Golden opportunity
Back in 2019, I wrote a book entitled Guide to cotswold Pub Walks. This is a handy pocketsized book containing 20 walks from Guiting Power in the north of the region as far south as avoncliff close to Bath. Each circular walk is between three and six miles and showcases stunning countryside, must-see landmarks and hidden gems, not forgetting a renowned local pub.
This is walk 11 in the book, which explores the Upper Frome Valley above Stroud, where the decaying remains of the Thames & Severn canal cut through the cotswold Plateau by means of the Sapperton Tunnel, pictured. Derbyshire miners were employed to construct this tunnel, hence the profusion of East Midlands surnames in local churchyards. The local pubs, such as the Daneway on this walk, provided board and lodgings for the miners, many of whom married local women and settled in the area.
This is an area of steep-sided wooded valleys, quite beautiful in the now-upon-us autumn, when the name “Golden Valley” will certainly ring true. Just occasionally, a view is afforded of the locality from some isolated vantage point, and quite dramatic and far-ranging these views turn out to be too. This is especially the case from the Daneway Bank Nature Reserve, seasonally one of the few locations in the Uk where the large blue butterfly makes its home.
Lovers of cotswold architecture will find a great deal that catches the eye in the small village of Sapperton. St kenelm’s church, with its Jacobean woodwork and stone monuments, for example, is an absolute gem. There is also the handsome Bell at Sapperton, an independent, family-owned pub where the food is naturally fresh, seasonal and regionally sourced. Other pubs do exist, such as the aforementioned Daneway, a traditional and cosy place that can boast its own campsite.
Sapperton maybe slightly off-piste from Bath, a drive of some 30 miles, but this walk is worth every minute of the driving. combine with a pub lunch, maybe a visit to Tetbury or cirencester or maybe even a night’s camping at the Daneway, and you have all of the ingredients for a perfect day or, maybe, weekend away. Pick one of those beautifully sunny autumnal days and this will prove to be that ideal seasonal excursion. Guide to the cotswolds Pub Walks is published by countryside Books of Newbury with copies available from their website www.countrysidebooks. co.uk
Directions
■ Sapperton is signposted from the A419 Cirencester to Stroud road. At a crossroads 1 mile from the A419, turn right and, in 200 yards, turn left into an unnamed road. The Bell is on the right in 350 yards. Just past the Bell, turn right into a cul-de-sac lane and park by the church.
1. With your back to the church, turn left and follow a cul-de-sac lane as it winds its way downhill into a wooded valley bottom. In 200 yards, where the lane ends at a property, follow a footpath on the left that passes around the back of the property before reaching Dorvel Bridge. Cross this footbridge and keep on the path as it bears right and left to climb uphill through Dorvel Wood. At the first junction, take the left-hand path that continues climbing uphill through the beech woodland. At the first crossroads, keep ahead uphill for 50 yards to the next crossroads, almost on the hilltop. Turn left, and follow the woodland path for 600 yards – it emerges onto open ground – before reaching a gate and lane.
■ 2. Turn left for a few paces before crossing a stile on the right. Continue ahead along a
Head uphill across the field, veering right all the while, passing a prominent oak tree before reaching a gate at the top of the field. Ignoring this gate, continue walking along the top edge of the field to reach another handgate by Sapperton Church. Pass through this handgate, enter the churchyard ahead and walk up through an avenue of trees leading away from the church to reach the lane path across open grassland outside the church. Turn right – Daneway Bank – for 350 yards for a few paces before taking to a gate and lane. Cross to a the first left to find the Bell Inn. gate opposite and enter Siccaridge Wood Nature Reserve.
Follow the main woodland path ahead for ½ mile to a junction of paths. Follow the path ahead that drops steeply downhill to reach Whitehill Bridge and the
Thames & Severn Canal.
Having crossed the bridge, turn left and follow the towpath ahead for ¾ mile to a road and the Daneway Inn, the towpath changing banks along the way via a footbridge that crosses a lock chamber.
■ 3. At the end of the
Daneway’s car park, rejoin the bed of the canal. Follow the towpath along to the eastern entrance to Sapperton Tunnel before veering right onto a path that climbs up from the canal.
Keep on this path as it bears left across the tunnel’s parapet to reach a stile and hillside field.