Day 10 Dursley to Kingswood (by Wotton-Under-Edge)

Statistics: 14.85 miles, ascent 1856′, descent 1988′.

Ray and Naomi, our hosts at Woodland House B&B, prepared a delicious, bountiful breakfast for us. After this tasty meal, they pulled out a map and showed us a quicker route back to the Way.

This trail began with a rather rigorous climb that ended by popping out onto one of the fairways of the Stinchcombe Hill Golf Club. The golf club, logically, is located on the top of Stinchcombe Hill and our path took us on a route around the entire golf course. Looking across a fairway we could see the four Americans we had met in Painswick.

The morning was a bit misty with a solid cloud cover, but the views from Stinchcombe Hill were not disappointing.

Descending from the hill, we walked through cultivated fields while approaching the hamlet of Nibley Green.

Occasionally (and prior to the pandemic), the locals along the trail would set out an unmonitored table or box of food and drink known as an “honesty box” for the Cotswold Way hikers. If a hiker removed food items, canned drinks, etc., a small donation was expected to cover their costs. As indicated below, water was generally free although donations were always welcome.

Upon reaching North Nibley, we had hoped to stop in at the Black Horse Inn for a coffee, but they had not yet opened their doors when we arrived. Continuing – and just down the street from the inn – we began a steep ascent to Nibley Knoll via an ancient, sunken track that was formed through centuries of use. Arriving on the Knoll, we approached the towering, 111′ Tyndale Monument, which dominated the area. The monument was erected in 1866 to honor William Tyndale, the first person to translate the Bible into English.

And of course, we couldn’t resist walking up the 121 steps to the top to check out the view!

We arrived in Wotten-Under-Edge (Saxon name meaning “the farm in the wood”) just in time for lunch. Stopping in at the busy Wotton Coffee Shop, we received a friendly welcome. The local patrons encouraged us to come on in and have a seat, at the same time moving aside to make room for us! I had my favorite English sandwich, a yummy cheese and “pickle” (onion chutney) sandwich. As we were seated we noticed the four Americans we had seen across a golf course earlier; they were clearly hiking the Cotswold Way also.

Leaving town to find our B&B, I spied another old red post box. As I mentioned in the Day 7 diary, we enjoyed determining how old they are. This one had a “VR” on it, meaning from the Queen Victoria era between the years of 1853 to 1901.

The tranquil path leading out of Wotton-Under-Edge passed vegetable gardens, a nesting wood-hen and a quiet stream before taking a sharp turn up to the crest of a hill.

As we descended on another sunken track, a bird suddenly flew out of the foliage next to us. Upon inspection we discovered that she had been protecting a nest that contained four little, green eggs. We quickly walked on so as to not disturb her environment any further.

The track led us to Wortley, a charming, small neighborhood of stone cottages. After crossing fields of beans to Nind Road, we finally arrived at Mole Hill B&B where we were greeted with a chalked welcome message.

With rooms in both the main house and on the grounds, we split up and two stayed in the house and two stayed in a cute, little, converted railway car on the pond.

While sitting on the porch, we had a strange feeling we were being watched. Turning around, we caught the culprits.

Our stay with Anna and Ben at Mole Hill B&B was delightful. Anna and her sister-in-law prepared a delicious dinner for us and then encouraged us to sit with them, their dogs and children to chat. What a fun place to stay!