Cotswold Way Circular Walks

8. Commons and Canals - The Selsey Circuit

This extremely popular walk is one of the easiest to follow, 5 Stroudwater Canal B4008 winding its way along the Ebeley Mill National Trail for nearly all of its Ryeford N 4 length. From sheltered beech Stanley

Mill B4066 woodlands and over rich open A419 grassland, it guides you around remnants of an industrial past that shaped the landscape we love today. Wander between the grandeur of Victorian mills alongside the sleepy beauty of Selsley King’s the waterway, and discover a 3 Stanley timeless journey between past and present that reveals yet another face of the glorious Cotswolds. Start

Middleyard y Distance: a 5 miles or 8 kms Toots W d Long Barrow l o Duration: w s Selsley Chipping t 3 - 4 hrs o Common Campden C Difficulty: Moderate - Some stiles and steep sections. King’s Stanley 2 Public transport: Pen Wood No. 66S bus between Stroud and 0 Miles 0.5 Gloucester or train to Stonehouse. Bath (See the ‘Explore the Cotswolds’ 0 Kms 0.5 8/17 public transport guide or visit www.traveline.info over a stile and across a meadow. burial mound. Pass over the crest track, formerley a railway track. Start/Finish: After the second stile, follow the of the hill between the long barrow 4 After just under half a mile, Grid reference SO 812/035 bridleway signs up the steep, stony and the topograph, and follow the pass through the kissing gate on (OS Explorer sheet 168) gulley. path straight downhill towards the your right and follow an old railway Postcode GL10 3JD church below. line towards the river. Pass over a 2 At the top, turn left at the Refreshments: small bridge and go up some steps fingerpost and follow the path 3 At the bottom of the path, pass Pubs in Kings Stanley and Selsey through an area of housing, turning down through the woods. Carry though the gate, cross the road left when you meet the canal. 1 Start the walk at the Kings on around the edge of the woods, and follow the signs along to the Continue alongside the picturesque Head pub, with the free car park crossing over a small road, and after right past the lychgate. If you are Stroudwater Navigation, opened behind you and the playing fields half a mile keep your eyes peeled in need of peace and cool serenity, in 1779 and currently restored ahead. Pass around the left of for a marker post pointing up a there is no finer place on this beyond your next bridge at Ryeford. the fields, turning right after the steep track to the right. At the top walk than Selsley Church with its ball-sports court, making for of this track, pass through a kissing beautiful 19th Century stained glass 5 Leaving the canal behind, take the waymarker post between gate to exchange the shelter of the windows designed by leaders of the the path up to the left and head the floodlights.Turn left to head woods for the wide open space Arts and Crafts movement such as down towards the busy road. down the steps and over the little of Selsley Common. Head straight William Morris and Ford Maddox- Cross at the lights and follow footbridge. Continue straight on onto the common, taking the path Brown. Continue on past the Scout the signs towards Stanley Mill. to join the Cotswold Way, ignoring up towards the large tree. As the Hut, crossing a stile on the left to Keeping a good ear and eye out the gate to the left, and head right incredible views open up to your follow the Cotswold Way. Heading for traffic, cross the road just after to follow the signs over the fields. left, ignore the path around the down across the fields towards the bridge to follow the high path Continue around the edge of the bottom of the hill and look for the the fence at the bottom, beautiful across the top of the fields. Follow fields, until you emerge out at posts with green discs to guide you views spread out beneath you of a the Cotswold Way ignoring two Middleyard Baptist Chapel.Turn left towards the Toots. After a moment valley rich in industrial heritage and footbridges. At the second kissing and in 50 metres turn right across to catch your breath and cast your with Ebley Mill its centrepiece. Pass gate turn right, cross a stream and the road to head up Coombe Lane. eyes across the Severn Estuary through the kissing gate and take climb steps to bring you within Carry on following the Cotswold into Wales, continue straight uphill the pedestrian crossing over the sight of the ‘Kings Head’, just across Way as it forks right up a track, towards the Toots, an Iron Age road, continuing left along the cycle the playing field.

Cotswold Way National Trail • Tel: 01451 862000 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.nationaltrail.co.uk