|
|
Go back to 1 - Chipping Campden to Stanway | 2 - Stanway to Belas Knap | Go on to 3 - Belas Knap to Dowdeswell
|
 |
|
Bredon Hill with the Malverns behind left
|
|
Date: Sunday, February 20, 2005 Weather: Cold, sunny at first, turning cloudy with a strong north wind. Itinerary Summary: Stanway - Wood Stanway - Stumps Cross - Hailes Abbey - Winchcombe - Belas Knapp. Distance and Terrain: 8 miles, 1-1/2 ascents and 1 descent of the Cotswold Escarpment. Very muddy in places. Time: 4 1/2 hours including one 30 minute break. Comments: Steep first climb over rough terrain, very muddy. Scarp top limited to only a few fields with good walking. Opportunities for drinks and snacks at Winchcombe (wide range of shops, hotels, pubs and cafes). Hailes Abbey closed November thru March inclusive. |
 |
 |
Stanway to Belas Knapp is only 8 miles but it seemed a lot longer and harder. Cold weather was a disadvantage and recent rains meant that much of the trail along the base of the scarp was very muddy, making for heavy going. Morning sunshine and clear skies gave excellent views to the west with both Bredon Hill and the Malverns looking pristine. The ancient Saxon town of Winchcombe provided a few surprises.
(Left - The impressive gateway to Stanway House at the start of Stage 2) |
| Stanway is a classic village surrounding a large Jacobean manor house. Years ago everything in the village would have supported the big house. Today Stanway House earns its keep as a tourist attraction, opening it famous water gardens every summer. The village boasts a fine church and tithe barn as well as a thatched cricket pavilion that was designed by James Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. The gateway to Stanway House is as impressive as the house itself. |  |
 |
Note the shell motif on top of each gable, basically pecten scallops, the insignia of the Tracy family who "trace" their ancestry back to Charlmagne. The Cotswold Way follows the road past the house and church then takes a track to the left which is signposted to a working blacksmithy (closed on cold February Sundays!). A delightful gate on the trail has the head of a swan carved in wood. The way marker on the gatepost is standard for the Cotswold Way but not all markers follow this style! |  |
| The path first crosses flat ground to Wood Stanway, a secluded hamlet off the main road. Then the trail climbs rapidly up to Stumps Cross. The view back towards the Vale of Evesham includes Bredon Hill. This is the largest of the Jurassic limestone outliers (remnant pieces of the escarpment left by erosion) and the profile from Stanway shows the classic shape of a scarp slope (right) and a dip slope (left) formed by the more resistant limestone layers.
The village in the foreground is Toddington. This is home for the Gloucester & Warwick Railway (GWR) which is a steam and diesel preservation society. The rails currently go from Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse but there are plans to extend north toward Broadway as well. |
 |
 |
The view north from the top of the escarpment looks very wintry with the trees mostly bare and a cold grey sky overhead. You can just about make out a road climbing gradually out of the plain and up the scarp within the trees. This is the B4077, an ancient road linking Stow-on-the-Wold (where the wind blows cold) and Tewkesbury (at the confluence of the Severn and Avon rivers). |
| Stumps Cross is located at the top of the steep climb from Wood Stanway. Located on the B4077 it is literally a stone stump which no doubt once supported something grander, like a cross! Today it looks rather pathetic, located between a mail box and the stile.
If you click on the image and go to Flickr there is a "note" that highlights the stump! |
 |
 |
The trail touches the main road for a few yards then veers off south along the crest of the escarpment to a point known as Cromwell's Monument. This rather plain stone pillar would seem to have just the right amount of puritanism as a memorial to the man who challenged the crown and won the civil war. The south Midlands was a major civil war battleground with nearby battles at Edge Hill and Cropredy Bridge to name only two.
The monument is at a corner of the Cotswold Edge where the Farmcote re-entrant cuts back into the scarp. So there are commanding views in two directions - to the west and to the south. The latter covers the re-entrant which is the location of the famous Hailes Fruit Farm. The path plunges steeply at first toward the valley and ultimately the ruins of Hailes Abbey. |
| Hailes Abbey is run by English Heritage and they have decided that it should not be open to the public from October 31 to April 1. Not only is the place locked up but there are several "CCTV in operation" signs. So we decided not to trespass and took these photos over the low fence. The parking lot had broken windshield glass in it, so perhaps the signs are justified. We saw other signs at parking places that advised not to leave any valuables in a car, so petty theft is an ongoing problem in the area.
Hailes Abbey was a monastery belonging to the Cistercian Order and was founded in the 13th Century. Like most other monasteries it was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539 and soon fell into ruin (my guess is that the stones were slowly purloined by the locals and found their way into many of the surrounding buildings!) As well as some fine 21st Century scaffolding the few remaining arches are neatly landscaped and there is a museum (though what it houses remains a mystery as it was closed). |
|
 |
From Hailes Abbey to Winchcombe the trail follows low land that is characteristically wet and sticky. The clay seems to add inches to the bottom of a pair of boots! And it won't come off too easily. This is the Lower Jurassic clay at the base of the scarp and typically it is these clays that cause the spring line to form - water percolates through the limestone but gets no further and emerges just above the top of the clay interval. It is here that many spring line towns and villages have been built. Winchcombe is a good example though it is actually located on a small river - the Isbourne. During dry periods, the Isbourne might not be reliable above the spring line, however.
Today there was no problem finding plenty of very wet mud! |
| Winchcombe advertises itself as an ancient Saxon town and at one time it was possibly the capital of Mercia (I say possibly only because the history books don't all agree on this; however it is true to say that the town was a very important Saxon center as it had a mint).
This is a view of the main street on a Sunday lunchtime when most sensible people were in one of the many pubs, restaurants and cafes! We had brought our own, so we sat down in the churchyard of St. Peters Church. This is famous for its grotesque gargolyes: |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| I think they were a practical joke by the stone masons, being based on characters in the town whose basic features were exaggerated, not unlike the work of a modern day political cartoonist. Well, that's my take on the subject! |
| Almshouses are a feature of most Cotswold towns and these appear to fit into that category. They're relatively modern.
Winchcombe bears a greater degree of exploration than we felt capable of giving it. The weather was closing in and the sun was all but gone for the day as grey clouds rolled in from the east (it was already snowing along the east coast). There is no doubt the town has a lot of history but, to be honest, it just doesn't quite pull it off as an attractive town. Perhaps having a main road running through it doesn't help? But it is a real working country town, so perhaps it cannot be truly attractive in the picture postcard sense. Seen on a sunny summer's day we could easily change our minds on this one! |
 |
 |
Sudeley Castle was a country home of the Chandos family. I had to look up the name on the internet where it says that the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos once owned the castle but let it fall into ruin. Subsequent owners have restored the castle and it is now open to the public. One last glimpse of sunlight allowed this final photo of the day as the castle came into view as we hiked up the escarpment toward the car park below Belas Knapp.
Belas Knap was our Stage 2 destination but we'll actually visit the site (an ancient burial mound) in Part 3. |
|
Go back to 1 - Chipping Campden to Stanway | 2 - Stanway to Belas Knap | Go on to 3 - Belas Knap to Dowdeswell
|
|
Travel Notes
The Photos
Maps
"Official Resources"
|
Add a Comment or an Update on the FocalplaneTravelblog |