THE COTSWOLD WAY

SOUTH WEST ENGLAND

Starting in the Cotswold town of Chipping Camden, this 102-mile route passes through some glorious countryside with quite a few climbs. As well as skirting Cheltenham, Stroud and Old Sodbury, the walk takes in beauty spots like Hailes Abbey, Sudeley Castle and the site of the Civil War Battle of Lansdowne above Bath. Allow a week if you're attempting the whole route. That said, in 2014 the entire 102 miles was run in 19 hours, 31 minutes by a member of the Swindon Harriers.

One of the best sections of the route is actually at its start in Chipping Camden. From here the walk climbs up to Broadway Tower, a tall stone folly built in 1799 so that Lady Coventry would have something imposing to see on the horizon from her home, 22 miles away in Worcester. To get there, walkers pass through tranquil, sheep-cropped fields where in 1612 the British made the first attempt in modern times to revive the Olympic Games. To this day shin-kicking - a little known “Olympick” sport - is still played annually in the fields between Chipping Camden and Broadway.

Where to stay

Kings Hotel, Chipping Camden

Stay at Kings Hotel, Chipping Camden, an amalgam of sixteenth and eighteenth-century townhouses overlooking the town's main square and its mediaeval market hall. Kings has a reputation for fine-dining - and a haunted kitchen. Bedrooms are over the dining room or in an old cottage complex in the grounds. There is also a cocktail bar that mixes a mean martini.