The Cotswolds sound like a gentle option but Max and Russell find there are plenty of steep, techy trails around Dursley – and plenty of nettles too
Their lowering meadows and chocolate-box villages may be famous around the world, but the Cotswold Hills hide some serious trails in their shadowy woodland WHERE ARE WE?
The Cotswolds Area of Natural Beauty is one of England’s most iconic destinations, with its rolling hills, fields of wild flowers and twee villages constructed from golden-hued limestone. Its trails suffer when wet, though, and with such a soggy start to the summer, it’s been off my riding radar. After a dry spell I’ve decided it’s time to take the plunge (not literally, I hope). Seasonal vegetation has tightened the trails, but the tunnels of bar-catching foliage are similar to my local trails in the Chiltern Hills, so I’ve come prepared, unlike my gloveless, short-socked and T-shirted riding partner Russell. I do feel sorry for him as I hear him wincing and yelping throughout the day, but not enough to hide a smile as the nettles ricochet off my protective layers.
It’s not just cross-country singletrack and foliage-bashing lined up for today, though. There are a good number of steep wooded hillsides here, which provide a wealth of more technical riding. You could easily just stay around the northern half of the route, exploring the numerous woodland trails for an enduro-style ride – just be aware of which routes are legal rights of way and which aren’t.
Fuelling up
The panoramic views from Stinchcombe Hill make for a stunning start to our ride, and a spin around the edge warms up our legs. It also allows us to
WE RATTLED OWN THE HILL SIDE, LAUNCHING OFF LUMP SAND BUMP S, AND RAILING AROUND HIGH, NATURAL BERMS
eye up some of the first trails on offer, which drop off the steep sides. With a long ride ahead, though, we decide against exploring further and pedal on, hoping that our fitness levels are sufficient to allow us a little play later in the day. After cruising around the golf course, we duck into the cool, dark tree cover and join a fun, rough, stony byway descent. We rattle down the hillside, launching off lumps and bumps, and railing around high, natural berms.
The trail eventually spits us out back into the sunshine, where some calm and tranquillity is restored as we spin along a country lane. Crossing the valley bottom, we climb a well-surfaced byway to North Nibley. This charming place has a good pub with rooms and a superb little cafe in The Village Shop. Just up the hill, the woods host a number of fun trails, so you could easily spend the day sessioning these and refuelling down here. I never need convincing to stop for refreshments, so, after a quick detour to top up on caffeine, sausage rolls and some amazing cake, and with sandwiches stuffed into our backpacks for later, we continue on.
It’s a steep grind up the hillside, making us glad we didn’t binge on all of our wares at the bottom. After eyeing up some great-looking tracks in the woods and an old quarry, we finish the grind up to the William Tyndale monument, a tower erected in honour of the man who translated the New Testament into English. We spin over to, and around, the tower, enjoying the amazing view over to the Severn bridges and the foothills of Wales beyond. It’s a wonderful spot, and seeing as we have it all to ourselves, I’m tempted to break out the cake already. We’re not far into our ride, though, so I vow to head back here for a proper play (and some nourishment) later on.
Highs and lows
Cracking on, we briefly join the Cotswold Way, a 102-mile walking route along the Cotswold Edge escarpment, which we’ll be hopping on and off throughout the day. After crossing a road, we join a gloomy, forgotten-looking track that plummets us into darkness, before popping us back into civilisation once more at the town of Wotton-underEdge. This is another optional starting place, as well as somewhere to cut the ride short if required, by heading north-east along the valley of Tyley Bottom – a useful option if you want to save a bit of energy to make the most of exploring some of the other trails in the woods along the way.
Our journey continues up a very steep hill, which requires me to concentrate on keeping my front wheel on the ground as I put the power down. I’m quite enjoying the challenging climbs, although Russell’s Specialized e-bike is definitely looking attractive at the moment. Sadly, he declines my offer to swap some sweaty gloves for his bike for a bit, but I’m hoping he might change his mind later on. At least the bright, sunny views from the top are worth it, but it’s actually the subsequent dark and sunken track that we’ve really come here for. It’s like we’ve just been transported to a totally
OUR JOURNEY CONTINUES UP A VERY STEEP HILL, WHICH REQUIRES ME TO CONCENTRATE ON KEEPING MY FRONT WHEEL ON THE GROUND AS I PUT THE POWER DOWN
different place. We’re soon back in typical Cotswold landscape, though, wiggling and weaving our way along a quiet country road before rejoining the Cotswold Way once more. This follows a nice slither of singletrack between fields of flowers, with idyllic views and not a soul in sight. What’s more, Russell is definitely cursing not having my gloves now, as the nettles repeatedly brush his hands. An inviting bench at the top of the valley, surrounded by neatly cropped grass and a water feature, makes us feel like we’ve wandered into someone’s private garden, but it’s a public spot, so we take a moment to catch our breath and soak in the views behind us.
Unwelcome guests
Abundant footpaths, with no blue bridleway signs in sight, seem determined to put us off the scent of the trail, but we know better, so we continue through a farmyard to enjoy a fun rocky ride down to Ozleworth Bottom. A gate, just out of sight around the slight right-hand corner near the bottom, does its best to catch us out as we struggle to scrub off speed on the damp and slippery surface. A good track delivers us up the other side of the valley, though, and through some gates into Newark Park. This is home to a Tudor hunting lodge, owned by the National Trust. If you hadn’t guessed, that means well-kept gardens and a tearoom.
It’s an impressive spot, on top of the Cotswold escarpment and overlooking the Ozleworth Valley, but we’ve got our own packed lunches, so reluctantly push on.
After crossing the A4135, we drop down the hillside into a field of horses and uncomfortably close to a nice garden and stables. It feels a bit intrusive – there are no signs of a bridleway and it seems like we’re about to get shouted at, but we spot the route along the edge of the woods, so we quickly dive into the cover of the trees and escape. This is a great strip of woodland that hugs the hillside, and we follow an undulating trail as it wiggles its way west. Although there’s only one bridleway here, there are other singletrack trails, and, with little signposting, it’s quite conceivable that you’ll end up on one of these. You can’t go too far wrong, though, with a road running parallel on the left, and the valley bottom and hill on the right.
If you go down to the woods today...
When we inevitably meet the tarmac, we head up to near the top of the hill, where there is, rather worryingly, both a bridleway and an emergency HGV escape road along the same route. Continuing through this next section of woodland, we find some short, steep slopes to play around on. Beyond this there’s also a rather cool, but also pretty eerie, art installation placed among the trees. With stuffed toy animals, umbrellas suspended overhead and little woven men hanging by their necks and limbs from the trees, it certainly makes for an intriguing and unique trail feature!
The bridleway drops steeply down the hillside before climbing back up again. After regaining some height, the trail continues to wiggle its way along on a fun undulating singletrack cruise through the woods, before eventually popping us back out at Stinchcombe Hill. All that’s left now is a leisurely spin down the road, with views across to Wales on our left and golf balls being launched on either side of us. The route’s been so varied that it almost feels like we’ve been out for several days. We’ve seen so much that almost-forgotten moments from earlier creep back into my mind as we reflect on the ride. But I certainly won’t be forgetting the nettles and brambles – and I can guarantee that Russell won’t, either.