The Cotswold Way

The Cotswold Way, which encircles Cheltenham at the east and the south, is a 103 mile Long Distance Path from Chipping Campden to the Roman city of Bath. On the way via the villages of Broadway, Winchcombe, Dursley and Wotton-under-Edge, it passes many historic sites, including burial mounds, neolithic hill forts and even a Civil War battlefield. It leads through many picturesque villages and towns, many replete with superb buildings made out of the golden Cotswold stone.

Walkers are treated with stunning views and glorious beechwoods along the Cotswold Escarpment. The walk rises to about 900ft above sea level at its maximum elevation from which walkers can appreciate broad open views of fields and woodland with peaceful villages and valleys with miles of dry stone walling. The mellow limestone of the Cotswolds gives the area a unique and distinctive character.

Around Cheltenham the walk follows Cleeve Hill with beautiful views over Prestbury and the Cheltenham Racecourse. It goes past the Dowsdell Reservoir and through Charlton Kings Common over Wistley Hill to Seven Springs, where the source of the River Thames can be seen. Over Hartley Hill it leads towards Leckhampton Hill and the Devil's Chimney with wonderful views of Cheltenham. Via Ullenwood Manor it takes the walker to Crickley Hill and Birdlip. On a clear day you can see well beyond Gloucester and May Hill to the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons in Wales.

The Cotswolds is the Anglo-Saxon name for the range of hills that runs from the South Midlands to Bath and from the Vale of Evesham to Oxford. They are so named because sheep (cote) ranged freely in huge numbers over the uncultivated open land (wolds). Many of the sheep that roamed on the hills were owned by the local Abbeys, which brought the monks enormous wealth, as wool was the most important trade in the 14th century. Wool merchants built large churches in the district to thank God for their prosperity. These are known as "Wool churches", and the Parish Churches at Cirencester, Northleach and Chipping Camden are typical examples of them.

The Cotswolds became an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966, this means that the Cotswolds are protected as a special landscape of national importance. Originally created by the Gloucestershire branch of the Ramblers' Association, the Cotswold Way has recently been designated the status of a National Trail and is now looked after by the Countryside Agency rather than by Gloucestershire County Council.