CORINIUM TO AQUAE SULIS DAY FIVE

CIRENCESTER TO BATH MAINLY ON THE FOSSE WAY

20 MARCH 2015 - BATHEASTON TO BATH

The Old Mill Hotel has a nice restaurant overlooking the River Avon and the buffet breakfast was excellent. The morning was overcast but the indications were it would not last. We opted not to follow the course of the Fosse Way into Bath as it is now an A road although there is a footway.

We crossed the Toll Bridge over to Bathampton on the south side of the River Avon which is next to a pretty weir. Followed the road as it crossed over the A4 and a railway.

This is St Nicholas Church in Bathampton and a lady kindly went and got the key to let me in as I wanted to see an exhibition on the life of Arthur Phillip RN (1738 - 1814) the First Governor of New South Wales and Founder of modern Australia. Better than that I came away with a good booklet by Robin Donald charting his career. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Phillip

 

This is part of the display.

Then it was up some steps and on to the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal which runs 87 miles from Reading on the River Thames to Bath and the River Avon. http://www1.katrust.org.uk/

During the next half hour as we followed the towpath for 2.8 miles we were able to enjoy the lunar eclipse of the sun and because the sun was nearly obscured by the cloud I was able to take this photo. Later as we walked along the canal it was possible to see it in the waters of the canal. Lots of people were out of their canal boats looking at it through the right kit.

As you enter Bath the canal goes through tunnels and under Cleveland House, former HQ of the canal company.

The sun was now making its presence felt and we were in for a good day.

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There is then a series of locks down to the River Avon

It was at this lock that I had a two our training course before being able to hire a canal boat, there is much more to it than you think.

The eclipse was over and the sun was warming us up and it was a magical still morning.

The sun was full out as we reached the bottom lock into the River Avon with this lovely weeping willow tree.

We followed the River Avon downstream, got mixed up with a whole load of tourists doing a town walk and then headed up through gardens to admire the Royal Crescent. This is a row of 30 houses designed by John Wood the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774 which has Grade 1 Listing.

Fortunately if you photograph it from below you do not see too much of the parked cars. Number 1 is a museum showing how it would have been in the 18th Century and Numbers 15 and 16 are the Royal Crescent Hotel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Crescent

Heading into town we went through the Circus another excellent example of Georgian architecture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Circus,_Bath

Descending through the picturesque town with its alley ways and wide variety of shops we aimed for Bath Abbey. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_Abbey This is a picture of its spectacular ceiling, a major construction achievement at this height in those days.

The Abbey is full of things to look at and memorials to all sorts of people.

Window commemorating the crowning in Bath Abbey in 975 of Edgar, first effective king of all England.

 

We adjourned to the www.coeur-de-lion.co.uk for a pub meal and a pint and then returned to the square outside the Abbey to listen to a musician busking and then went home on the train.

 

A 6-mile day

 

The next adventure the North Wales Coast Path.

CORINIUM TO AQUAE SULIS DAY FOUR

CIRENCESTER TO BATH MAINLY ON THE FOSSE WAY

19TH MARCH 2015 GRITTLETON TO BATHEASTON

After a good breakfast it was out into the cold and overcast day and the morning was more like we should have expected in March. We went back across the three fields to the Fosse Way, the one that was cropped soaking our boots for the first time this holiday.

There was only a mile of unsurfaced Fosse Way and then there was eight miles of the Fosse Way as a modern road although mainly with little vehicular traffic. This is where we joined the road just before the underpass under the M4. 

A quarter of a mile later we passed the Salutation Inn all shut up as it was far too early, there would not be another pub until Batheaston.

The road descended down a valley to cross the By Brook by the Fosse Bridge after 2.8 miles. Most of the water was being diverted into a mill stream just before the bridge.

On climbing out of the valley we diverted off the Fosse Way to look at Lugbury Long Barrow. It is 180 x 90 feet but only 6 feet high because of ploughing damage.

19th century excavations revealed three chambers with burials of 28 adults and children. At the eastern end there must have been a formal or false entrance as there are to vertical entrance stones and one that looked as though it was balanced on top but had slipped.

After 1.5 miles we next descended to the Broadmead Brook where there was another Roman settlement and a Temple of Apollo. We followed a bridleway along the valley to a clearing in a wood where we had a break.

 

 This is the valley and in the distance the bridge on the Fosse Way but we could not locate anything we could identify and returned to the Fosse Way. Pity there was not a display board!

There was a long climb out of the valley, a short dip into another and then at The Shoe we stopped on a  bank for our picnic lunch. Shortly after we arrived at The Shoe, the pub became a house a long time ago. The sun was making an appearance. The Fosse Way descended into the pretty valley of Doncombe Brook and the descent makes one wonder what sort of braking system Roman vehicles used. At the bottom by the brook and a road junction is this pill box.

On climbing out of the valley the huge active military Colerne Airfield was on the left and at the other end we passed the end of a huge runway. A busier road joined from the left which made progress more difficult, hoping on and off the verge.

After a quarter of a mile we got to the Three Shires Stone down off the road on the right marking where Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire meet. They were erected in 1736 and repositioned in 1859 and are a folly despite their megalithic appearance.

Apparently on digging a hole for the Gloucestershire stone three skeletons and a James II coin were found.

 

 

Another mile and we finally got off the road onto Banner Down where the Fosse Way deviates from the modern road and we began a 160 metre decent to the River Avon.

By now my legs were beginning to complain, the pounding along the road was taking its toll. With great pleasure we diverted into the George and Dragon at Batheaston to get two pints of ale and a rest as we had not really stopped all day.

 

Rejuvenated it was half a mile along a flat path by the River Avon to the Old Mill Hotel next to the Toll Bridge. www.oldmillbath.co.uk In the evening we walked to the George Inn by the Kennet and Avon Canal for a meal.

 

It was a 12.80 mile day

CORINIUM TO AQUAE SULIS DAY THREE

CIRENCESTER TO BATH MAINLY ON THE FOSSE WAY

18 MARCH 2015 - CRUDWELL TO GRITTLETON

The day started sunny and kept that way all day - magnificent walking weather for March.
We retraced our steps along the footpath through Crudwell and Chedglow, successfully avoiding getting electrocuted this time and got back on the Fosse Way.

The going was good today mainly on a Fosse Way looking like this section at the beginning.

This is Ashley Marsh Covert, a private wood, off to the right going south. There is nothing to be seen but there was a Romano British Settlement there and apparently sandstone roofing tile fragments are numerous in the ploughed soil. 

The Fosse Way runs to the west of the former Long Newton airfield now largely restored to agriculture.

A glimpse through an entrance way into the former airfield and there were a number of buildings that could date from World War II.

Before the B4014 there is this prefabricated pill box on the east side of the Fosse Way and another to the west of the route in a field.

This is the ford on the Fosse Way where vehicle users cross the Tetbury Branch of the River Avon.

 Fortunately pedestrians have the old footbridge next to it to get across.

At Whitewalls there is another earthwork in a wood believed to be of Roman origin. Between the wood and the Fosse Way is an industrial estate and although it is not advertised my old guide book told me it used to be a prisoner of war camp and in one of the old prefabricated buildings built to house them Italian prisoners had created a chapel and decorated it. These pictures are of the ceiling. Thanks to the occupier who was using it as a workshop for letting me in and showing me around.

 As you descend from Whitewalls to the Sherston Branch of the River Avon there is the site of a Roman settlement on both sides of the track shown above.

At the bottom there is this lovely bridge and a spot where we had a picnic lunch next to the river. There are also some display boards relating the archaeological significance of this site.

Having climbed out of the valley the photos above and below show the next pretty section.

The route then becomes a tarmac road through fields.

 On the way the road crosses a railway and passes Fosse Lodge with an interesting tower feature.

At Dunley the Fosse Way returns to being a rough vehicular track. South of Brimsol Spring we took the footpath south east across three fields to Grittleton to stay at the Neeld Arms www.neeldarms.co.uk located in The Street just east of the church. Excellent food, exceptionally well patronised for a Wednesday, rooms well appointed but the floor boards creaked.

 

A 12.8 mile day.

CORINIUM TO AQUAE SULIS DAY TWO

CIRENCESTER TO BATH MAINLY ON THE FOSSE WAY

17TH MARCH 2015 - CIRENCESTER TO CRUDWELL

It was up early and a full English Breakfast and then into the town to get some picnic materials for lunch on days three and four.  The misty start was already giving way to week sunshine and the predictions for a good day encouraged us to start.

We left Cirencester via Querns Lane the Roman Via Principalis to visit the Roman amphitheatre on the south western edge of the town. This is an artists impression that is on display in the Corinium Museum and it had a seating capacity of 8,000.

The reality of what remains impresses, this is the approach from the road.

This is the centre with Dave giving some scale.

We started out on the A429 and the first section has a footway. This in the one mile marker.

We left the road, because the next few miles would be suicidal for pedestrians and followed the Monarch's Way http://www.monarchsway.50megs.com/ across the grounds of the Royal Agricultural University http://www.rau.ac.uk/

We also passed some waymarks for the Palladium Way http://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_publication.php?publication_id=9046 This is Ashwell Pool reached after 3.61 miles.

This is the view towards Bledisloe House from the path

These snowdrops are located on the outer edge of Trewsbury Camp Hill Fort http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/ancient-glos/p32 

On reaching the remains of the Thames and Severn Canal we diverted to have a look at the source of the River Thames. As is normal some stones where water gushes out occasionally marks the spot as does the wording on the marker stone behind it but there was no water to be seen despite it being March.

The next section was along the towpath of the Thames and Severn Canal which is part of the Thames and Severn Way and also the Wysis Way from Monmouth, one Dave and I have already done. This section is dry and could only be navigable if the former pumping stations could be activated to bring enough water to the surface. See www.cotswoldcanals.com

The towpath went under a bridge carrying a railway.

The Coates Round House. Photograph taken into the now glorious sunshine.

Tarlton Bridge carries the road between Tarlton and Coates and the towpath goes underneath.

This was the start of a short section where there was water in the canal.

This is the Coates Portal to the two-mile long Sapperton Tunnel where there has been a collapse of the roof, it is the fourth longest tunnel in Britain.

Lunch was taken after six miles at the nearby Tunnel House Inn and we were lucky enough to get our order in before a large party of ramblers arrived after their morning walk. www.tunnelhouse.com

Then it was on via Tarlton to Rodmarton where we paused on the seat just in the picture and explored the Church of St Matthew. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodmarton

 

After that it was down a lane to cross the A433 onto the unsurfaced Stonehill Lane. We did stop to look at the disused railway line and the site of Rodmarton Halt but it was overgrown. The Lane continued across open fields to the Fosse Way to the South West of Kemble Airfield.  

This is what we had come for, the relatively undamaged section of the Fosse Way.

We continued passing Fosse Gate and Ash Bed until we diverted off it along the path that led through Chedglow to Crudwell which was 1.61 miles off the Fosse Way.

Just before Chedglow we saw this huge field full of hundreds of chickens.

At West Crudwell we came across this unpleasant structure an electrified fence too high to step over and with no way of disconnecting it. I got a belt from it and took a step back. Using my insulated walking stick handle I managed to push it down. Not far enough as Dave got hooked up in it fell over and got several belts before extricating himself from it. It is being reported.

 

We continued to the Best Western Mayfield House Hotel in Crudwell for our overnight stay. www.mayfieldhousehotel.co.uk  We walked SW down the A429 to the Wheatsheaf Inn for our evening meal although there is another pub the Potting Shed  to the NE where we sampled some ale after the walk.

 

It was a 14-mile day.