Cirencester - Christmas Trees, Hope and Heavy Rain

The fact that I’m writing this blog post on Christmas Eve shows how busy life has been since we did our last Chester walk, more than a month ago, up in the wilds of the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border.

There’s no train station in Cirencester (pronounced Siren-sester) which seems like a bit of an oversight, so we found ourselves jumping off the train at Kemble, late on a Friday evening, then catching a taxi from Kemble to Cirencester, a mere 12 minutes by car.

Lodgings and victuals

Cirencester

We stayed in the delightful Ivy House BnB, which is on Victoria Road in Cirencester. The BnB owners are just about to retire, so they may not be running Ivy House by the time you read this blog post. It was a bitterly cold night, but we ventured out for a night cap and found a warm welcome at The Bear Inn on Dyer Street, a bar which has loads of books, which made me happy - even if I didn’t have time to read any of the books, I still liked the idea of being surrounded by them.

Church of St John the Baptist to Upper Siddington (2.2 miles/3.5 kilometres)

We really liked Cirencester and I could think of worse places to live, even if, what had been forecast to be a sunny winter’s day turned into a bit of a washout and the rain had come on before we’d properly set out on our walk. We’ve visited many beautiful churches during our series of Chester walks, but I really loved Cirencester’s main church, St John the Baptist. It’s an interesting building, architecturally, and there was a really lovely feeling inside and lots going on, including a display of Christmas trees and a bookshop selling cards, as well as books.

Inside St John the Baptist church in Cirencester

Detail of church organ in Cirencester

Unusual Christmas tree decoration

Hard to believe nowadays, but Cirencester was once one of the most important settlements in Britain, during Roman times, right up there with Colchester and St Alban’s and there is an area of the town, known as the Querns, where you can see the remains of Cirencester's Roman life in the Cirencester Amphitheatre.

We faffed around quite a bit, trying to find a way into the Amphitheatre, walking as far as the roundabout on the Bristol Road, then wandering around Waitrose car park, before we headed along Sheep Street and over the bridge to Cotswold Avenue. The Amphitheatre today is a covered mound of grass and reminded me of the Maumbury Rings in Dorchester, although on a much larger scale.

Roman Amphitheatre at the Querns in Cirencester

The rain started coming on quite heavily, as we made our way through the Love Lane industrial estate, on the edge of Cirencester, towards the suburban village of Siddington.

Upper Siddington to South Cerney (2.8 miles/4.5 kilometres)

We didn't actually pass through Siddington village, but we could see it on the other side of the canal, as we followed the Thames and Severn Way in the direction of South Cerney.  We saw the Thames and Severn Way very briefly, when we were in Stroud last year for the Frocester and Woodchester walk and this is a handy path that, quite literally, links the Thames to the Severn, the Thames side starting in Lechlade, finishing on the Severn at a little village called Upper Framilode. It's 43 miles (69km) in total and follows the old Thames and Severn canal, formerly an important transport route for produce and people across the Cotswolds area.

Canal bridge at Siddington

It took a while to figure out what the symbol of the Thames and Severn Way represents - at first, we thought it might be a train passing through a tunnel, until we realised, it represents a canal boat sailing under a bridge.  It made for pleasant walking and I was quite pleased to find that the ominously named Cowground Bridge didn't have any cows underneath it, just some dog-walkers, bravely bracing the elements.

Symbol of the Thames and Severn Way

We left the Thames and Severn Way just outside South Cerney, as we turned down Northmoor Lane, much to BAM's horror, as it meant walking on the roadside into oncoming traffic (BAM's idea of hell!) It didn't take very long though until we got to the end of Northmoor Lane and turned left into the village.

BAM walking towards South Cerney

South Cerney to Ashton Keynes (2.5 miles/4 kilometres)

We had a short break in South Cerney, sheltering from the rain in the porch of All Hallows church.  South Cerney gets its name, as Cirencester does, from the River Churn, a great name for a river if ever I heard one! It certainly felt like we were churning through the mud and rain on as wet a November day as one could hope to experience.

All Hallows church in South Cerney

Interestingly, the noticeboard at the church had the word Hope in different fonts and it got us thinking about the world we live in today and how important Hope is to people - hope that we won't completely destroy the environment, hope that we won't kill each other in a nuclear war, hope that the next US President might be someone to feel hopeful about!

Noticeboard at All Hallows Church, South Cerney

With hope in our hearts, we continued our walk, passing through beautiful old buildings in South Cerney, having a giggle at the curiously named Bow Wow Lane before turning onto Broadway Lane. Halfway down Broadway Lane, we turned onto a very narrow path between a residential area and an industrial estate, before coming out into the Cotswold Water park and making our way on to the village of Ashton Keynes.

Narrow path off Broadway Lane in South Cerney

Ashton Keynes to Kemble (5.9 miles/9.5 kilometres)

We've been in Ashton Keynes before and, actually, the rest of this walk we'd already done in the opposite direction, when we walked the Thames Path a few years ago. As we left Ashton Keynes, the rain got even heavier and the light was quite dim on this last part of our walk.

Ashton Keynes (Wiltshire)

There weren't many people around, so it felt like we had the countryside all to ourselves. It got dark just as we reached the road into Kemble and, by the time we got there, we were soaked through. We were pretty happy to reach The Tavern Inn near Kemble station, where we changed into our jeans and soft shoes, then dried off a bit, before getting the train back to London.

Thames path near Kemble

Access for Wheelchair Users

Unfortunately, not much of this walk would really be accessible to wheelchair users, although it would be possible to get to the Amphitheatre in Cirencester and wheelchair around there.  In our experience, the roads around this part of Gloucestershire are quite busy, with no footpaths and, therefore, dangerous for wheelchairing.  There's a nice path through the Cotswolds Water Park though that seemed pretty accessible.  

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Frocester and Woodchester - Tourists, Trees and Traffic

Although Frocester and Woodchester were our 38th and 39th 'Chesters', this was a walk with quite a few firsts for us - first time in Gloucestershire, first time in Cotswolds (for me, although BAM - Best Aussie Mate - had been in the Cotswolds before), first time camping on one of our Chester trips.

I've been quite busy with work recently, flying backwards and forwards between Europe, the Middle East and India, so it was with no small degree of culture shock that I found myself standing in a soft drizzle on Tinkley Lane, just outside Nympsfield, watching our taxi disappear in the distance on its return journey to Stroud, many miles away from the Corniche in Doha or the dusty streets of Gurgaon!

Lodgings and Victuals

I really loved camping on this trip, despite the heavy downpours of rain. Thistledown Farm campsite is a truly wonderful place, as far away from the stresses of modern life as you can hope to get these days.  It's a two-night minimum stay in the summer period, but I wouldn't want to have spent less than two nights there - in fact, I could have stayed a whole lot longer and enjoyed the serenity of the surrounding countryside, miles from the nearest towns or cities.

Campsite at Thistledown Farm

I'd had a serious case of 'Delhi belly' towards the end of my work trip to India, so my 'victuals' this time around consisted of a very plain ham and cheese roll from Upper Crust.  BAM had kindly brought a bottle of red wine, which we shared, sitting outside our tents, gossiping about recent events and questioning the meaning of life!

Thistledown Farm campsite to Frocester (2.8 miles/4.5 kilometres)

Our walk started off innocently enough - we had breakfast in the porch of my tent, sheltering from a heavy downpour of rain, then we got kitted up with our rain gear, as we carefully zipped up our tent flaps and set off along Tinkley Lane towards the nearby village of Nympsfield.

From Nympsfield, we followed a public footpath along the edge of a field, crossing the B4066 at Crawley Hill and picked up the national way-marked trail, the Cotswold Way.

View from the Cotswold Way

I'm quite interested in walking the Cotswold Way sometime, as it's a very convenient 102-mile path from Bath to Chipping Campden - so a handy week's walking holiday.  This was my first time on the trail and I wasn't disappointed by the spectacular views from the top of Frocester Hill towards the Severn Estuary and the Black Hills, across the border in Wales.

Nympsfield Long Barrow

Cotswold Way marker

We didn't stay on the Cotswold Way for very long, however, as the proximity of Frocester, on the other side of the Cotswold ridge, meant we could do a double-whammy and get two Chesters for the price of one!  This did involve a rather difficult downhill scramble through Buckholt Wood, as we lost the public footpath leading to the Frocester Hill road and found ourselves clinging to trees and other vegetation, getting stung repeatedly by nettles, as we manoeuvred our way down the steep incline and finally emerged at Hill Farm Cottage, which gave us access to the Frocester Hill road.

View towards Frocester

Frocester Hill

The road itself was one of the worst I've ever walked on - really busy with traffic, lots of subtle bends and poor visibility, the cars seemed to be hurtling along at a ferocious speed, as we took our lives in our hands and busily pushed on towards Frocester village.  The village itself was unremarkable and the road out of the village, towards Leonard Stanley, was just as dangerous, so we were quite doubtful of the value of making a detour to Frocester, although we both acknowledged the need to accept the various paths and roads that our quest for Chesters has lead us along!

Welcome to Frocester!

Frocester CBD

Frocester to Sandford's Knoll (1.9 miles/3 kilometres)

The traumatic experience of walking the roads around Frocester was made up for by the prettiness of Leonard Stanley and a lovely church, St Swithun's, which sits on the site of an ancient priory.  The path out of Leonard Stanley is called Gipsy Lane, another really beautiful reward for the road miles we'd put in, and this took us back up onto the Cotswold path.

St Swithun's at Leonard Stanley

Gipsy Lane

Climbing back up onto the Cotswold escarpment, the world once again felt very far away and we could get a sense of something ancient in the surrounding forest and landscape.  The Cotswold Way itself is quite a popular walking path and it wasn't long before we started bumping into other people coming in the opposite direction.

We met Americans and New Zealanders on this walk, which is another first, in Chester terms and it's probably the first time that our Chester adventures took us onto a major walking trail and to a 'normal' touristy place!

Cotswold Cottage

Sandford's Knoll to Selsley Common (2.3 miles/3.7 kilometres)

Back on the national trail, it was fairly easy walking, following sign posts around Pen Hill, all the way to Selsley Common.  The views from the top of the Common are also quite spectacular and it was great to see so many people outdoors, despite the slightly rainy weather, walking their dogs and flying model aeroplanes on top of the hill.

Selsley Common

Selsley Common landscape

BAM, in an admirable gesture of environmental awareness, had picked up a stray biro that she found back in Pen Wood, intending to responsibly dispose of it when we got to a village and bins, however, the biro exploded in her pocket and, as I enjoyed the views towards Wales, she frantically tried to clean up the ink stains and repair the damage the biro had done to her mobile phone case - all in a day's work, I guess!

Selsley Common to Woodchester (1 mile/1.6 kilometres)

It was a very easy and pleasant mile's walk downhill from Selsley Common, along Water Lane to Woodchester village.  Woodchester was the main object of our trip and definitely the more pleasant Chester to the two.  We didn't see any evidence of the Roman settlement or the villa that have made the village famous, however, we were impressed by the 'homely' feel of Woodchester and it was quite different to most of the other Chesters we've visited on previous trips.

Water Lane leading to Woodchester Village

Woodchester

Woodchester to Stroud (2.1 miles/3.4 kilometres)

From Woodchester, it was an easy couple of miles along a cycle path following an old railway line all the way to the railway station at Stroud.  The cycle path follows the Nailsworth Stream and passes factories on the outskirts of Stroud.  My BRH (Best Russian Husband) was waiting for us at Stroud station and we caught a bus back to Nailsworth, an interesting village, where we had dinner, before climbing the hill again along the Nympsfield Road and back to the campsite for an evening around the camp fire.

Woodchester sign

Stone figure at Woodchester church

Access for Wheelchair users:

Path through the forest

Unfortunately most of the walk described above would be completely inaccessible to wheelchair users and I definitely wouldn't recommend the roads around Frocester and Leonard Stanley.

A more pleasant alternative would be to follow the cycle path from Stroud to Nailsworth, which allows you to visit both of these places, also passes through Woodchester village.  

Image credits:

All photos were taken by me - please feel free to reuse them under the following Creative Commons license:

Attribution (especially to this blog post)
Share-alike
Non-commercial