I have been amazed at our friends willingness to accompany us on some of these walks especially as we get further down the Cotswold Way. Its a long way from home for most folks. Amanda and Geoff live in Solihull but they’d agree to this next stretch from Old Sodbury to Dyrham Park. As we had to leave early to get the walk in on Sunday, G&A came over on Saturday night and we all went out to dinner at our favourite local pub- the Horse and Groom at Bourton on the Hill. It was Gloucestershire dining pub of the year last year and it did not disappoint.
We set off a little later than planned (no surprise there then) and had a dash down the M5 and then M4 to junction 18. Amanda was a little bit surprised at how long this took and once we’d parked up in Old Sodbury we needed to get ourselves going with a nice slice of Amanda’s cake and our flask of coffee.
We’d parked Geoff’s car in the pretty village of Dyrham and then drove back to Old Sodbury where we’d finished last weekend. Geoff had been very much looking forward to visiting a place called Old Sodbury. I don’t know why but Amanda seemed to enjoy having her photo taken with the CW signs. We set off at quite a good pace down the lane which we soon left and entered the fields and started a steady climb up.
As we climbed we entered Donington Park which is the country estate of Sir James Dyson. It was lovely parkland with great sweeps of grassland and trees although slightly spoiled today as they’d clearly been laying some sort of underground pipeline. Jane mentioned the word ‘Hoover’ once but I think she got away with it.
We got quite warm walking, especially as we climbed. It was a bit of a mixed bag of weather as we set out. Some sunshine but some nasty looking dark clouds too. As we climbed up high, the views opened out and we almost got confused by Sir James statue of a stag which for a minute we thought was real.
As we walked through these pleasant surroundings we chatted about future holiday plans and what we’d be getting up to at Christmas. We crossed some pretty streams with very clear water. It felt very much like Jane Austen territory as we strolled through the lovely park quite unlike other, more foreboding parts of the CW. We posed for photos on the unusual stiles around here which I’m sure Jane Austen would have struggled with in those skirts.
Exiting the park we had to cross the very busy A46 and from here we could clearly hear the drone of the M4 motorway. We crossed muddy fields to the forgotten village of Tormanton which was a little hidden gem, lost in time but right next to the Motorway. The church here has some ancient yew trees as well as impressive crypts for the wealthy merchants who were buried here right back to the 15th century. It’s also meant to be famous for its gargoyles although to be honest we thought they were nowhere near as good as Lincoln Cathedral’s.
In this village we also stumbled across a rather nice looking pub The Majors Retreat. However, Amanda and Geoff said that they’d like to get home before Tuesday and so, despite passing the pub twice, we agreed not to go in!!
As we left the village we hit a bit of a bleak part of the walk as we crossed the M4 itself where it was incredibly noisy. Then we walked across open fields towards some huge electricity pylons which were also buzzing with noise as we approached.
Of course here, at this most open spot, we had our first rain. We put up with it for a bit but then Geoff said it was time to don our waterproof trousers. It was like a well practiced drill as we all squeezed ourselves into these unattractive items. We did so just in time as rain came down steadily for this long, boring stretch of the walk. It was pretty miserable as we plodded along in single file and not even the raw shortbread biscuit cheered us up now even though the rain started to dry up. I don’t think Jane Austen would have liked this particular stretch of the walk.
At the end of this stretch we crossed the A46 again and here the path double backs on itself and again we walked along the edge of muddy fields. Eventually we could see the walls of Dyrham Park and just as we did, it had another really big downpour, this time with some wild wind to go with it. Somehow it didn’t seem so bad now as I could see the end was in sight. I even managed a little skip although I am not sure the others appreciated that! We then walked quickly down the edge of the wall past the strip lynches (an old field system of terraces) and eventually out onto a road.
Now we were back in Dyrham village and under the shelter of trees. We thought our car would be right here but it wasn’t and we realised we needed to walk along the lanes to the other side of the village. This meant passing the front of Dyrham house. This is a very impressive National Trust property and it was used in the film ‘Remains of the Day’. We peered in through the grand gates at the bottom and could see beautiful gardens.
It was here that we became desperate to find our way to the National Trust tearooms. The main entrance was way back at the top of the hill and so we really weren’t sure that we’d be able to get in down here. We sent Geoff off on a mission to find a way in and luckily for us he found a secret entrance. Hurrah. I have to say Jane wasn’t quite so excited by this option. I think she’d rather have gone back to The Majors Retreat pub!!
We joined the crowds sheltering from the rain here and sat and steamed with the rest of them. It was surprising to see just how many visitors they had on such a wet and miserable Sunday. It was a very welcome break and whilst we didn’t hang about to see the rest of the place it was good that we’d actually got to go inside the walls of Dyrham Park.
It was just a few steps now back to the car but as we came back out into the village it had our 3rd downpour of the day. We sheltered under the trees this time until it eased off a bit and then hurriedly walked back to Geoffs car. After removing all our muddy gear, Geoff let us in and drove us back over to Old Sodbury. All in all, it had been a jolly good walk except for the boring and noisy bit around the M4.
Now, we only have two more stretches to go before we reach the end of the CW and Bath and today we’d walked another 6.5 miles. So we are indeed getting there.
Walky Talky 