The Cotswold Way-Doesn’t Miss A Hilltop

Day 4

After a torrential morning downpour during our breakfast time, the sun reappeared (yay!) when we headed out on the trail. By the end of the day we had climbed up to the top of three different nature parks, all with impressive distant views. All very pretty but what happened to the charming villages we hoped to walk through? Perhaps they are up ahead.

We’ve come to accept that the Cotswold Way is not the gentle, rolling hills walk we expected. Like Reg pointed out, “It doesn’t miss a hilltop.” There have been other surprises for us. So far our days have been fairly solitary. We expected (from our reading/research) crowds along the trail, but there seem to be far more day-hikers cherry-picking the sights rather than going the distance.
We’ve have been keeping pace with an Australian mother/daughter duo since our first night in Chipping Campden. We found ourselves booked into the same hotel in Birdlip Sunday night. We shared a table in the bar and all enjoyed a classic Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding dinner together. Great fun for us.

Day 5

Today is a Bank Holiday in England. At one time that meant most all businesses would be closed, but we found a grocery store and coffee shop open where we bought a few things for lunch and a second cup of coffee.

We passed what looked like a memorial of some sort. The inscription was unreadable, but I told Reg it looked interesting and snapped a photo. I found out, for all you history buffs, that it commemorates the lifting of the siege of Gloucester that took place in 1643.
There are also some interesting theories linking the Siege of Gloucester to the origins of the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. You can Google that to find out more.

We did pull out our rain gear right after lunch. We could see the cloud heading our way. It blew over quickly and we managed to get to our lodging somewhat disheveled, but dry.
Tomorrow may be another story. Wind and a 90% chance of rain are in the forecast…and our mileage and climbing estimates are quite possibly on the low side. Ugh! Time to worry about that tomorrow morning. For now, we will enjoy our stay in our cozy room in this grand manor of a hotel.