Gerwyn and Linda Owen
From: Portbury, GB
Started: 12th May, 2018 — Finished: 20th May, 2018
Ian & Anna Barnard
From: Stretton on Fosse, UK
Started: 12th May, 2018 — Finished: 18th May, 2018
Fantastic time, although having the weather on our side the whole time helped. We walked south to north and had pre-booked accommodation ourselves. We also carried all our own gear which was ultimately more challenging but also more rewarding. Completed in 7 days, which included an additional 6m at the end as we live just a bit further on from Chipping Camden.
Tom McCormack, Auburn, Alabama USA Ed Hunter, Fort Payne, Alabama USA
From: Tom: Auburn, Alabama USA; Ed: Fort Payne, Alabama USA
Started: 8th May, 2018 — Finished: 17th May, 2018
First and foremost, we successfully completed the entire 103-mile trail in ten consecutive days from Tuesday, May 8th and finishing by walking into Bath on the afternoon of Thursday, May 17th. When I say, we walked into Bath I really mean we limped into Bath. Ed suffered from nerve issues in his toes and an injured knee. While I suffered from multiple blisters on my left foot. In addition, while the official distance of the Cotswold Way is 103 miles, Ed and I managed to walk it in just over 130 miles. Some of the extra miles were due to our bed and breakfasts being off the official Cotswold Way trail. However, most of the extra miles were due to my lack of navigational skills. We experienced highs and lows on our ten-day walk. Some of the highs were the beautiful scenery. We walked through ancient Beech Wood forests, through fields of bright yellow canola and acres of wild garlic, blue bells & cowslip. I can still smell the garlic. We walked through valleys and pastures filled with wild flowers in full bloom. The colors were beautiful. Along the way we watched and talked with men sheering sheep, a stonemason building a traditional dry stonewall, and the owner of an estate near Ullenwood who shared some local history of the involvement of the area in the World War II D-Day invasion. We walked through battlefields, golf courses, and past historic Tyndale & Somerset monuments. We visited Abbeys, churches, and graveyards. Ed and I marveled at the ancient burial mounds at Belas Knap. We walked through miles and miles of sheep and cow pastures. Which means we walked through miles and miles of sheep and cow manure mazes. Ed managed to avoid stepping in the gifts left by the sheep and cows while I was not as lucky. On the tenth and final day of our walk, I stepped into a very deep and wet cow “pie”. While Ed failed to warn me about my pending mishap, he did support me after the fact by laughing uncontrollably for hours after my accident. We walked past outstanding examples of Cotswold limestone architecture in the form of quaint stone farmhouses with thatched and stone roofs, beautiful Abbeys, and small town buildings. We stayed in Bed and Breakfasts in rural villages with marvelous hosts. We were served full “English” breakfasts and provided daily packed lunches for our walks. One of the greatest highs was meeting and getting to know other walkers. We met and came to know Nick and Lesel and Dr. Richard and Sally both couples from England, and Dr. Richard and Melinda from the USA. They out walked us nine of the ten days (passing us each day). However, Ed and I beat them to Bath on the tenth day entering the city like While our highs greatly outnumbered our lows, we still had a few lows. During our journey, Ed managed to lose his eyeglasses, his passport, his wallet, and his boots. While we never found his eyeglasses, Ed did find his passport and wallet in different pockets of his pants other than the pockets where he had originally kept them. After almost destroying his bedroom looking for his boots he was informed that he had left them, like all the B&B guests, in the foyer of the B&B. Another low was my left foot. Early on the walk, I developed some horrible blisters on my left foot. With the help of the doctors, we met on the trail and with Ed’s engineering skills; I managed to walk most of the trail with a bandaged left foot in moderate pain. Ed came up with the plan to cut holes in my shoe to relieve the pressure on the multitude of blisters on my left foot. The plan was much like drilling a hole in someone’s head to relieve the pressure on the brain. It worked. However, this did precipitate the development of a reputation on the trail as the Alabama boys who had cut holes in their shoes. The walk on the Cotswold Way National Trail was one of the greatest experiences of my 66-year-old life. Ed and I completed a journey that will probably never be topped, at least in my life.
Mike Anstey and Lynda Broadway
From: Malvern Worcestershire
Started: 3rd May, 2018 — Finished: 7th May, 2018
We walked this beautiful well marked trail in glorious weather
AngelaCollorick-Brush, Dawn Monk, Dyanne Johnson
From: Cheltenham Uk
Started: 28th Oct, 2017 — Finished: 28th Apr, 2018
We loved run / walking this route. Managed to walk in all 4 seasons but all so glorious. Great to see some work being completed by Belas Knapp to allow access to this beautiful countryside to all
Eric Okerson and Ellen Chamberlain
From: Cincinnati, Ohio USA
Started: 13th Apr, 2018 — Finished: 27th Apr, 2018
A fabulous adventure with beautiful countryside, towns and villages and friendly, welcoming people!
Anthony Ducker
From: Ryde, Australia
Started: 15th Apr, 2018 — Finished: 27th Apr, 2018
The Cotswolds is a very pretty walk, especially around the Stanton, Winccombe, The Slaughters and Bourton on the water. Because I did the walk South to North these locations were at the later stages of my walk. The weather was mostly fine, although quite a few sections were quite muddy. Had a couple of very misty mornings which were quite atmospheric.
Sonia Lundy
From: Weston Super Mare, Somerset
Started: 11th Apr, 2018 — Finished: 19th Apr, 2018
I started the Cotswolds Way at lunchtime on Wednesday 11th April as it took me all morning to get to the starting point via train and bus. I had a very misty start and stopped at Broadway in a B&B. I then camped the rest of the way, camping at Hayles fruit farm, Colgate farm, Cranham Scout camp (off the trail), Court Farm, Nibley House and Cotswolds Meadow camping. I then had my last night at Hill farm B&B outside Cold Ashton. I experienced more misty damp conditions and missed the first couple of days of views, then the weather cleared, then rained. I had a very windy day and finished with 2 very hot days. I loved this walk it was very well signposted and looked after. Unfortunately because of the recent bad weather the first half of the trail was extremely muddy. I now want to plan my next trip.
Paul and Venetia Nye
From: High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Started: 7th Apr, 2018 — Finished: 15th Apr, 2018
We thoroughly enjoyed the walk, going from north to south. We had dry weather other than the last day going into Bath. Visibility was poor, so we missed out on many of the escarpment views and going under foot was muddy in places. We learned after the first few days that a brief detour to a pub for lunch set us up well for the second half of the day. We would recommend this walk to anyone who wants to try their first long distance path.
Mark and Peter brown, brothers
From: Dorset and Cornwall
Started: 7th Apr, 2018 — Finished: 15th Apr, 2018
Blister, plasters, sore knees, loves every minute...........
Oliver Hillier and Lisa Hillier
From: Doncaster
Started: 2nd Apr, 2018 — Finished: 7th Apr, 2018
What a walk! Far more challenging than we originally thought due to the weather. Some very muddy fields and flooded paths made the going difficult in places. A great achievement by Oliver who is only 8 years old and was walking to raise money for Children In Need.
Julia Doherty
From: Towcester, Northants
Started: 24th Mar, 2018 — Finished: 31st Mar, 2018
What an amazing journey. Fabulous views. Many ups and downs (in more ways than one) and mud... lots of it! I slid my way into Bath. I got lost on so many occasions, but having my geocaching app helped! I clocked up 121 miles in total from Chipping Camden to Bath. There are quite a few extra miles walked when you are looking for your B&B or getting lost!
Gary Ward
From: Normanton, West Yorkshire
Started: 5th Mar, 2018 — Finished: 16th Mar, 2018
I walked the trail either alone or accompanied by my labrador dog, Roly, immediately after the heavy snows which hit the country. Whilst my wife, Maureen explored the area I used either public transport or car lifts to complete the walk. We stayed at dog friendly cottages at Winchcombe (Week 1, Mill House Cottage) and Hinton (Week 2, Campbell Cottage). As the bad weather delayed our arrival in the area until late on March 5th, I did well to complete the route really as I only walked on 10 of the 11 days available to me. This was because I also went to see my football team, Notts County play at both Forest Green Rovers (Nailsworth) on 10/3/18 & the re-arranged game at Cheltenham Town on 6/3/18. I want to take this opportunity to praise both Marchants Coaches (Cheltenham) and Stagecoach Buses for their excellent bus services along the route.
Jay Howard
From: Wiltshire
Started: 7th Feb, 2018 — Finished: 12th Feb, 2018
Out of season the trail is very VERY muddy! However, on the plus side it's almost empty of other walkers and all the hotels etc are cheaper.
John Prall & Jenny Prall
From: Bath
Started: 6th May, 2017 — Finished: 3rd Feb, 2018
We greatly enjoyed the Cotswold Way which we walked over 10 months with the Cotswold Wardens.I would recommend it to any reasonably fit person. The views are stunning most of the time.