ACCORDING to a traditional rhyme, it's a case of 'Moreton-in-Marsh, where the frogs croak harsh; Stow-on-the-Wold, where the winds blow cold'. You'd struggle to find many frogs at Moreton today, but the wind can certainly howl through Stow, which sits high on a hilltop.

High, that is, by Cotswold standards, which is just high enough to make it a good vantage point from which to admire the surrounding countryside. There are even better views from nearby Icomb Hill, including a fine view of Stow itself, dominated by the tower of St Edward's Church, just one of this small town's many beautiful and historic buildings. Another is the Royalist Hotel, which claims to be England's oldest inn, having been serving ale since 974.

Stow pulsates with tourists, and Market Square, where sheep used to be sold by the thousand, has been turned into a car park.

Fortunately, neighbouring villages remain quiet and unspoilt. Icomb, in particular, is delightful, although its charm is threatened by an out-of-scale redevelopment currently under way. Curiously, Icomb used to belong to Worcestershire, despite being surrounded on all sides by Gloucestershire. This anomaly was corrected in 1844 when the Detached Parishes Act transferred it to Gloucestershire.

Bledington, the Oddingtons and Kingham are all worth exploring thoroughly. Much larger than Icomb, they are packed with beautiful houses. All have fascinating churches too, especially Oddington, with its renowned doom painting.

In 2004, Kingham was declared England's favourite village in a competition organised by Country Life magazine. The judges were impressed by many attributes, with its architecture and scenic qualities rated lower than its rural setting, its vibrant community life and its range of vital amenities, including the train station from which this walk starts.

FACTFILE

Start: Kingham Station, on B4450 south-east of Stow-on-the-Wold, grid ref SP256227.

Length: 12 miles/20km (this can be cut by half if necessary - finish at Stow and take bus 55 or 801 for the 10-minute journey to Moreton-in-Marsh for a return train).

Maps: OS Explorer OL45, OS Landranger 163.

Terrain: Arable and pastoral farmland, with a couple of slight hills.

Footpaths: Excellent, except that the path from Bledington Mill is overgrown in places, and waymarking is poor between Bledington and Gawcombe.

Stiles: Nine.

Trains: Great Western operates frequent daily services to Kingham; Rail Enquiries 08457 484950 or www.nationalrail.co.uk or www.traveline.org.uk

Parking: Car park at Kingham Station is for rail users only. Find suitable roadside parking along the route or start your walk from a car park in Stow.

Refreshments: Kingham, Bledington, Stow, the Oddingtons.

DIRECTIONS

1 Turn right beside the B4450 and walk to Bledington Mill. Join an adjacent footpath which follows the River Evenlode until it has passed a sewage works. After this it follows a tributary. Turn left when you see a footbridge, walk to Bledington and join Church Lane. Keep straight on past the church, on the Oxfordshire Way, and straight on again at the next junction.

2 A waymark directs you diagonally left across two fields. Turn right at the far side of the second field, ignore a path branching left and continue to the field corner. Keep straight on beside Westcote Brook, ignoring branching paths. After 400m, cross the brook and proceed along the left edge of a field. When you reach a cluster of waymarks, turn right, following a wide track which soon passes through a hedge gap. Follow the track across two huge fields, heading towards a wooded ridge.

3 Turn right at the far side of the second field, go through a gap in the corner then take a path through a young wood. Cross Westcote Brook again and proceed towards Icomb, passing two pools, skirting a building site and climbing uphill to meet a track. Turn left and join a footpath after the church. Walk to the village street and proceed as far as a massive lime tree, then turn right past the war memorial.

4 Turn left at a road junction, then immediately left again. Fork right at the next junction. The lane bends left at the top of Icomb Hill: go straight on instead, along a bridleway. This descends to a valley, then climbs to the hamlet of Maugersbury. Turn left, then right at the next junction. Turn left at another junction, by Lower House, and walk up to Stow. Leave town the same way, returning to Lower House. Turn left, passing the Coach House.

5Walk beside the B4450 until you can join a bridleway on the left. Go straight across a field and turn right on a footpath (Macmillan Way) which passes Stow RFC. Continue past Oddington Reservoir then go diagonally left across a paddock to a hedge corner. Follow the hedge down to a gate then go diagonally right in the next field to a stile hidden in the hedge. Proceed to a lane and turn left through Upper Oddington.

6The lane bends left at Blenheim Orchard. Stay on the lane if you want to see Lower Oddington. Otherwise, join a 'no through road' instead, then take the second branching path, which skirts a house before running the length of two fields to meet a track. Turn right, passing St Nicholas' Church and then taking the second path on the left, a bridleway which crosses fields, the Evenlode and the railway. Turn right as you approach a farm and walk to Kingham. Proceed to a junction by a lime tree and turn left on West End, then turn right past the Tollgate Inn, and right at each subsequent road junction to reach the station.

PLEASE NOTE This walk has been carefully checked and the directions are believed to be accurate at the time of publication. No responsibility is accepted by either the author or publisher for errors or omissions, or for any loss, accident or injury, however caused.