Cotswold Circular Walk from Bourton-on-the-Water

It was a damp, misty morning with the windscreen wipers on intermittent as we drove to Bourton-on-the-Water. It had been a damp and unseasonably mild December spell, which would undoubtedly make the route chosen for the day soggy, muddy and slippery underfoot. I had walked the route only six days earlier, but since then rather more rain had fallen making it even more slippery.

There were twelve of us gathered in the car park adjacent to Birdland in Bourton. The rain had ceased but the atmosphere was still very damp. As we donned our boots and sorted ourselves out, hoots of derision came from the other side of the leylandii hedge from numerous exotic birds.

Setting off we walked through the centre of the village and out the other side. What a difference a few months make. In the summer you can hardly move for tourists in Bourton, visiting Birdland, model village, dragonfly maze, motor museum and a whole range of expensive shops and cafes. Today, the streets were quiet and we were able to walk through beside the shallow River Windrush with the village Christmas tree firmly planted in the middle and decorated with lights.

Leaving the village we entered a field via a very muddy gateway that had us clinging to the fence in an effort to avoid the worst of it. The route followed the Windrush but, thankfully, up from the water itself where the ground was significantly more waterlogged. The path was relatively level with just a few undulations through riverside copses but the nature of the walk changed little as we generally stuck to following the fairly shallow valley.

The Black Horse Inn, Naunton

The Black Horse Inn, Naunton

Eventually we climbed out of the valley at the point where the Windrush Way joins with the Cotswold Diamond Way. Although we were walking the opposite way, it was instantly recognisable from when we walked the latter in 2013. Reaching the top of the hill by the golf course the village of Naunton came into view, nestling in the next valley, looking hazy in the damp atmosphere. Smoke drifted lazily in vertical columns from Cotswold stone cottages in the windless conditions. Entering the village, the path came out almost opposite the Black Horse Inn, for which we made a beeline, looking forward to nothing more than coffee and hot chocolate. When I ordered the locals sitting round the bar chortled as the young barman hated fighting with the coffee machine. Not all those round the bar were drinking beer or wine as the occupant of one of the stools was a spaniel, clearly at home in the pub, as were several other dogs content to get under our feet as we trooped in to enjoy our drinks.

We were now about half way round our circular route and we left the village by following the Wardens Way up a sloping field through woodland and on up and over three very muddy fields with young crops in. It did not help that this was a bridleway and horses had churned up the path making it even more precarious. As we climbed we entered a world of mist and at one point the front of the group was invisible to the back until my phone alerted me to the fact and we waited to allow them to catch up. It seemed a good opportunity to stop for lunch, too wet to sit down but there was at least a good wall for us to lean on.

The Church in Upper Slaughter

The Church in Upper Slaughter

We were making good progress, fascinated by the content of hundreds of tubes with newly planted trees and shrubs as we descended to Upper Slaughter, the first of two very attractive villages, oozing Cotswold charm with yellow stone cottages and the odd superior country hotel, Eyford House, formerly the Manor House and voted the nation’s favourite house by Country Life in 2011. The church stands imposingly on a hill.

The mill and sluice in Lower Slaughter

The mill and sluice in Lower Slaughter

A mile further on we came to, what I consider to be even more beautiful, Lower Slaughter with its water mill, now a museum, superior gift shop and café, with the river running gently through the village, home to many well fed ducks. Like Upper Slaughter, Lower Slaughter boasts an even more spectacular Manor House, again converted into a very smart hotel. On this occasion it was closed to the public as it had been completely taken over by a private event. Not that we were considering dirtying its carpets with our muddy boots. Even the country house inn was too smart for us, so we just passed through.

By now we could hear the traffic on the busy road bypassing Bourton and it was not long before we were walking the pavements back to the car park, now much busier with tourists, even at this time of year. It was a pleasant walk despite the slippery paths in places, despite the lack of views, despite the dampness in the air (at least it did not rain) but because of the good company, walking with a group of like-minded friends. It was 11 miles of conversation and catching up.

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