Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Broadway - mellow stone, wisteria-clad walls, and flower borders
Soon after passing the church turn right onto a track, then go beyond a
few houses into the meadowland ahead. The path takes you over a foot-
bridge and across another meadow to West End Lane, across which you
have a choice of paths. The right-hand option leads to Buckland, but direc-
tly ahead the Cotswold Way goes through a gate and up an enclosed path
into a sloping meadow. At the head of the slope enter Broadway Coppice,
a woodland mixture of hazel, oak, birch and ash. The path winds on be-
fore emerging at a hilltop field. Now bear left along the field edge, and at
the end go round the back of a stable-cum-barn, then right to join a track
heading left. At this point you re-enter Gloucestershire.
The farm track takes you almost due south towards more wooded hills,
before entering an untidy farmyard area. Bear right to follow a rough track
going along the right-hand edge of a field, rising steadily and with tree-
screened views soon showing into the valley off to your right, with Buck-
land nestling at the foot of the slope.
Continue on the track, passing through a field gate with a crown of trees
half-left ahead, and walk below a lovely line of beeches to gain the crest
of a ridge. Views open once more. To the left stands a handsome farm and
a few barns. The ridge narrows considerably, green and rabbit-shorn, with
grey drystone walls criss-crossing, the slopes bearing a mixture of scrub
and grassland habitats.
In their season cowslips and early purple orchids paint the
hillside with a flush of colour. Bullfinch and yellow hammer flit to and fro while jackdaws
circle lazily over the topmost woods.
The track takes you past a region of hollows on the left; these are
one-time quarries. About 200 metres later, immediately after a junction
of tracks, bear right over a cattlegrid and walk along a cart track which
