P Transport yourself from the bustle of Witney to the beautiful, This route is a partnership between: 47 48 A quiet lanes of the Windrush Valley on this delightful ride into M the Cotswold countryside. On your way to the market town • Gloucestershire County Council E of Northleach, you will pass the ruined priory of Minster • Oxfordshire County Council L Lovell, Burford’s picture-postcard High Street, and the • Sustrans C National Trust’s Sherborne Estate – and enjoy some Y Worcester C stunning views as buzzards soar overhead. Stratford 70 Great Malvern -upon- Burford is one of the most picturesque towns in England – Evesham 46 45 5 with its medieval bridge, old stone houses and attractive Banbury Windrush Valley Buckingham Tudor and Georgian frontages. Often referred to as the Tewkesbury 48 ‘Gateway to the Cotswolds’, the town was originally a 51 45 5 fortified Anglo-Saxon ford which later grew to be a wealthy 44 42 Cheltenham Cycle Route Bicester 47 wool town. Little changed over the centuries, Burford is Gloucester Kidlington justly popular for its beauty and history, its shopping and Northleach 57 antiques, and for the wide variety of places to eat. Witney Oxford Stroud 57 Visitor Information Centre, Tel 01993 823558 45 Cirencester Berkeley Abingdon www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org Wallingford 41 Nailsworth Cricklade Witney to the Cotswolds Northleach is a Cotswold secret, standing at a crossroads 44 10 48 Swindon Didcot 5 on the Roman Fosse Way, and rich in architectural interest – 41 from half-timbered Tudor houses and merchants’ stores to the great House of Correction, and the finest example of the Sustrans and the National Cycle Network Cotswold perpendicular style in the impressive Church of St Peter and Paul. The marketplace remains busy with trade Sustrans is the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity, and the local hostelries provide a lively service to both working on practical projects so people can choose to travel visitors and locals. in ways that benefit their health and the environment. The www.northleach.gov.uk charity is behind many groundbreaking projects including E R the National Cycle Network, over 12,000 miles of traffic-free, I quiet lanes and on-road walking and cycliing routes around H Credits S Front cover: Burford. Photography by net_efekt at flickr.com (CC-BY). the UK. We are the charity making a difference today so For licence details, see www.creativecommons.org. everyone can live a better tomorrow. R E Other photographs by Richard Fairhurst. T Support Sustrans. Join the movement. S E C For more information on the National Cycle U Network, to buy maps and guides, or to become a O Sustrans Supporter visit or call: L G www.sustrans.org.uk D N A 0845 113 00 65 E R I Registered charity number 326550 (England and Wales), SC039263 (Scotland) H S D R O F X O Ascott-under- Wychwood Windrush Valley Cycle Route Charlbury Planned National Route 48 (Fosse 2) to Shipton-under- B4437 Moreton and Leicester Wychwood Great Rissington Finstock A429 A424 Leafield Farmington Steep hill B4022 A40 Great A361 Unsigned link route A429 Taynton Sherborne Barrington to Charlbury railway Follow one-way station (6 miles) NORTHLEACH system in Burford Windrush Fulbrook Asthall Swinbrook Leigh Little Widford Hailey National Route 48 Barrington (Fosse 2) to Cirencester: Minster Crawley 12 miles, fully signed Eastington BURFORD Lovell Asthall WITNEY B4020 B4047 B4425 Aldsworth Westwell A40 A361 Follow cycle path along main road Brize Norton scale A4095 0 1 mile CARTERTON The route Getting there by public transport Key 17 miles of fine Cotswold scenery await the cyclist on a well The nearest railway station is Charlbury, 6 miles from the route at Regional Route 47 signposted route passing through historic market towns and Asthall Leigh, with regular services to London Paddington, Oxford National Route 48 honey-coloured stone villages. and Worcester. An enjoyable link route on country lanes is link route to railway station Witney has several cycle paths providing safe routes to Burford marked on this map but not signed. Road on the north side of town. Regional Route 47 follows the For cyclists continuing on National Route 48 to Cirencester, A road cycle path beside Burford Road as far as Minster Lovell. Kemble station (also with services to London Paddington) is B road, unclassified road The route then follows country lanes along the Windrush another 4 miles past the town on National Route 45. river Valley, often undulating but never steep – with one exception railway, station approaching Farmington. Only one main road is encountered, in Map data from OpenStreetMap (www.openstreetmap.org, CC-BY-SA). For licence details, see www.creativecommons.org. Cartography by Richard Fairhurst pub Burford, and several pubs along the way offer refreshment. (www.systemed.net/carto)..