Extra Walk 115: Moreton-in-Marsh Circular – A peaceful walk
through the Cotswold
Length: 12.3 miles (or just under 15 miles if
extended)
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
Train: Take the 9:21
First Great Western Train to Worcester from London Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh,
arriving at 10:59. Return
trains from Moreton-in-Marsh are hourly at 16:41, 17:44, 18:45, 19:45, 20:43
and 21:52. Buy a day return to Moreton-in-Marsh. At long last, FGW has added a
Saturday train that leaves at the appropriate time for this walk – this will give
people more time to enjoy this gem of a walk and/or explore the extension to
Chipping Campden.
This walk makes
a peaceful circuit through the Cotswold, passing through the picturesque
villages of Paxford, Broad Campden and Blockley, allowing ample opportunity to
rehydrate. The countryside in the
afternoon is particularly pretty with many delightful vistas across the gentle
rolling Cotswold landscape.
There is an
option to extend the route by a little over 2.5 miles by adding visits to
Ebrington and Chipping Camden. It is
also possible to shorten the walk by taking a bus from Chipping Camden
(15:45/17:50) (as well as Blockley (16:16 or 18:21)) back to Moreton-in-Marsh
(Johnsons (Henley) Route 21/ johnsonscoaches.co.uk/ 01564 797 000). If planning on a bus, it is recommended that
you verify the exact time for your desired pick-up point. More
information and the instructions for the walk can be found here.
With the
earlier train option this year, for those not doing the extension, the logical
lunch stop will be The Bakers Arms
(01386 840515) in Broad Camden
about 6 miles into the walk which
serves traditional food until 2:00 PM. For those who take a later train or prefer
an early more avant garde lunch, the Churchill
Arms in Paxford (01386 593 159)
which is 4 miles into the walk is
the better choice – it serves somewhat upscale modern British food until 3:00 PM. Also possible, for those doing the extension,
is the Ebrington Arms (01386 593 223)
in Ebrington (on the extension about
1 mile beyond Paxford) which serves high quality main meals until 2:30 PM and serves snacks and
sandwiches all afternoon. Larger groups
should call ahead and provide some warning to any of these establishments.
Tea or
afternoon drinks can be had at a variety of places in Chipping Campden (if
doing the extension) or at the Bakers Arms in Broad Campden (if eating lunch at
an earlier pub) or, possibly, the Great Western Arms (01386 700362) in Blockley
– though the afternoon opening hours for this pub are presently unconfirmed. There are also many enticing options in
Moreton-in-Marsh.
Enjoy the
walk!
5 comments:
From Ealing Broadway, take 9:05am train to Slough, arrive at 9:27am, then connect to Moreton-in-Marsh train at 9:37am (change platform from 4 to 2)
n=15, w=hot and sunny
Lovely walk but hot and exhausting. Given the distance option has to be taken before lunch, the group was dispersed to small groups (in several 3 or 4 walkers) early on. I was in the standard distance group, 6 initially stopped at Churchill Arms but the food was very expensive, so 3 decided to march on to The Bakers Arms in Broad Camden. This proved to be a wise choice, lovely pub with traditional food and excellent setting. 4 others who had picnic then joined us. This made a nice group of 7 in the afternoon. We had ice cream and cold drink in Blockley, arrived at Moreton-in-Marsh at 6:10pm, all went to Tesco to get food and drink for consumption on the train before catching 6:45pm train back to London. A few things to note: in some places, the path was almost non-existing, it was particularly bad in parts between Paxford and Blockley. The group battled through overgrown vegetation and a path blocked by a cow mother feeding her baby. With the encouragement of her sister, they refused to move from the path. Thanks to one walker who kept us calm and eventually moved cows. One suggestion for the next outing for this walk is to do the walk in reverse, have lunch at Broad Camden. This way the group could stay together in the morning and distance option only needs to be taken in the afternoon. It would be nice to hear from other walkers who did the longer version.
Saturday 27 June: there were five of us who did the longer option, which passed through lovely scenery with pleasant views. It seemed to add more than 2.8 miles to the walk, but that may have been the heat. Speaking personally I would have been quite happy to get the train from Chipping Camden if there had been one, but fortified by various sugary refreshments we finished the lovely afternoon, ending at Moreton at 8.15pm and just about managing to get our dins in the lovely Indian restaurant there in time for the 9.52pm train.
The Ebrington Arms was a nice play for lunch. It was fully booked, though mysteriously empty, inside. Perhaps many of the bookers had decamped to the garden, where tables are not reserved. The food, as seems universal in this area, was pitching itself at the smart set, but portions were not tiny (though nor were prices). For peasants such as myself they did offer bar specials, however, including a very reasonably priced burger that would have sunk the Titanic. Those who know me know I have a bit appetite but what with buns, onion rings, fries, about a centimetre or cheese and half a cow's worth of burger, this one kept me full for the rest of the day.
What was said about route finding for the main walk, I would reiterate. There are no directions for the extension and in places there was much head scratching about where the exit from the field we were in might be. Some public spirited person might write up proper directions for this popular walk.
Inicdentally, w=hot_and_sunny_with_fair_weather_cloud, or to put it another way w=a_perfect_Summer_day (you have to put hyphens or dashes between all the weather words in order for them to be highlighted, Anonymous). This was a very well chosen walk for the conditions and time of year, so thanks to Stargazer for that.
PS: the main walkers made an impression on The Bakers Arms in Broad Camden. When we longer walkers put our nose round the door to see if anyone was still there, the landlady said "Are you looking for the Saturday Walkers?"
Re Walkers comment below: er.... that was probably me! After I departed from you at Chipping Camden I stopped off at the Bakers Arms for a pot of tea and as I was I think the only person there I talked to the Landlady - a keen walker along with her mother - about the club and suggested she check out the web-site. Lovely pub and I think the idea of doing the regular walk in reverse so this pub becomes the default lunch option a good one. (perhaps later in the summer?)
I got back to MiM at 6.20pm just in time to say farewell to about 6 of the group who had stocked up on supplies from a supermarket and were off to catch the 6.45pm. I stopped off in the Bell which has been nicely refurbished
and had a light tea and drink before catching the 7.45pm train.
A lovely walk on a day which was more humid and tiring than I expected (or is that just age)!
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