7 June 2008: Cleeve Hill to Seven Springs

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Walking distance: 10 miles
Walking time: about 6.45 hours including getting lost and a short pub break.
Weather: Sunny and warm.

Way points: Cleeve Common, Bill Smyllies nature reserve, Dowdeswell reservoir with Reservoir Inn.

Again we drove to the possible end point of our walk and parked the car at the Hungry Horse in Seven Springs. (We had a back-up plan for an earlier stop and a bus option - rather complex - to get back to Seven Springs should we not make the whole stretch)
We took the bus No. 51 at 10:40 to Cheltenham, where we had a nice late breakfast in a cafe while waiting for the next bus. This was the 606 that we had used before and we took the 12:00 to Cleeve Hill. The friendly bus driver dropped us of at the golf course drive way, so we just had to walk up to the car park in the disused quarry and continue with the Cotswold Way from there.
First we walked along the ridge of Cleeve Common with some fabulous views over Cheltenham, then through a bit of woodland and into Bill Smyllies nature reserve. A little bit later we lost the path for the first time on our Cotswold Way walk which lead to a two mile detour and a grumpy tour leader (me).
After a long downhill and even longer uphill bit (at least it felt longer!) that were both NOT part of the Cotswold Way we finally found it again and from then on it was well sign-posted again - or at least easy to follow on the map.
After we passed Dowdeswell reservoir (this could not be seen until we crossed the road later and walked up on the other side) we decided to stop for pints of coke and lemonade at the Reservoir Inn. This was the back-up option and we could have possibly stopped a bus from here to take us back into Cheltenham. But after the refreshing drinks we decided to push on. It was another long climb up a hill with a really steep bit right at the top, and we were relieved that the sun was on its way down behind opposite hills. Also whoever put a bench up at the top of the climb deserves a round of applause!
From the bench it was mainly down hill and we were back at the Hungry Horse around 19:00. To justify our use of the car park, and because we were "knackered" we stayed for dinner before driving back home.
This was a long walk, but it felt good to take it near our limits. Now we know we can do 10 miles, even with a start after mid day - let's see how we progress further in 2009! :-)

More details of the fourth stage of the walk are in this photo album:

CotswoldWayIV - click on the picture to open the album