Walk recently fully revised. Several options added. All but the Ultra Short Walk now lead through Cirencester Park and Town. For Medium, Short and Ultra Short Walks see the webpage or the pdf.
Main Walk:
Length: 27.8 km/17.3 mi
Ascent/Descent: 208m
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours
Toughness: 5 out of 10
Take the 09.28 Cheltenham Spa train from Paddington (09.53
Reading), arriving Kemble at 10.39.
Return trains: xx.49 to 20.49, then 21.52 and 22.15.
Splitting the ticket is the cheapest option if
travelling on a Network Railcard (buy separate London – Didcot Parkway [with
Network RC discount] and Didcot - Kemble [without a discount] returns).
This Gloucestershire walk at the southern edge of the Cotswolds AONB
explores the springs and wells forming the source of the River Thames
and a longer stretch of the upper river, as well as some of the woods of the
large Bathurst Estate
and Cirencester Park and Town, the ‘Capital of the Cotswolds’.
After passing an assortment of springs and wells that constitute the
start of the Thames and an Iron Age hillfort site right by the highest of the
springs, you follow the disused Thames & Severn Canal to the Sapperton
Canal Tunnel, before rising through Hailey Wood up to the
watershed to the Severn Catchment Area and to Sapperton village, on the
edge of the Golden Valley and with a splendid old church.
Climb over the highest point of the walk and enter the magnificent Cirencester
Park, one of the greatest privately owned parks of the 18th
century, with its splendid vistas, romantic follies, statues and woods. On into Cirencester for tea (or lunch on the short options of the
route), once one of the most substantial cities of Roman-era Britain, now a
bustling market town and considered the Capital of the Cotswolds, with
its many independent shops, beautiful Georgian and Victorian buildings, alleyways
and courtyards as well as some Roman ruins, most interestingly the Amphitheatre
(at the time the second largest in Britain and now one of the best preserved).
The short return to Kemble leads through quiet fields, along woods and through
the picturesque village of Ewen, before another stretch along the Upper Thames.Three principle shorter versions are described and buses add additional
options to cut bits of the route. See the webpage or the pdf for details.
Notes: The Upper Thames is a winterbourne river,
only fed from aquifers and without tributaries in the area walked. In long dry
periods it can be completely dry. Cirencester Park is open to the walking
public daily 08.00-17.00 (sharp!), but today should be open to 18.00 due to the
Cirencester
Park Horse Trials.
Lunch: The Bell at
Sapperton. (food to 16.00, 9.1 km (5.7 mi) into the main walk, booking
recommended at weekends!).
On the Medium and Short Walks, all
Cirencester Tea Stops become Lunch Stops, from 13.1 km and 10.2 km into the
walk respectively.
Tea: Hot drinks and snacks in Cirencester Park, plus plenty of
options in Cirencester, for details check the pdf.
The
Tavern Inn in Kemble. Located just past the station. An Arkell’s
of Swindon pub.
For route map, gpx/kml file, photos and pdf directions
click here.
T=swc.256
4 comments:
n=9 off a very busy train in bright sunshine with some fluffy clouds. We were lucky on the "will there be water in the Thames?"-front, as there was a good flow in the initial stretch, most of which came impressively gushing out of Lyd Well. I had also seen water coming down the culvert from the upper meadows, so was full of hope we'd see the highest spring in action as well, but to no avail: the water in the culvert came from some small seepages in the meadow south of the Fosse Way, but there was no flow higher up, in Trewsbury Meadow. Never mind, seeing that most of the time there is next to no flow, we had picked a good day.
Trewsbury Camp's flanks were practically all bluebell shoots, so that should be a good sight soon. On along the canal (beyond the stop-planks very full with crystal clear water from the springs in Sapperton Tunnel) and through Hailey Wood up to the watershed to the Severn. More primroses here than celadines than anenomes, but all vastly outnumbered by bluebells again.
There were plenty of birds of prey in the air, I think I heard a lark at one point and one or two of us spotted butterflies and loads of other animals, but they can report separately.
6 had lunch at The Bell at Sapperton, and we stayed for an hour and 3/4. 1 picnicker understandably moved on, but the other 2 waited outside, at a bench in the sun with a drink.
A quick sojourn to the church then with its memorials, and a peek into the Golden Valley, then up and back over the watershed and into Cirencester Park.
In the core part, the horse trials were still in full flow (on since 8 in the morning), although the dressage was already finished, so just the showjumping and the eventing to ogle at. The roped-off course necessitated a few small diversions from the walk route, but in exchange we got close-up sight of some fast horses jumping over some quite impressive obstacles.
After a 'tourist route' through town, a stop at The Bear in Cirencester was squeezed in, before moving on to the Roman Amphitheatre and then back across to Kemble, including another stretch along the Thames, here a proper chalk stream with some pacey flow, with gravel beds etc. The afternoon had been cloudier than the morning, and by now it was dark-ish, but we were 'between trains', so there was no need to rush.
In the end, 25 minutes were left for The Tavern Inn before catching the 19.49 train.
Everybody seemed to think that time and money were well spent on this trip.
w=sunny-then-cloudy
Larks throughout the walk. Six brimstone butterflies.
Plus: nuthatches, chiffchaff and lots of blackbirds; orange-red tailed bumblebees; mature hedgerows and trees (including yews at St Kenelm's Church and a couple of sequoias in the woods). Also, lichen and thick moss lining trees, banks and stone walls along the way.
Great walk plus after some solitary plus silent walks a welcome opportunity to practice walking and talking.
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