Cotswold Way 2014 Day 2

Wednesday 30^th July 2018 Cleeve Hill

Although I awoke around 5:30 I stayed in bed and dozed a bit until 7.  I packed then headed down for breakfast to see Rick & Barb leaving.  I ate my breakfast then sat and chatted with Alan and Angela while they ate theirs.

It was off on the trail, and up and over a hill past Beckbury Camp.

Heading down toward Hailes I caught up with Rick & Barb just before Hailes Abbey but, as I wanted to check out the abbey ruins and they didn’t, they carried on.  I spent a little time absorbing the atmosphere of the ruins, then purchased a ginger beer before resuming the walk.

I caught up with Rick & Barb again in Wynchcombe where they were helping an elderly lady carry her groceries.  I scarpered off to the library to check my email.  A little later, back on the trail, I came across Sudeley Castle, but the steep £14 entry price kept me taking photos from a distance instead.

A long trek uphill brought me to Belas Knapp, a long barrow.  It was neat but didn’t have the air of mystery that the one’s during my Ridgeway walk last year seemed to have.

Next up was Cleeve Hill, but I had 2 guidebooks and they each offered a different route.  Apparently the walk is now changed, and you no longer ascend to the top of Cleeve Hill, which would have been the highest point of the walk.  I encountered Rick & Barb again and we walked the final 2km or so together.  After walking to the B&B I discovered that we didn’t have the same accommodation after all as this wasn’t the place I had booked!  Anyway, I was in the hotel, which was a bit further along.  After checking in I had a bath and did some laundry.  Then it was to the restaurant for a ploughman’s and a cider.  Rick and Barb wandered through the restaurant while I was eating and sat outside.  I joined them after my meal for a chat before retiring for the night to read.

Day 3