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| Walkers of the Cotswold Way turn left down the hill as they emerge from the small wood
after coming down from Belas Knap. For the Holst Way you now turn right. |
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Walk along the
lane for about 500 metres (beware of traffic), and then turn left down a track at the side of a
wood (with a sign saying ‘Private Road Footpath only’) |
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| After 100 metres or so, turn sharp
right along a track passing below some cottages (Humblebee Cottages), and then a wood,
with open fields and a view down to Sudeley Castle and Winchcombe on your left. |
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The track
goes over a small rise, and you come to a gate. After the gate, turn sharp left downhill along a
grassy track, initially alongside a wire fence, then through another gate and bear left across an
open field, to reach Newmeadow Farm.
At Newmeadow Farm, go through the gate under the trees, and turn right (signed as a
restricted byway), and through a gate. The track crosses a small stream, and bends left and
then right as it joins the Windrush Way coming in from the left.
Continue following the track up the valley, and then around to the left as it crosses the stream.
You continue to follow the Windrush Way, ignoring two turnings off to the right, and go up a
slight rise under trees to arrive at the derelict buildings of Waterhatch. Continue steadily
uphill along the track for a bit over a mile, past Spoonley Farm, to reach a tarmac road (the
Salt Way). (Take care not to deviate left at the junction of tracks below Spoonley Farm – you
want the middle of the three tracks meeting here, going straight uphill). |
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| Detour 3: Spoonley Wood |
Enthusiasts with time on their hands might like to take an alternative route from Waterhatch
to Spoonley Farm, via Spoonley Wood. There are the foundations of a Roman Villa in the
wood (excavated in the 19th
century), but they are quite hard to find – it’s easier in the winter
when the undergrowth is low. To take this route, which is about half a mile longer, as well as
being rather slower walking, take a field path left as you leave Waterhatch. You cross a
stream, turn right at a junction of paths, and follow the path uphill and into the wood,
recrossing the stream. After you’ve found the Villa (or not!), the path continues steeply up
through the wood to emerge on a track. Turn right here and follow the track, which contours
across the hillside to rejoin the main route at the junction below Spoonley Farm, referred to
above, where you turn sharp left uphill to reach the Salt Way. |
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Turn left (north) to follow the Salt Way. This is part of an ancient route from the salt mines at
Droitwich towards the south coast. There are superb views towards Winchcombe and the
Malverns beyond – but do watch out for traffic. After a bit under a mile a bridle path comes
in from the left; this is the Wardens’ Way. Shortly afterwards you turn right to follow the
Wardens’ Way alongside a wall, and then a wood edge, to reach another surfaced lane (the
road from Winchcombe to Guiting Power). Turn left along the lane for a short distance, and
then right to follow the path downhill along the edge of Guiting Wood, just to the right of the
driveway to a new house.
After about 900 metres along the woodland edge, you come to a four-way junction, where
you go straight across and fairly steeply uphill, into the interior of the wood (leaving the
Wardens’ Way). The path (which can be muddy) climbs for a bit, and then levels off. You
need to keep straight on at the various intersections with forest tracks, following the
waymarked right of way. After 800 metres or so, you can see the edge of the wood ahead;
here you need to leave the rough track you are on (which veers left), and follow a short path
leading out of the wood into an open field. (There is a stone marker which says ‘No Public
Road Here’).
On leaving Guiting Wood, you turn left, following the edge of the wood gently downhill.
After 800 metres, the descent steepens and the path bends left, following a fence towards the
buildings of Guiting Manor. When you reach a tarmac drive (the service entrance to the
Manor), turn right and follow it down to a lane. Turn left along the lane, through a gate into
the beautiful park, signposted ‘Kineton Public Road’. You soon reach a crossroads (where
there is a car park); turn right along a track which goes briefly downhill and then across fields
for 700 metres (notice the racing stables across the valley), to reach a T-junction in front of a
house. |
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| Detour 4: The Hollow Bottom |
| Here you can turn right to get up to the road, then left along it to reach the Hollow Bottom
Inn, an attractive pub full of racing memorabilia (and, occasionally, racing characters). From
here you can follow the road to rejoin the route in the centre of Guiting Power. |
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| Turn left at the T-junction and then descend into a shady dell by the river Windrush, where
there are remains of a mill; then follow the track up, to emerge in the centre of Guiting Power,
by the square and the green.. |
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