Winchcombe Walkers are Welcome www.winchcombewelcomeswalkers.com
WINCHCOMBE
Walk 7 Winchcombe to Toddington circular walk
Viaduct A walk on undulating paths above the © OpenstreetMap contributors and WWaW attractive Isbourne valley to Toddington; St. Andrew’s Church returning near therestored steam Toddington D railway then via the Winchcombe Way. Cricket Opportunity to use public transport New Pavilion B4077 T o w n back from Toddington. Stanway House St. Peter’s Church GWR Stanway Distance: 9½ miles (15kms) C Station Stanway Watermill
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e 0 0.25 mile n Duration: 4 hours B4078 r u o b 0 Is 0.5 km
Difficulty: fairly level,0 with minor0.25 rises0.5 mile
0 0.5 km R and falls; a few kissing gates and stiles i v
e r St. George’s
Isb Church ou rn Start/finish: Abbey Terrace, Winchcombe; e Didbrook grid ref. SP 025/282 E Wood Stanway OS maps : Outdoor Leisure 45 B Landranger 150
Refreshments: Winchcombe (cafés, pubs) Greet (station café) Royal Oak Gretton B4362 Hailes Toddington (station café, pub) Hailes Church Stanley Hailes Pontlarge Wood Hailes Ascent : 527 ft (160m) River Isbourne Greet Abbey Prescott Pottery Hayles ay Fruit Farm ay Cups Hill W W Stanley old ld Standing on Abbey Terrace walk towards GWR w o ts w Hill Wood o s Station C t Climb o the shops and turn right into Castle C
Manor T los Way ir Street, Ga steep hill leading down to the le Farm y B a ro o W k River Isbourne. ne Petrol r
ou Station b Is Farmcote Herbs Cross the river andLangley take Hill the signposted A 275 m Farmcote Gloucestershire Way on the left. At the Langley Hill Farm Farmcote gate, go straight ahead beside the river for Church
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Stancombe a about ½ mile (0.8km), emerging on the r Farm T n
e Ha d r p Broadway Road. Turn left over the roadve ys m La a bridge spanning the River Isbourne beforene Tourist Information Centre C Nottingham Hill S al W Winchcombe t inc 279m Rushbury St. Peters Church W hc View towards the Cotswold escarpmentomb crossing the road into Riverside, turning a e W House Winc y ay hcombe right into a cul de sac shortly afterwards. Way Lodge St Kenelm’s ay FollowW this track as it rises gently towards Longwood d C Turn Wright e l l here and follow the path Walk towards a large cedar tree and bear ol Farm sw Sudeley Hill Dryfield ot Langley 32 someC farm buildings B. Farm along the drive, then pass through the gate Farm right to follow the tarmac Bro opathk as itB4 6slopes
e n Sudeley r on the left just before the house. Follow u to the right down to, then alongside, the o Castle b Apple Tree Is . R There are good views acrossThe the Home Isbourne the line of the fence for a short distance Pub 2 3 river. The path bends to the left and ends Parks 6 4 B old Way otsw Valley to the Cotswold escarpment, and then bear right towards the footbridge C at a housing developement.Postlip Continue in Mill Cricket C o your will see Toddington Church and Club n over the Isbourne. thePostlip same direction through Greenways to d e Golf Club House a B Hall n e e ManorL (wrapped in plastic) ahead. & refreshments s a m meet Greet Road near a red telephone n o Sudeley Corndean e o r Lodge Farm B Cross the bridge and take the obvious r kiosk A. Turn right and walk along Greet o o k Postlip Keep going in the same direction along path about 30° left across the field Road for aboutFarm ½ mile (0.8km) past the Rising the track, ignoring a footpath junction towards a pair of gates; take the right Sun medical centre, the senior school and Parks y Topograph near another seta of buildings. Approx gate and passFarm through this, then turn Washpool W Winchcombe station to a crossroads. e No Man’s b m Patch 200Car parkingmetres furtherco on, cross the stile on immediately left through a gate. FollowDeadmanbury the ch for Belas Knap in Gate Woodpeckers W Newmeadow 2 the right. Go straight down the bank to a well-worn path across the field towards a 3 6 Carry on in the same direction into Farm 4 Cleeve Common Source of B y R. Isbourne Postlip Warren wella defined farm track. Turn left downhill W Market Lane and follow it through Greet. d l 286m o w WWaW hope you enjoy the walk, however the walk is undertaken at s Humblebee Breakheart t towards Toddington. Look out for a foot- Ignore turnings to the left and right. After o Cottages Plantation C your sole risk and WWaW have no responsibility for loss, damage, path sign pointing right at a T-junction of injury or interpretation. Every possible care has been taken to Southam the turning to Grove View, the road Spoonley ensure the information given was accurate at the time of creation. 322m tracks. Waterhatch . W Spoonley Villa Wood becomes a track. Limehill S i ou ane n tham L Solitary ch Wood c T r e e o m b Belas Coles’s Hill 5 e
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4 W C Knap A P o s t a o Ellenborough Stone y tsw ol Park Hotel Blocks d W ay GWR Station Queen’s Wood
Cheltenham Radio Dew pond Race Course Masts Wontley Farm (Disused)
Prestbury No ve rt on
Pittville Lane white roadside direction post on the right on Salter’s Lane, shortly afterwards B4077 road. turning sharp left along a track (signed Cotswold Way) follow the Cotswold Way Cross the B4077 road with care and back to Winchcombe. walk up Church Lane for about ¼ mile (0.4km) to a Y junction. Take the left To reach the start point of this walk fork to visit St Andrew’s Church. Our from the junction of Puckpit Lane walk takes the right fork. D Look for the and Broadway Road, simply walk over Hailes church path which ascends the bank on the right Isbourne road bridge and up Hailes Street. The Abbey itself was founded in 1246 by almost immediately. Take this path into a Alternatively, you may retrace your Earl Cornwall in thanks for being saved field then carry on in the same direction outward route beside the river; look out from a shipwreck. It had a famous relic towards a barn to meet a concrete track for kingfishers – you may be lucky! – a phial of, allegedly, Christ’s blood. This (which can be very muddy in winter!). attracted large numbers of pilgrims before (The bus service is provided by Marchants the monastery was destroyed in 1539. Turn left along this track, passing a Coaches. www.marchants-coaches.com). house on your left. Carry on in the same direction, through three gates, then climb Points of interest. © Winchcombe Walkers are Welcome 2017 a stile at the Broadway - Winchcombe road (B4632). Winchcombe and Toddington stations Turn right along the verge towards the Part of the volunteer-run Gloucestershire roundabout at New Town. You may Warwickshire Railway. Following the return to Winchcombe by bus (see note closure of the British Rail line in 1976, at the end) from the nearby Pheasant enthusiasts bought the trackbed, relaid Inn, or from the stop on the road to the rails, and repaired rolling stock, Tewkesbury. locomotives and buildings. Regular steam and diesel-hauled trains run on the line. To continue the walk, turn left at the See www.gwsr.com for more information. roundabout towards Stow. Walk along the right hand side of that road (B4077), passing the garden centre and the station entrance.
Cross the railway bridge, pass the houses on your right, then turn right at a footpath sign into a field. Bear slightly right and walk along by the railway through several fields for about ½ mile (0.8km) until you Winchcombe station reach one of the lanes passing through Didbrook. St Andrew’s Church, Toddington, the third church on this site, was Turn left along this lane for about ¼ commissioned in the late 19th century mile (0.4km) to the triangle of lanes in by the third Lord Sudeley. The first Lord the centre of the village. You may divert Sudeley and Lady Sudeley are sculpted here to St George’s Church, a short inside the building on a Gothic altar tomb. distance to your left. The walk continues Toddington Manor, owned by Damien by turning right at the triangle. At the Hurst, is nearby: its plastic wrapping has right hand bend a short distance ahead, been in place since 2006. go through a gate E and follow the direction of a footpath sign towards the St George’s Church, Didbrook, right hand corner of the field. Turn right was rebuilt in the late 15th century at the junction of paths here onto the for the then Abbot of Hailes. It has a Winchcombe Way. Perpendicular tower, while its interior was opened up in a restoration in the early Walk along the track, following it where it 20th century. It has attractive stained glass. bends right to meet a road. Turn left along the road, and left again at a road Didbrook village has many medieval cruck junction to arrive in Hailes. There is a lot cottages and Elizabethan buildings. of historical interest around the church and the abbey. Hailes Church was built in the period 1139–51. Early English windows were Go past Hailes Church, and turn right just added in the 13th century, along with the before the Abbey (signed Winchcombe wall paintings. There is a medieval bestiary Way / Cotswold Way). Cross the field and some fine heraldic arms. and merge on a road (Salter’s Lane). Turn