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| From the village green opposite the old post office in Guiting Power take the road that leads
to the village hall and St Michael’s church. This is the Wardens Way. When you reach the
church take the footpath going through two gates. Continue down this footpath until you
come to another gate. Go through and bear left across a large field. (If the path is unclear the
direction is towards the left hand end of the farm buildings on the horizon). Towards the end
of this field the path drops down through a gate and crosses a stream. When you have crossed
the stream go up to a gate at the top of a narrow path that has some useful steps cut into it.
Over the stile you now cross another large field. Continue until you meet a road. As you
emerge onto the road there is a lane directly opposite. Take this lane, continuing in the same
direction as before for a few hundred yards uphill and then take the footpath off to the left.
The path goes beside a small wooded area for a short way and then continues in the same
direction across another large field. The path is well way marked and leaves the field by way
of a gate and stile to cross a grassy field above a valley. At a gate you reach a road. Turn left
onto the road and follow it down to Naunton. |
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| Detour 5: Naunton village |
| Naunton is a typical Cotswold village hugging the side of a valley. It is very peaceful as it is
off the main road. For an extended look at Naunton and perhaps refreshment in the Black
Horse Inn, turn left instead of following the Wardens Way. You pass the path up to the
church which is well worth a visit. Naunton has an annual music festival and attracts some
interesting names. Returning to the road go on up bearing right past the church. There is a
Chapel on the right; the grounds give an excellent view down to the river. As you walk
through the village look for fossils along window sills and garden paths. Look also for the
old bread oven on the end of a cottage before you get to the Black Horse. Near a junction
where a road comes down from the left, go through an opening and across a bridge over the
Windrush then step over a stile and walk along the river bank until the valley opens out and
you see the small square dovecote where the Lord of the Manor kept his pigeons. At this
point turn left to rejoin the Gustav Holst Way |
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As you come into Naunton you will see the signpost for the Wardens Way taking you along a
cul-de-sac beside some houses. The tarmac road soon becomes a grassy path. Beyond the
gate marked ‘gated road’ keep left through the valley. To the left is Naunton up on the ridge
and soon you will see a dovecote on the left. This is usually open for visitors. At this point
turn right up a steepish path and bear left where it joins a wider path. Continue up to a road
and cross over to take the marked bridle path straight ahead beside the golf course. Continue
on this path past tees 15 and 17 and then descend towards a valley through which runs a small
stream, tributary to the Windrush. As the path reaches the bottom of the valley, cross the
stream and bear left through a gate (or over the stile). Follow the valley floor until you come
to a road and continue over the road on the path now running through meadows beside the
Windrush. |
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| These meadows are the site of a medieval village known as Lower Harford. The mounds at
different levels and the long ditch running across the path are evidence of the former
settlement, most of which was up the hillside on the other bank of the river. |
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Continue on the well defined path, the Windrush Way, as it crosses the meadows. Take the
right-hand gate to leave the first meadow. To your right are the banks and bridges of a
disused railway and to your left the River Windrush. Soon the path ascends, entering some
scrubby woodland. At the top of the incline turn right and walk along the edge of a field until
entering woodland again. Follow the path through the wood and look out again for the
disused railway. When you emerge from the wood make across a field towards farm
buildings (Aston Farm) and go through the yard to reach a road. Turn left onto the road and
go down to Little Aston Mill.
For a short section the Gustav Holst Way is now following the confluence of paths that is
made by the Gloucestershire Way and Macmillan Way coming in from the left and the
Wardens Way and Windrush Way that we have been following. At Little Aston Mill you
cross the Windrush and walk beside a well planted garden. The road ascends, soon becomes
a track and at the top divides. The Gloucestershire Way goes off to the left while you
continue to the right on the Windrush Way. A well defined path enters woodland then
continues between the wood and a field. When the path turns again into a wooded area it runs
for a few yards along the disused railway we have seen before. There is a nice vantage point
for a view over the Windrush here. A very short detour back along the railway bank gives a
view down to where the river goes under the railway bank and allows you to walk through
some beautiful natural woodland. |
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The disused railway we have been seeing was The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway
The railway was built and opened in stages. The Chipping Norton Railway opened in 1855,
linking the town of Chipping Norton with the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton
Railway at Kingham in Oxfordshire. The Bourton-on-the-Water Railway between Kingham
and Bourton-on-the-Water opened in 1862.
By 1881 two further sections of railway had been completed: one between Chipping Norton
and King's Sutton near Banbury and the other between Bourton-on-the-Water and
Cheltenham. Together these four sections of railway formed a complete line between
Cheltenham and King's Sutton.
The BCDR Company did not operate services on the line: it contracted the Great Western
Railway to do so in return for a share of the receipts. |
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| As you emerge from the wood the line of trees shows the route of the old railway towards
Bourton while you keep to the grassy path ahead between a hedge and a field. After a gate
the path is firmly enclosed between two fences until it reaches the Fosse Way (A429). Cross
the busy road very carefully, and walk on the paving on the right hand side of the road beside
the river. Look for the footpath sign that takes the Windrush Way to the right and follow this
path along the river, then across a small common and out between houses to a road. Turn left
on the road and proceed to the centre of Bourton. At the War Memorial turn right and,
keeping the river on your right, walk along the green to the far end. Then go forward on a
road between a fish and chip shop and the post office. In a few yards opposite the post office
you will turn left towards the Baptist Church, but first go forward for about 50 metres to see
the Old New Inn. |
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| The Old New Inn of 1714 originally had an Assembly Room attached. Here the village
choral society gave a performance of John Farmer‟s Oratorio Christ and his Soldiers in
April 1893 conducted by the young Holst. It is recorded that „A feature of both chorus and
orchestra was the precision and promptitude with which they responded to the conductor‟s
baton […] great praise is due to the talented young Holst‟. Some in the choir sensed
something very special about the young man |
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Retrace your steps to the corner by the post office and now go towards the Baptist Church.
Continue along this road (Station Road) past the Baptist Church and The Manor until it bears
left at which point you turn right into Roman Way and then right again into the track which is
Moor Lane.
A little way along Moor Lane, look out for a footpath sign up some steps on the right. Go up
the steps and over a stile and continue beside the hedge parallel to the track. Cross another
stile and bear right. Follow this path now over a stream to a gate. Here bear left and continue
until you come to a kissing gate at the junction of paths. Go straight over on the Oxfordshire
Way. There is a helpful board here explaining features of the Greystones Nature Reserve.
The path passes another information board then crosses two bridges before coming out in a
wide field. Make for a gate in the hedge and, through the gate, turn left to follow the path
between a field and hedge. Continue straight on until you meet a road where you turn right
toward Wyck Rissington. You enter the village across the well-kept green, pass the village
pond and arrive at the Church for the end of the Gustav Holst Way. |
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From May 1892 to May 1893, Holst was organist at St Laurence‟s Church, Wyck
Rissington. It was his first paid appointment, for £4 a year. He also had piano and organ
pupils in Great Rissington nearby. The single-manual organ built in 1871 bears a
commemorative plaque to Holst presented by his many friends in the locality. He used to
stay the night at what was the Old Bluecoat School in the village and often returned to
Cheltenham on foot |
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| For an alternative route back to Bourton (about 2 miles in length), continue along the lane
from the church, and keep straight on along a farm track where the lane turns sharp left. After
half a mile or so, turn right and follow a bridleway through the fields to reach a lane leading
to Rissington Mill. Walk down past the mill and around the fishing lakes to join a track
leading back to the centre of Bourton. |
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