Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Drystone walls like this one at the end of the Mile Drive are a feature of the Cotswolds
From Stanway there's an up and down stretch to the ruins of Hailes Ab-
bey and across undulating farmland to Winchcombe, with its pretty cot-
tages, village stocks and gargoyles round the church. After Winchcombe
there's Belas Knap (worth half an hour of anyone's time), then on to the
highest part of the whole route on Cleeve Common.
Cleeve Common leads to Leckhampton Hill, another lofty belvedere
overlooking Cheltenham, with the eye-catching digit of the Devil's Chim-
ney jutting from a lower scarp terrace. South of Leckhampton is Crickley
Hill, where history, in the form of a hill fort, lies partly exposed, and an
observation platform provides an opportunity to look back 1000 years and
more.
Between Crickley Hill and Cooper's Hill the way crosses just below Bird-
lip, which sits astride the Roman route of the Fosse Way. Woods conceal
the broadest views, but the approach to Cooper's Hill still allows plenty to
gaze at, with a soft light flooding through the trees. More woods stretch
along the escarpment, but the way emerges onto Painswick Beacon, open
and green, splashed with silver birch and birdsong. Down then to the
whitest of all Cotswold towns. Painswick has a churchyard known far and
wide for its table tombs and exquisite yews - but there's much more be-
sides.
From Painswick a climb leads onto Scottsquar Hill and to what many
consider the finest vantage point of the whole walk, Haresfield Beacon.
This is indeed a tremendous knoll from which to gaze out over the Vale of
Gloucester, the River Severn and Forest of Dean. After absorbing all you
