More On The Way

As one can see from the above picture (3 ) The Cotswold Way became an official  National Trail ( one of fifteen )  in 2007. It therefore , in my humble opinion  (IMHO in textspeke !)  should carry a measure of prominence and in particular carry a measure of quality waymarking .

This has ,  in my experience of the walk so far ( Chipping Campden to Cleeve Hill +  North Nibley to Wotton Under Edge , and finally the last mile stretch into Bath City ) has generally been carried out in a consistent fashion , apart from the start and finish - return to  posts  ' Beginning  , Ends , & The Man With The Trimba  and  Watch This Space '  

However  a raise of the cap , should be given to the worthy citizens of Wotton Under Edge , who elected to produce signposts of blue and white colour , proclaiming  The Way throughout their Town ( photographic evidence to follow ) ; a sense of civic pride has been restored.

 The Cotswold Way  has  been a backdrop to my life as a Gloucestershire born and bred person.

In a sense I have finally acknowledged  this fact and now with time in hand (D.V. )   have decided to explore its paths and byways. It is a walk steeped in history with burial chambers hill forts , barrows ,villas , churches and abbeys , and much that I will return to in future posts.

As a start I will elucidate more information regarding todays' pictures.

The sign (3) was attached to a stile at Stanton , a small village near Winchcombe . From here the walk climbs up hill past sheep and neatly laid out trees (1), the true Cotswold Dream (IMHO)

The thatched building you can see in (2) is in fact a cricket pavilion , resting on staddlestones .

It lies , replete with cricket ground directly across  the road from the sign.

It was given by the author J.M. Barrie , of Peter Pan fame ,  who , a keen cricketer , on his first visit to nearby Stanway House , invited the Australians , who were playing in Cheltenham to come to Stanton for a game !

As a rather different view on the  Way  , here is what Sydney Smith said in the 19th Century (I am quoting from  The Cotswold Way  by Anthony Burton. (p.23)

" You travel for twenty or five-and twenty miles over one of the most unfortunate desolate counties under heaven , divided by stone walls , and abandoned to the screaming kites and larcenous crows; after travelling really twenty and to appearances ninety miles over this region of stone and sorrow , life begins to be a burden , and you wish to perish."

Legend has it , that he cheered up a bit , when he reached Birdlip !

Ciao4now

Ck.