The long and winding road

 

In a perfect example of stupidly doing what you've always done, rather than approaching each task afresh, we decided a while ago that we would drive to Bath, take the train and bus to Chipping Camden and then walk back to the car.

This made perfect sense for our earlier hikes a good distance away from home, but with the benefit of hindsight made no sense for this trip.

Not even mentioning the inglorious details of our attempts to park and the cost of that, we realised whilst changing trains in Bristol (3 hours after leaving home) that we could have done the whole thing on public transport more easily, cheaper, and quicker.

I'd like to say lesson learned, but honestly, there's no guarantee of that!

The final leg of the journey was a somewhat tortuous and meandering 2 hour bus journey from Cheltenham to Chipping Camden. If you drive yourself it takes 40 minutes.

As we were buying the tickets the driver noted that we were in for a long haul, but that we would at least see some pretty villages. He neglected to mention that we would see some of them twice, for reasons unclear. To make all the to-ing, fro-ing, and doubling back even more pointless, no one got on or off the bus.

Chipping Camden is very Cotswolds - attractive, expensive, and we've already come across more Americans than seems reasonable.

We're staying at the Red Lion Tavern, which is fine, and we've had a good meal at the Eight Bells (chicken katsu curry/butternut squash salad). And a half of the local beer, Coltswold Best, which was tasty too.

All that remains is for us to get our heads in the game for the next 10 days of walking. The Cotswold Way starts at the Market House, which you can see in the picture at the top, and is marked by this stone. It lists the places we'll pass through, and has a TS Elliott quote.

Wish us luck!

Em x