This article was first published in the Glamorgan Star on 11 July 2024:
Cowbridge Walkers Visit Cotswolds
19 members of Cowbridge u3a’s Wednesday Walking Group recently spent a very enjoyable and successful weekend away, staying near Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds.
The weather, on all of our 4 walks which were each led by different members of the group, was perfect – fine, bright, sometimes sunny, but never overpoweringly hot.
The first walk was from Northleach; it passed the old prison dating from the 18th century, and then took us through the village of Hampnett, where we visited the church, with its interesting interior. Back in Northleach, we also visited the grade 1 listed church there, once known as the Cathedral of the Cotswolds, where the medieval wealth of the area made on wool was much in evidence.
Our second walk left directly from our hotel, taking us on a picturesque footpath route via Hyde Mill, Lower Swell, and the River Dikler into the hilltop town of Stow, were we enjoyed some free time, in order to get refreshments and browse the local shops. Our return took us past Maugersbury Manor.
Sunday’s five-and-a-half-miler was in a lesser known area of the Cotswolds, setting off from the village of Salford. This led us up to 3 stunning sites of ancient standing stones, each with their history and mythology: the Whispering Knights, thought to be the oldest dating from circa 3,800 years BC, the Rollright Stones large stone circle, and the nearby King Stone. We even had a competition to count the number of stones in the circle, the answer of which is less obvious than it may sound. Fortunately there was only one winner, whose ‘cash’ prize was 2 old threepenny pieces, that the walk leader had picked up in an antiques’ shop!
Our picnic lunch was taken by the church in the middle of the exclusive private estate of Little Rollright; a christening was going on, but we didn’t get invited! The pub in Salford provided welcome drinks in its garden after the walk.
Our last walk was from Adlestrop, made famous by Edward Thomas’s poem. We traversed the huge Daylesford estate with its stud farm and fascinating horse sculptures, eventually arriving at the very upmarket farm shop and garden centre, where we eschewed paying nearly £1,000 for a bottle of whisky, but all succumbed to the temptation of expensive but delicious refreshments in the lovely, comfortable café garden.
Our hotel, Number Four at Stow, proved to be a serendipitous choice, where the food was excellent.
VEM
