My pitch on the very edge of Clay Pit Wood before taking down the tent.

 

The wonderful if pongy carpets of wild garlic as I set off for the day.

 

The path along the edge of the wood was a quagmire, churned up by horses yet again – a bit of a problem on parts of this long distance walk it seems! The carpets of wild garlic were, as usual, pungently beautiful! I thankfully took to the fields after a short way and made it to a mainish road, though this was of course quiet at this ridiculous time of day! I turned left along it, walking beneath the Somerset Memorial and into the edge of Hawkesbury Upton village, but before entering the village proper I turned right up a lane in front of ‘an ancient drovers’ pool’.

I soon turned left off the lane and up a track called Bath lane quite appropriately as that was my ultimate goal! There were good views off ot the right, over the Severn valley to Wales, all the way along here, but the closer at hand scenery was flat, dull and uninspiring, being mainly large arable fields of winter wheat. This continued for some time, until I began to near Horton Court, which sat in a little ancient wooded valley, the birds twittering away and seeming to be all the more noisy because of the recent absence of birdsong on the arable field trudging.

 

Left: The Somerset memorial from the road on my approach to Hawkesbury Upton

Above: looking back at the Somerset memorial and the escarpment edge behind from Bath Lane after leaving Hawkesbury Upton.

 

I entered the woods and knew they would be carpeted with garlic by the smell before I even got to them. The trees were beautiful, beeches, horse chestnuts etc of great girth and age. I descended through them and emerged at a field of bullocks which thankfully, although inquisitive and almost wanting to chase me, were obvioulsy too tired at this time of the morning! At the lane I turned right to go and see if I could get a glimpse of the house itself and then after my investigation through the gates I retraced my steps along the lane and walked all the way along it, perched on the hillside into the village of Horton.

 

The wonderful ancient trees and carpets of wild garlic as I enter the woods surrounding Horton Court.

 

Horton Court house itself from the hillside.

 

The manor house and church fromthe end of the driveway.

 

I crossed almost straight over the lane through the village and up a small lane between houses which emerged at a field of horses. Just past this I sat ona stile overlooking a dammed up stream that formed a small reservoir. I had no drink but contented myself with munching on a few more Midget Gems before settign off steeply down to the small valley bottom and then up the other side again.

Just before Little Sodbury I came to another field of bullocks which, unfortunately seemed definitely up for some fun. At my approach, they all got up and raced towards the stile into the field.. hmmm…. I decided to go into the next field through a barbed wire fence and walk along behind the hedge. Just before the small farmstead near the road I re entered the proper field, the bullocks being totally unaware that I’d slipped by them? After walking through the farm and along their garden path, much to the annoyance of the old farmer and his wheelbarrow I’m sure, I emerged at the lane and turned right and then follwed the next lane around to the left by the modern looking (Victorian?) church.

As I passed by the pleasant enough but poor looking manor house on the right, the hillside to the left was very hummocky and this is due to the formation of Pillow Mounds in Medieval times which were man made rabbit warrens for a ready supply of meat apparently. After a further few hundred yards of walking along the lane I had to turn right and climb the escarpment edge again to visit the fairly impressive fort at the top. Being smaller than Uley Bury, it was much easier to get an overview of what it had looked like in its day. The path entered through a breach in the northern corner of the forts ring defenses and then cut straight across the flat ground inside to exit through a breach on the southern side. Quite interesting and well worth the small climb. It was a steep descent again through woods on a small track,a nd then I turned left to walk along the top edge of a field sloping gently away to my right, the church of Old Sodbury visible ahead on its hill.

 

The breach in the outer defensive ring of
Little Sodbury Fort.

 

After descending from the fort,
Old Sodbury is visible ahead.

 

Just before I reached the road I asked a lady walking her dog if there was a shop in the village, as by this time I was definitely needing a drink and provisions for the rest of the day! She said there was a post office down the main road to the right, which I’d hoped was true because I’d seen it marked on the map, but the map being so old it could have closed years ago. Just as I reached the main road though, there was a petrol station which had more than enough for my needs and a friendly and chatty lady behind the counter into the bargain.

Fed and watered I set off again, ladened with stocks of food and drink for later on as well! I crossed the main road and walked along the lane almost opposite before entering a field via a path on the left that gradually climbed up the flanks of the escarpment off to the left. I reached a lane and turned right along it, descending to the pretty hamlet of Coomb’s End. One or two handsome houses with a triangle of waste land/meadow out the front.

I took a path off to the left and entered the estate of Doddington Park. It was pretty parkland with stands of unusual species of tree.

The pretty hamlet of Coomb's End.

 

Glimpses of the folly by the ornamental lake in Doddington Park.

After rounding woodland and crossing a small stream I caught glimpses of the ornamental lake off to the right, through the trees and a beautiful folly building next to it. I only got the tiniest of glimpses at the house itself through a stand of trees and as I climbed up the hill and behind the woods hiding it, all hope of seeing it were lost. At the top of the climb I walked along the edges of fields of quite long grass so the going was quite tiring. I sat on a grassy bank for a while, overlooking the small valley running through the park, and then carried on, finally making my way up to the main A46 after crossing a series of small springs and streams.

When I got to the picnic area I sat on one of the benches and had a break, being really quite weary by this point, and decided to eat the bag of cashew nuts that I’d bought at the petrol station in Old Sodbury. I set off again, through what turned out to be a gay cruising area… I’d wondered why all the cars in the picnic area car park had been empty!

I followed the edge of the thin strip of woodland/cruising ground keeping to the field edge and then beyond that turned left along another field edge footpath with good views of the plateau below and the M4 disappearing westwards. At a lane I crossed over and took the lane almost opposite the gate from which I emerged. This continued to a bend, at which I turned right and started to descend into the Dyrham Park estate. As I cut gradually down the side of a small valley I could see the Stip Lynchets on the opposite valley side that had been marked on the map. A form of terraced farming from medieval times. Off to my left was the wall and fence to the deer park that sits atop the hill behind the house itself.

I eventually joined a track and descended to the lane through the beautiful collection of houses that was Dyrham village itself. The house itself, on the left as I continued along the lane was beautiful, nestled as it is on the edge of the hillside and the church right next to it. I didn’t have much time to dawdle here as I was on a mission at this point to reach a pub that was marked on the map still some way ahead at Pennsylvania and I wanted to arrive there in time for them to still be open if they weren’t all day opening.

 

The wonderful quiet hamlet of Dyrham

 

And the beautiful Dyrham House itself.

 

I sat briefly on an octagonal bench around a tree for a quick rest after I left the lane and then set off at a rush across the fields, having to climb a short way and then descend again to cross a small valley before a quite ferocious climb through Dyrham Wood. I was lucky yet again though as the path was in good condition and newly laid. The surrounding woodland looked quite boggy, which made me thank my lucky stars! I was able to climb the hill quickly and without too much effort, thought the sweat pouring off me by the time I reached the fields at the top didn’t seem to agree with this!

I cut across these fields to join the first of two roads to cross. I crossed straight over and through a stile in the opposite hedge and turned left behind the hedge running along the roadside.. yet another route improvement. I arrived in Pennsylvania, a pretty small and un picturesque place on a main road, and to my dismay there was no sign of the pub marked on the map. There was a B&B called Old Swan or something and I took it that the pub had closed and was now B&B accommodation! Luckily there was a petrol station so I bought extra provisions and sat there eating them. While I was there I was cheeky and asked the girl behind the counter if I could charge my phone up for 15 minutes or so. She agreed very kindly and in a way that sounded like it was a common request?

I was really disheartened about the pub being shut. It wasn’t pleasant sitting on the edge of the petrol forecourt eating food and an ice cream with traffic rushing up and down the main road noisily. Sigh!!

 

Cold Ashton church.

View from the lane in front of the manor and rectory in Cold Ashton.

 

The rectory, and beyond, the manor in Cold Ashton.

 

The lovely ornate gate in front of the manor house.

 

View back from near the summit of Lansdown Hill

 

Above: One of the numerous monuments and information boards dotted around the top of Lansdown Hill giving information about the battle.

Right: Memorial to Sir Bevil Grenville

View from the tent pitch at the end of day 6.