Walk 6: Dowdeswell to Leckhampton Hill (officially 4.7 miles but we took a detour!)

There was an important football match (England's opening match in the Euros) at 2pm, so we planned an early start so as to be back in time. This turned out to be a very good thing, as today turned out to be the hottest day so far, and by mid afternoon temperatures were around 26 degrees Centigrade.

We met up at 9.30 and though warm the temperature was still quite pleasant. We were walking today with our friend and yoga teacher Katy (green tree yoga), and her husband Brian and their children Lauren and George. We started at Dowdeswell, where walk 5 finished.

 The walk started with a long and steep climb through Lineover Wood. The climb did not bother the young ones at all, who shot ahead. The older generation took a more leisurely pace, and stopped for the occasional photo opportunity, as well as to catch our breath. 

We climbed steadily for about a mile. As we rested at the top, taking a selfie of all of us

we met a couple who were walking the whole of the Cotswold Way in 10 days, carrying their belongings in large rucksacks. We chatted to them for a while and admired the challenge they were undertaking!

We walked through the Wistley Plantation, a lovely wood with Ravensgate Hill falling away sharply to our right, and emerged onto Wistley Hill - with amazing views over to the Malvern Hills and beyond.

We are discovering some beautiful spots, not far from home, that we would never had known about if we hadn't done this walk. This was definitely one of them. The hill was covered in orchids and other wild flowers.

Unfortunately at this point we managed to miss a waymark, and continued down the hill instead of turning left across it. It took us quite a while of downhill walking before we discovered our mistake which meant that once we turned back, there was quite a lot of uphill walking to do! Lessons learned - keep a very good lookout for waymarks at all times, and take a map and a compass. The walk has been so well signposted, that today we forgot to take them with us - a mistake.

Once back on the track it was a pleasant walk across fields and through a shady wood

 down to Seven Springs - which some say is the source of the Thames, but actually is mainly a busy roundabout junction of a couple of main roads. Having safely crossed this, we strolled along Hartley Lane towards Charlton Kings Common. By this time, it was getting very hot and both Deborah and Lily needed frequent stops, so Katy and family continued on ahead, as they needed to be home in time for some guests arriving, whilst the rest of us continued more slowly finding shade where we could.

There was one more steep climb to get on to the Common, but once up on the top there was a cooling breeze and beautiful views over Cheltenham.

As we walked along the escarpment, we bumped into the intrepid couple we had met earlier, and walked along with them. They thought it was the nicest walk they had done so far. They were going all the way to Birdlip, so we left them at the car park where we had left our car, and were home in time for the football. Luckily England won.

Lesson 3 learned - don't have a deadline to get back to. Especially if you are planning to get lost!

We are raising funds for Maggie's Centres. If you would like to contribute, here's the link.