Trekking In The Cotswolds!

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Bibury

Sunday March 16th was decided for a walking reunion for a group of people who had trekked through The Himalayas in November and had now become firm friends. As we were from various points of the South West of England, it was suggested that we chose somewhere between South Wales and Wiltshire. So the Cotswolds were chosen and in particular a 6 mile circular walk from Bibury.

I had never heard of this place before, but when I mentioned it to a few people, I was told it was one of the mos beautiful places in the UK, so I was really looking forward to it. I prayed for good weather considering the amount of rain we had suffered for the last couple of months, but was prepared for a pretty muddy walk never the less.

We put word out on facebook and sent out emails and had 19 confirmed walkers!! Two of which would meet us in the pub for lunch as Kat had recently undergone knee surgery and so was unable to walk great distances.

We met at 10.30 by the trout farm. The sun was already warm and there was not a cloud in the sky - absolutely perfect! I still put my gaiters on though as I had visions of fields of wet, slurry mud!

Our walk started alongside the River Coln and then took us past some really old cottages that were called Arlington Row, owned by The National Trust. The cottages were built for cloth weavers and one of the most photographed cottages in England. We could see why, they were so pretty.

We continued following our path through fields and meadows enjoying the scenery all around across the gently rolling countryside.

We passed through some beech trees and headed on downhill towards the river again. From where we were we could see that the river had burst its bank at some point and was still flooding some of the fields, but it looked very picturesque and had a few swan floating on the water. We were heading towards Coln St Aldwyn, another beautiful Cotswold village.

As we walked alongside the river heading back towards Bibury we entered a wood and continued our walk through this welcome shaded area. Never thought we would be welcoming the shade, but the day had become very warm indeed! The river was flowing very fast, but it was unbelievably clear and inviting. We then headed towards a further wood called Oxhill Wood. There were several pretty cottages that we passed on the way and also some rather grand stone built houses on huge estates.

We started descending and came alongside Bibury Court Hotel, which was formerly the Manor House and we all agreed this would be an ideal setting for a wedding. We then followed the road back into Bibury and made our way to The Catherine Wheel for a well earned drink and lunch.

The Catherine Wheel was lovely pub and was fairly busy when we arrived, they had a large garden with seats and tables, but we had a table booked inside, ready and waiting for us. We sat outside in the sun quenching our thirst before taking our seats at the table. The food came out, hot and delicious. We all left well fed and weary and vowed to do this again very soon.

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