The Cotswold Way: Leg 14
Horton to Tolldown: 7.4 miles
Sunday 27th October, 10am
Moving time: 2:29:59
Elevation gain: 731 ft
Steps: 15,938
Our route today on actual maps, for some reason I couldn’t upload the OS digital screenshot-technology eh!
We meet shortly before 10am near the Cotswold View Caravan and Motorhome Club CL site, not far from Dyrham Park park up and jump into two cars to drive to Horton where this leg begins. Turning right onto the A46 is a bit of a nightmare (traffic is very fast here) so we turn left and turn round in a lane and double back on ourselves, crossing the M4 at Junction 18 and turning off the A46 towards Horton, we come up behind horses on narrow lanes with little chance of passing them, finally passing them and shortly coming up behind another rider! We make it to Horton and park up by the school.
Happy, smiley Nordic walkers at the start by Horton School.
Leaving the school behind us we walked to the main road by the village and turned right along it, very soon we crossed over the road down a shared driveway and on a path through tall coniferous hedges. This lead to our first stile of the day (first of many, but more on that later!) So far pleasant walking on lovely wide paths and little mud, the sun is shining and there are blue skies! We reach the top of a hill and pause a moment to take in the glorious autumnal view. The path goes down the hill and up the other side.
We continue walking through the farmland between Horton and Little Sodbury, enjoying the opportunity to push our poles on the wider stretches.
We reach Little Sodbury and cross over a junction, turning left to walk uphill past St Adeline’s Church, which is the only church in the UK named after St Adeline (an Abbess of the Benedictine order who died in 1125).
Continuing up the road, we were treated to a lovely surprise of a passing Morris Minor Owners Club Halloween themed run (see video below) we then turn left off the road onto a well-marked footpath leading into a small woodland.
The beautiful beech woodland leads us out onto Woodcock Farm, home to Little Sodbury Hill Fort which is an impressive Bronze to Iron age encampment atop the Cotswold Ridge. The fort is approx. 9.5 Ha in size and is roughly rectangular made up of a widely spaced double set of ditches and ramparts.
I think this may be the most impressive hill forts I have ever walked through! There are some rather more aesthetically pleasing kissing gates in these parts too.
Good views from up here on the Cotswold escarpment.
A corridor of a path leads us past a school and we cross the road to enter the grounds of the Norman Church of St Johns. We go through the lych gate at the entrance to the churchyard which was added as a memorial to honour those who lost their lives during the First World War.
St John’s was built on a knoll and there are magnificent views across the vale of Sodbury, the clock is of particular interest as it is over 130 years old. It was installed in the tower in 1887 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. We decide to pause here along with several other walkers to have a drink and a snack, all the benches are taken so we gather around a stone which has the topograph atop it.
Norbert is back in the limelight adorning the topograph.
Views a plenty across the Severn Vale from up by the church before we descend slowly down the hill towards farm buildings and Old Sodbury centre.
Opposite the Dog Inn in Old Sodbury there is a Jubilee monument from 1897 celebrating 60 years of reign of Queen Victoria. It consists of an Ionic column with a crown on the top. We leave Old Sodbury by road passing through houses until we turn off to continue through farmland.
We continue until we hit another road near Coomb’s End where we have a short walk down the road before turning into Doddington Park, a well-preserved landscape park with designs by Capability Brown, c 1764. Dodington Park comprises some 240ha on the west-facing slopes of the southern Cotswolds and is now owned by Sir James Dyson. It is stunning parkland to walk through.
We are still enjoying gorgeous weather, I love the way the shadows form beyond the clumps of trees.
I couldn’t pass up the photographic opportunities that this bridge afforded me. Some of our amazing Nordic Walkers, several of us in short sleeves in late October. Once we reach the end of Dodington Park we have to cross the busy A46 and then climb a stile on the other side, the first of many on this particular stretch of the walk.
Just 17 miles along the Cotswold Way from here to our final destination in Bath, despite the old sign saying it’s 10!
Lots of lovely old stone stiles to practice clambering over and releasing our poles, allegedly good for our hips!
We reach the village of Tormarton and wonder if the churchyard might be a good place to stop for lunch. At the end of the churchyard we discover three benches which are perfect for us to stop and have our packed lunches. St Mary Magdelene Church is Grade 1 listed and dates back to before the Norman Conquest. It is a beautiful small church, seating about 110 people and noted for its Norman arch and stained glass windows.
Leaving the churchyard we turn left down the road and turn left again when we reach the junction. We are heading in the direction of the M4 crossing, I glance right as we go around a bend in the road to spot these chickens happily roosting in a tree! We also pass this old water fountain which is dated 1855 and was erected by Charlotte Anderson for the inhabitants of the village. She was the wife of the Rector of Tormarton.
We cross over the busy M4 via a roadbridge and take a turn to the right, going through a farm.
From the farm we follow The Cotswold Way across farmland with tractors going about their ploughing alongside us. We are also walking adjacent to a very smart looking drystone wall! We come to a junction of paths where the Cotswold Way has been diverted due to persistent and indecent antisocial behaviour on the original route, so we turn left and head across the last field for today.
At the finish point for today, what a lovely Nordic walk with great company. We’ll be back here next month, I hope the weather is just as nice then!
