10:36am Tuesday 31st August 2010
By Julie Royle
IF, like me, you’re sick of getting scratched, stung and stressed as you struggle along the neglected and obstructed footpaths which predominate in so much of Worcestershire, you should enjoy this delightful walk in the much more relaxing environment of the Cotswolds.
The walk starts at Chipping Campden, where the High Street was described by the writer HJ Massingham in 1937 as ‘the most beautiful street in Europe’.
Chipping Campden is known to have been a market town as early as 1180. It specialised in wool and was at the height of its prosperity in the Middle Ages when Cotswold wool was famous throughout Europe.
Wealthy wool merchants often lavished money on their home towns and Chipping Campden was one which benefited in this way.
The Norman church was transformed in the 15th century by wool merchants’ money, when it was given a magnificent Perpendicular-style makeover.
There is a memorial inside to wool merchant William Grevel, but his former home, Grevel House in High Street, built in about 1380, is a much finer memorial. However, it isn’t the oldest building in High Street – the Woolstaplers’ Hall predates it by about 40 years.
Better known than either of these is the much-photographed Market Hall, built in 1627.
Less than a mile to the south is Broad Campden, small but perfectly formed, with a cluster of cottages, a pub, a church, a Quaker meeting house and a Norman chapel converted into a house.
FACT FILE
Start: Chipping Campden (on B4081 north-east of Broadway), grid ref SP150391.
Length: Eight miles/13km.
Maps: OS Explorer OL45, OS Landranger 151.
Terrain: Pasture, arable and woodland; gentle gradients apart from one short, steep descent and ascent.
Footpaths: Hard to fault, except for a lack of waymarking at two junctions.
Stiles: Four.
Parking: Chipping Campden.
Public transport: Most direct route is by train or bus to Evesham then Henshaw’s 554 to Chipping Campden, Monday to Saturday, but there is only one return journey a day (departing Evesham 0845 and Campden 1333), which allows enough time for the walk but not for much else. There is a 1530 departure from Campden but it requires a change (and long wait) at Honeybourne. You can also travel via Broadway (559 Evesham-Broadway and 21 Broadway-Campden) or Moreton-in-Marsh (train to Moreton then 21/22 to Campden or Blockley); worcestershire.gov.uk/bustimetables or 01905 765765.
Refreshments: Chipping Campden, Broad Campden and Blockley. Please support the shop/café at Blockley if you can – it relies partly on trade from walkers.
DIRECTIONS
1 Leave the High Street on the combined Heart of England Way and Monarch’s Way (look for the signs by the town hall and bus stop), passing through the former stableyard at the Noel Arms Hotel.
Proceed along a ‘no through road’ (George Lane) until you can take to the fields on your left, by the driveway to Meadowbank. Go to the right when the path forks in the middle of a field and walk to Broad Campden.
2 Turn right beside a lane, ignore the Heart of England Way when it turns left, opposite the Bakers Arms public house and proceed a little further along the lane until the Monarch’s Way turns left.
Follow this route through fields until it turns left again but continue straight ahead instead, to reach the B4081. Turn left and then take a bridleway on the left after 200m. Walk along a field edge, through a plantation, along another field edge and into a strip of woodland. Walk to the far side and turn right.
3 Turn left after 100m and walk along a field edge to join a farm track which descends into Norcombe Wood. Proceed to a cross-path in a valley bottom and turn left on a diverted footpath (an official diversion). Go left when the path forks then choose the righthand option when you come to a three-way junction. Walk to a road and cross to another path opposite, which winds through the trees of The Warren before joining a track to Blockley. Turn left at a Tjunction and walk through the village. Pass the pub, church and shop then go slightly uphill along the edge of a park. Go straight on at a junction, then left at the next, onto Greenway Road.
4 Turn right on the Heart of England Way/Monarch’s Way.
Walk straight across fields then go diagonally right down a slope to the bottom right field corner. Walk up the next field edge, go through a gate into another field and don’t miss a right turn after a few paces.
Walk through woodland then along field edges to reach a junction by a quarry.
5 Turn right, walk to Campden Hill Farm and turn right through a gate to pass the farmhouse. At the next gate, turn right again, staying on the Heart of England Way as the Monarch’s Way goes off to the left. Walk back to the Bakers Arms at Broad Campden and turn right. Take the track that passes the side of the church and walk to Quaker Cottage. Turn left on a footpath which leads back to the Heart of England Way/Monarch’s Way, and return to Chipping Campden.
Your Worcester News recommends the use of OS Explorer Maps, your ideal passport to navigating the countryside. This walk is based on OS Explorer OL45.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/trade_directory/