From: London, U.K.
Started: 20090811
Finished: 20180908
I started the walk solo during a 5 day holiday between Birdlip and Chipping Campden after a night’s stay in Gloucester. I had a backpack with change of clothes and the necessary equipment (map, compass, torch, first aid kit, etc.), and this was to be my first point-to-point long distance trek. Unfortunately being rather impulsive and naive in my young age I didn’t check the current status of the walk and ended up having to take quite a long diversion between Leckhampton Hill and Cleeve Hill. By the time I got to the room that I had booked it was dark and misty – luckily the way was well signposted for me to be able to find my way through it. This was the only really hairy part of the walk and was pretty much my fault for being unprepared for such a circumstance. Lesson learned – always check the current state of the trail before attempting to walk it! There is local information and the National Trails website to be able to do so.
Other than that the walk was a fantastic experience! The highlights have to be the views from Leckhampton Hill, Cleeve Hill and the Broadway Tower, as well as the lovely towns and villages of Winchcombe, Stanton and Broadway. I included a quick stay over at Cheltenham Spa, which is a fascinating place in itself to visit as long as you have the time to do so! I arrived at Chipping Campden in the evening of Friday the 14th of August.
9 years later I decided to tie it up by walking from Birdlip to Bath – again solo. Again I started from Gloucester on the 3rd of September and this time went straight to the trail from Birdlip this time. It started off well enough, with some breathtaking views from Cooper’s Hill and Haresfield Beacon, and a very interesting diversion of an abandoned canal before entering Kings Stanley. The problem began afterwards, as even though I was better prepared this time (and added a walking stick and a smartphone with a battery pack to my equipment), my posture wasn’t very good, which led to my right knee causing a lot of pain by the time I got to Wotton-Under-Edge. At that point I thought I wasn’t able to complete the walk if that meant it was going to lead to a permanently damaged knee! Luckily the local pharmacy had Deep Freeze and decent knee braces on sale, so I was able to mitigate any further damage and quickly learned better posture and how to use the walking stick effectively, and by the end of the walk my knee felt stronger and less painful Another lesson learned!
Even with that I greatly enjoyed the time I had circumventing the golf course at Stinchcombe Hill and taking in more stunning views there as well as from the Tyndale Monument. The natural phenomena along the way like the deep set path before Wortley, mixed well with the man-made elements of the past, like the regal structure of the stately home at Dyrham Park. But the weather was forecasting heavy rain on the last day of the walk, so once again I had to decide whether to carry on in dangerous weather and a recovering injury. Luckily (and thanks to Malcolm, the proprietor of Swan Cottage in Pennsylvania) I had a number of options to still make it to Bath on time. But as I walked on the worst I got was a faint drizzle, so at that point I decided to just go through with the walk. It was hard in places, especially the last mile into Bath, but I made it to the Abbey at 18:45pm on Saturday the 8th!
Overall it was a beautiful, uplifting and humbling experience! I cannot thank enough the National Trails and all the B&Bs, inns and holiday cottages I stayed over who helped make this a pleasant and unforgettable journey both times.