Cotswold Way Circular Walks

Bruce Trail Friendship Trail - Beacons, Commons and Woods

This spectacular walk leads you along peaceful woodland Cli Wood tracks and out onto y 6 Cotsw Wa windswept hillsides with old Edgemoor Hares eld Co Inn breath-taking views. A true tsw 5 ol Ring Hill Hill d W jewel in the Cotswolds crown. Stockend ay 7 Halliday’s Wood Distance: Broadbarrow Bunker’s Green 6 miles or 9.7km Hares eld Bank Scottsquar A4173 Hares eld Camp Beacon (site of) Hill Duration: Start 1 2 - 2½ hrs Shortwood 4 Resthaven Difficulty: N Pitchcombe Residendial Home Moderate - This is a stile-free route Wood with moderate slopes Bird-in-Hand Public transport: 2 Standish No. 63 Stroud to Gloucester bus, Sherman’s Wood stops at ‘Bird in Hand’ (no.2 on Wood A46 map). (See the ‘Explore the ay Pitchcombe W 0 Miles 0.5 ld 3 Cotswolds’ public transport guide o

sw t or visit www.traveline.info o 0 Kms 0.5 C Ruscombe Start/Finish: Wood 9/17 Shortwood National Trust Pay & Whiteshill Ruscombe Display car park SO 832/084 1 Leave the car park through the kissing gate onto Rudge Hill /Edge almost immediately right. Climbing OS Explorer sheet 179) wall near the main entrance and Common. This area of unimproved steadily, take in wonderful views Postcode GL6 6PP follow the Cotswold Way along a limestone grassland is grazed by across the Severn Vale to the Forest broad path into Standish Wood. cattle to preserve the habitat for of Dean and May Hill. On entering Refreshments: At a fingerpost, fork left on a several varieties of orchid and the grassland, follow the fence on your Edgemoor Inn (short detour across permissive path to join a lane via a rare Duke of Burgundy butterfly. To right then head for the trig point on road). Check opening times. gap next to large gates. the right, beautiful views open up of the tip of Haresfield Beacon with Parking Painswick and the spire of St Mary’s more spectacular views. Turn left to Shortwood National Trust car park. 2 Turn left and, where the lane Church. Continue straight ahead to follow the escarpment ridge to a Charges apply. joins another road, cross over and a Cotswold Way marker post. flight of steps which descends to a enter a track to the right of a letter lower track leading to Shortwood. box. At the end of this track, enter 5 At this point, you may turn This part of the Cotswold Way is twinned a large field by a gate alongside a right to the Edgemoor Inn or turn 7 Head left uphill through woods with a section of the Bruce Trail, located stile. Keeping to the right hand left to follow the Cotswold Way all to emerge onto open grassland. in Ontario, Canada, as a mark of boundary, head downhill ignoring the way back to the start. Proceed Bear right and continue to the friendship and international cooperation the first path on the right, but at uphill following a series of waymark end of the promontory where a between our two trails. the second path, divert diagonally posts to the top of the common. topograph sets out the surrounding The 890 km long Bruce Trail is Canada’s left across the field to a kissing gate When you reach an old quarry, countryside in relief. To your oldest and longest marked footpath and in the bottom left hand corner of head down the stone steps and left, the escarpment runs south is maintained by volunteers. The trail the field. cross the road to descend through towards Uley Bury and the Tyndale spans beautiful and varied landscapes as woods and turn left onto a track. Monument. Further right is the it passes through Canada’s most densely 3 Pass through the kissing gate From here there are clear views Seven Estuary where, on a clear populated region, and is the only and join a broad track through to the Malvern Hills and, on a clear day, the twin bridges can be seen. continuous public access to the Niagara Pitchcombe Wood. All along this day, to the Brecon Beacons. Finally, to the west, lies the Forest Escarpment, a UNESCO World Biosphere path there are fine views down to of Dean with the Welsh hills in the Reserve. For further information on this Pitchcombe village with its small Continue to another road and distance. Once you have drunk wonderful trail, visit: www.brucetrail.org church and across the Painswick turn right downhill. Turn left at your fill of one of the Cotswolds’ . Valley. At the end of the track, an old well and horse trough to finest views, put your back to the The following route description enter a field by a metal field gate climb steadily. Three slabs of stone topograph and follow the trodden below is even and follow the left side of the under yew trees are known as path back to where you began. easier to follow, field to the next field boundary “Cromwell’s Stone” and bear the the friendship then turn right down to a gate in date 1643 which corresponds to trail has been the corner. Continue down to a the Siege of Gloucester. Continue signed at key metalled lane. through the woods towards Ringhill points with a Farm. special marker 4 Turn left and, where the lane disc (pictured right). bears right, keep straight on to a 6 At the road, turn left uphill and

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