Cam & Dursley Station
Up to Stinchcombe Hill
summary
Most of the walk is through open country with a real sense of space; only the main ascent
and descent of the Cotswold Edge are in woods.
Around the top of Stinchcombe Hill the path takes arguably the most attractive section of the Cotswold Way and offers several good locations for a picnic stop. There is one stiff and two much shorter climbs. Thanks to Chris Keeling for his work on the maps.
Around the top of Stinchcombe Hill the path takes arguably the most attractive section of the Cotswold Way and offers several good locations for a picnic stop. There is one stiff and two much shorter climbs. Thanks to Chris Keeling for his work on the maps.
Details and start point
Distance: 8.5 miles
Distance: 13.5 km
Walking time: 5 hours
What 3 Words: replace.these.words
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Step by Step Directions
1
Go left from the station yard then right along Halmore Lane. After 150 yards, just before reaching the river Cam, cross the stile on the right and go straight ahead to a gateway and through the next field to cross a stile by the sub-station. Go to the right of the sub-station and take the track to go through a gate, then bear slightly left to a kissing gate in the far corner of the field. Bear right under the concrete bridge (which once carried the Coaley Junction-to-Dursley railway line) and between fences to a road. Here, turn left to the end of the road, then right on a path, next to the Royal Mail sorting office, to the main road.2
Go left and then cross the road at the pedestrian refuge and walk along Draycott Crescent, turning right at a small grass area. Take the path to the left of No. 26, cross the lane, then continue along the same line on residential streets and a linking footpath to a field with stile on your right. Go up the field to a stile against the barn wall and up to a gate to meet a road. Go half right and through the gate opposite, then uphill following the hedge on your left. After you pass under a power line bear right to a kissing gate in the hedge before the first house and walk between fences to pass a barn and reach a gap in the hedge where you tum right on a path to Field Lane.3
Cross the narrow lane, go over the stone stile (to the left of the mast) and into the field. Follow the paddock fence but, when it turns sharply left and down, take the path which forks to the right and, rising now, follow a clear path through bushes to cross a stone stile in the corner. Go straight on with the hedge on your right to cross the next stile, then walk ahead and down to cross another stone stile. Turn half left and go down the field to cross the stream at a metal gate and continue up the track to the road which descends Tait's Hill to the A38. Cross the road, go downhill 30 yards and turn into the road on your left. After 30 yards go up left on a tree-lined track beside the gates. Continue when the track becomes a road then turn right along the signposted bridleway opposite the last house on the left. After 600 yards and passing Dursley Rugby Club and Stinchcombe Cricket Club reach a road. Turn right for 30 yards, then left at the signed bridleway for a long climb up to Stinchcombe Hill.4
When you emerge, with relief, at the golf course look right to find, by the 12th tee, a mounting stone provided for people who had dismounted and walked their horses up the hill you have just climbed. The next section of the walk skirts the golf course, with the course on your left and woods on your right. There are markers for footpath (Cotswold Way) and bridleway. Turn right at the mounting stone and walk between the tees to a path visible a short distance away. Follow either the path along the edge of the golf course or the bridleway just inside the wood, to a stone shelter which provides a resting place with a fine view of the Severn Vale, the Severn Bridges and the Forest of Dean. Continue round left and up to pass the topograph and triangulation point, and continue to pass the fingerpost for Drakestone Viewpoint (ignore the Cotswold Way instructions) and then a stone bench commemorating Sir Stanley Tubbs, a local benefactor who donated Stinchcombe Hill for public recreation. Go through the trees to a wooden bench from which you can enjoy the splendid view.5
Take the narrow path ahead and downhill but make sure to follow this as it turns left and do not enter the wood. Follow the path around the hillside for about 300 yards with the hillside on your left and the woods below on your right. Just after the 6th tee, at a fingerpost and benches, turn left and go down through a copse. Continue round the hilltop with Hollow Coombe below on your right. At the end of a downslope tum right on rising ground and continue along the edge of the golf course to the parking area. (From just before the car park the walk may be shortened by following the marker posts, across the fairways, to the left of the large green barn. This cuts out about % of a mile.). From the parking area continue the main walk above the wood to reach a Cotswold Way fingerpost and turn left, crossing the golf course and the road to reach the clubhouse, turning left again to pass directly in front of it. Now keep straight on, following waymarks, to the green barn and a fingerpost (this is where the shorter route across the fairways re-joins). At this, turn right, and descend about 30 yards to a broad track. Go down right until this path eventually bears left to pass between gardens, to meet Kingshill Road. There are shops on your left for refreshment. (There is a bus stop and from here buses go to the railway station, so the walk may also be shortened in this way).6
Turn left and then carefully cross the main road to take the first right past the fire station down Kingshill Lane. After 60 yards bear half right onto the footpath, turning left when you reach the wall. Turn immediately right down Kingshill Lane then right again into Lister Road. After 200 yards turn left, cross the wooden bridge, then go right following the tarmac path as it passes in front of the houses to emerge on the road opposite the church. Go right along the road, round a left bend and immediately turn right to a footpath beside a cottage. At the kissing gate take the path bearing left across the centre of the field to a field gate opening then continue on the same line to a footbridge that crosses a stream at the foot of a steep sided valley. This area can be very muddy and requires care. Emerging from the valley go ahead to find a stile in the comer of the field, followed by another in the next hedge after 15 yards. Go straight now to a field gate and bear right towards a house with three chimneys, then bear more right along the fence to a stile. Cross this and continue next to the fence for 30 yards to a gate. Turn left here and then over the stile ahead to go between the houses to the road. Go right along the road for 30 yards then through a kissing gate on the left. Continue ahead through two gates and a kissing gate then along a fenced path to a copse with kissing gates on each side. Now go down the left edge of the field to a field gate opening at the bottom left-hand corner.7
Turn right under the power lines and go straight, along the field edge, through two metal kissing gates, bracketing a footbridge, after which continue straight ahead, to another kissing gate, and further along the field edge to cross a stile to a broad green lane. You are back on Halmore Lane. Turn left through the large metal gate to return, after about half a mile, to the station, where you started the walk, some 8 1/2 miles before.Enjoy your walk!
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