerge into the Stroud Valleys through grass pastures. There was not any food in Kings Stanley, so we went off trail a bit in the afternoon, into the town of Stonehouse to have a late lunch / early dinner at the Woolpack Inn and carried on. We arrived at our BnB (Orchardene) around 4pm. The host showed us our room upstairs and told us we could probably find dinner at the town's outdoor bowling club (not American bowling), and although it did sound entertaining eating and drinking with the locals, I was happy enough just sleeping straight through till dawn.
The lovely couple made us traditional English Breakfast the next morning. Amy had heard about this, and was eager to try, but the excitement soon faded as it can be a bit heavy starting the day with a pile of various meats.
Today we hiked from Kings Stanley to Dursley and on to Wotton-Under-Edge. I kept calling it Wotton-Under-Bridge, confusing everyone we passed hiking. A total of 15 miles today. From King’s Stanley, the route passes through the village of Middleyard before climbing up into Pen Wood. The Cotswold Way then takes you through the woods on the edge of the escarpment to emerge at Coaley Peak – a picnic area with marvellous views. It then passes a disused quarry (the rock face clearly showing the underlying strata), before following another woodland path that eventually emerges into a valley with Cam Long Down ahead. The climb up is steep, but the reward is spectacular 360° views. The Trail then goes down into the valley at Farfield passing through farmland into the market town of Dursley.
Coming upon Dursley we ran into a local and his dog. The locals here sure do like to bend your ear. I mean they will talk for hours if you let them, and they have no problem repeating everything 10 times. With our jaded American mentality you think they are messing with you, but just very friendly, making it even more difficult to shake them loose.
We stopped for lunch at The Old Spot. Ate outdoors and ran into another chatty fellow, Christopher, who played techno on his phone and dragged Hope, his dog, mercilessly around by the leash. We had arrived at the pub 10 minutes before opening at noon and already there was a line of people waiting to get in. They appeared to be the usual suspects in the town. Retired men in their 60s and 70s with nothing better to do then head to the bar. At first I thought, with a line out, why don’t they open at 11 instead of 12? Then I quickly realized that would just cause a line earlier before 11 and the town probably intervened saying, we cant’t just have these guys drunk stumbling around town starting at 9am…"Noon, they can wait till noon!" It became a running joke with Amy and me, when we saw these guys coming or going. We imagined one saying, “Why don’t I just pop into the pub for a pint, one pint won’t hurt nobody” Then they would end up emerging at midnight and walk home. They probably never actually had to move their car, it just stayed in the parking lot all week.
We carried on to Wotton. Leaving Dursley, the Cotswold Way climbs steeply up onto Stinchcombe Hill. The best views here are to found by taking the longer route around the perimeter of the hill, as opposed to the shortcut across the neck of the hill from the golf club. The Trail then descends through woodland into farmland and follows a track into the village of North Nibley. From here there is another steep ascent to the Tyndale Monument before the route levels out across grassland and through woodland leading onto Wotton Hill. From a curious walled enclosure surrounding trees planted in 1815 to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo, the Trail then descends into the town of Wotton-Under-Edge, where we stayed at the Swan Hotel.
After checking in we had a drink at the Star Inn across the street and then dinner in the bar of the Swan.
I asked the bartender what the difference between the Chef's pie and the Cottage pie was. He had a real hard time describing the difference. The pies in England are kinda like Mexican food. It is really all the same ingredients, it is just presented a little bit different. The mashed potato can be on the top, or the bottom. A puff pastry thrown in for good measure. I think I had Shepard's / Cottage / Chef's Pie for the next 4 meals just because it was reliable.
Kinda funny thing happened at dinner that night. When checking in, the lady at reception asked if we wanted to make dinner reservations for that night. I told her we would eat around 6pm, so she said just head to the bar area. When we walked into the bar area there were 3 people sitting there drinking, and the bartender. In these English pubs you just order everything at the bar: food and drinks, and pay up front. It just works better and I wish the US adopted it. It allows you to leave whenever you want, which also takes a little getting used to. Anyway, when we walked in the bartender said hello and Amy blurted out, “We have reservations” I just cringed as I looked at the reactions from the locals in the mostly empty room. Have mercy on us I thought to myself.
Until Tomorrow,
Darren
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