Bath and the Cotswolds

Aerial view of the historic Bath Royal Crescent. Photo by Terri Fogarty.

Our Cotswold walking holiday begins in Monkton Combe, eight-kilometres outside Bath. Settled at the historic village inn, we review our pre-booked custom itinerary, maps, trail-cards and transportation vouchers. Then, stuffing daypacks with directions, hats, jackets, water, sunscreen and snacks, we take our first self-guided walk.

Monkton Combe, we discover, was established during Saxon times. Land grants to Bath Abbey provided monks a refuge within this verdant, steep-sided valley. Names like Monks Retreat and Monkswold remain etched on some houses.

Winding on amid headstones in St. Michael’s churchyard, a simple poppy-strewn grave beckons to us. A poignant handwritten poem introduces Harry Patch, Britain’s last WWI veteran, who died in 2009 at age 111.

On the quiet, wooded lane below, we pass the site of Fulling and Tucking Mills, closed since 1931. Trail-card footnotes describe water-driven stocks that degreased and by adding fuller’s earth, felted woven cloth for dying. Nearby stands the ivy-covered home of William Smith, Father of Modern Geology and Bath’s saviour! In 1810, the celebrated geo-thermal spring dried-up. Discovering it had diverted, Smith re-established its original channel.

Sturdy boots and Nordic poles help us climb a steep pathway to neighbouring Combe Down. Before descending again, we admire our sleepy village below, population 356. Back at our inn, roast lamb and Yorkshire pudding rewards our successful reconnoiter.

A comfortable rhythm develops over our next six days. Hearty English breakfasts and French press coffees kick off daily walking excursions averaging five hours. Mid-way, pub lunches re-charge us for return through the countryside to our lodgings. And relaxing after dinner, we swap trail stories with the regulars and fellow walkers.

Meandering from Monkton Combe down to Dundas Wharf, we sight triple-arched Dundas Aqueduct built in 1798, the earlier of two spanning the Avon valley. These engineering marvels kept the Avon canal level without using locks, which until 1898 enabled barging 100,000 tons of coal to London annually. Sleek canal boats now ply the waterway for pleasure. Its scenic towpath leads us high above the Avon to glorious Bath, on the edge of the Cotswolds.

A view of Bath Cathedral. Photo by Chris and Rick Millikan.

On through Sidney Gardens, alongside Georgian-style townhouses and across elegant Pulteney Bridge, we reach medieval Bath Abbey, the heart of this world heritage city. In surrounding courtyards, talented musicians entertain us. Jane Austen Centre and Holburne Museum provide insights into Bath’s glittering past… and we sample Sally Lunn’s brioche-like buns, her still-popular 16th century creations.

In the Roman Baths another morning, audio-guides usher us from fashionable 18th century restorations above, to unearthed stone pavements encircling the Great Bath below. Artifacts indicate Roman presence at the sacred baths in 43AD. Detailed site models, costumed Roman characters and projected scenarios recreate daily life in the temple complex of the thriving ancient settlement.

A cup of warm therapeutic waters in the Grand Pump Room next door proves unimpressive… but afternoon tea, totally dee-licious!

And on a third day, we hike through Prior Park’s landscape gardens, a former estate and early quarry supplying honey-hued limestone to build Bath. We take Skyline Trail down into Bath and visit the renowned Circus and Royal Crescent, magnificent architectural masterpieces. Each extraordinary city expedition ends when the local bus whisks us away to our inn.

Some rural footpaths prove easy; others test our stamina. Straining up one rugged track, we reach Cromwell’s Rest. “Cromwell took breaks between battles just there,” a resident points to one of several stone cottages. “His soldiers poisoned all area wells – except here!”

Resting ourselves in a tavern beyond, the ordnance map shows us between Bath and Bradford-on-Avon, where a large 3rd century villa was discovered. Such farms supplied food and wine to Roman legions once stationed in Bath. Agriculture flourished then throughout this sheltered valley.

Crossing farmlands today requires scrambling over stiles or through self-closing kissing gates, permitting our access without letting livestock out. Cutting through grassy fields and flower-filled meadows, our poles fend off stinging nettle “bites.” Up one hill, down another and zigzagging under treed arcades, the trail emerges on Limpley Stoke’s common. Most villages we encounter boast long histories; Stoke dates to 961AD.

Rick claims his haul from a classic English sweets shop. Photo by Chris Millikan.

Along a pretty lane, dog walkers explain prominent “Save our Packhorse” posters: “Sadly, new owners shut down our beloved 17th century pub, one local laments.” Brightening, she grins, “But our parish church is worth a visit.” An exquisite carved Norman doorway highlights the 12th century gem.

Scrawled notices on fences alert us to nervous mamas protecting calves. Instead, a herd of curious black bullocks trots straight at us! Resisting impulses to flee, we face ’em down. Stepping firmly forward halts them in their tracks. We scoot up the hillside and escape through a kissing gate – with a celebratory smooch. That afternoon, a taxi transfers us to Cockleford, a hamlet deeper in the Cotswolds.

For three days we explore the Churn valley. On one farmland ridge, the scenery leaves us awestruck. Under clear blue skies, hedgerows border rippling patchworks of blue-green wheat and pale-green bearded barley; scarlet poppies splash crops of bright-yellow canola.

“Dry stone walls” crisscross sloping pasturelands. Built without cement during the 18th and 19th centuries, these low walls still enclose grazing sheep… that stare inquisitively at us before scampering off, bleating. During the middle ages, the Cotswold sheep’s thick, golden fleeces commanded high prices in Europe. Massive profits built the elaborate farmhouses and ‘wool churches’ dotting the landscape.

Signposts mark faint trails along endless hillsides. Finally sighting the tiny Coberleys, upper and lower, we descend to a gravel road and down a lane to a confusing crossroads. A lady tending her flowers smiles knowingly and points us toward Colesbourne Park’s old coaching inn. Our side trip across the Churn reveals St. James Church with its square 15th century tower, a medieval beauty surrounded by flower-covered walls.

Our longest day begins at Birdlip, straddling the once important Roman road linking Gloucester, Cirencester and ancient Welsh tin mines. Just outside the village, we begin trudging a rutted forest track and eventually join Cotswold Way, an extensive National Trail popular with hardy hikers. Meeting three university students motivates a swap of route information and inspiration, “Imagine! Monks on pilgrimage to Bath Abbey walked here – in sandals!” Several challenging kilometres later, a welcome bench makes the perfect spot to munch bacon sandwiches and survey the woodland trust’s magnificent views.

The Millikans walk Prior Park. Photo provided by Chris and Rick Millikan.

Birds flit and chirp under beech canopies as we trek through the same sun-dappled woodlands that Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn hunted. At the Black Horse, a century’s old pub on the edge of Cranham Common, frothy pints and jacket potatoes revive us for the long tramp back to Birdlip.

Our last jaunt loops through one of several estates where Dick Whittington likely spent a wretched boyhood. Never leaving vast properties owned by the Berkeleys, influential 13th century land barons, this future Lord Mayor walked into London with his legendary cat.

A weathered archway identifies 12th century St. Giles where Dick’s mother rests in the churchyard. Unique burials also occurred here. When Sir Giles de Berkeley died in 1294, only his heart was interred here and his beloved horse Lombard buried in the churchyard.

Back along the Churn, we ultimately parallel the old walls of Cowley Manor, nowadays a hotel. Another Norman church, 12th century St. Mary’s rises amid this gracious country getaway.

Days spent in little-known Cotswold villages, rural countryside and captivating Bath reveal England’s charm, natural beauty and history.