Cotswold Way - Days 7 & 8

 Day 7

Woke up at 5.45, went down to the bar area for breakfast at 7. The landlady would not crack a smile despite my polite attempts at conversations. I gave up and ate in silence. Ate a cold breakfast of cereal followed by a full English veg and left at 8.17. Decided to take it easy. I took one or two wrong turns at the start but I soon corrected myself. During one particular stretch, when I came back to the trail after taking a wrong turn, I reached a gate beyond which was a large herd of cows. Luckily for me, I saw a couple and we decided that we would cross the field together. They were walking the Cotswold Way in parts and they have walked it over two years, one day at a time. Not long after that I came across a message box and left a little note in it. After a stone stile and a V-stile, I reached Cold Ashton. The shepherd's hut I was staying in was a bit off the track and I wondered about taking a bus but when I saw that the next one was not due for another two hours, I called Uber. The Portuguese driver took a wrong turn and I was charged more. I ordered some food from a supermarket and made myself pasta and salad for dinner.  Went to bed at 6.30 and was woken up a couple of hours later by fireworks. Bed linen smells of detergents. Tomorrow, I finish!

Old Sodbury to Cold Ashton

8.5 miles/13.5 kms

Stay at Shepherds Hut

Day 8

Woke up at 5.30. After breakfast and ablutions, called an Uber to take me back to the Parish hall where I finished yesterday. A black cat kept rubbing itself against my legs and I was worried that that was an ominous sign. Sikh woman Jas picked me up in her taxi at 7.30 and she was very surprised that I was walking on my own. Mother of three, she drove Uber taxis when her kids were in school. I began walking at 7.55 and quickly covered ground. Soon I walked past the site of Landsdown battle in the 17th century but otherwise, it was fairly unremarkable. But the last stretch on Dean Hill near Weston town seemed interminable. I looked at every church steeple and wondered if it was Bath cathedral. I walked through Weston and then up a steep stretch on Primrose Hill and through all of Bath city. Once in the city, signs were less obvious and I had to look for it on lamp posts and bollards. Every gold acorn (no more yellow acorns as this was Bath after all) I spotted was bringing me closer to the finish line and after the Royal Victoria park and the imposing Royal Crescent, I walked through crowds of busy tourists out on a sunny Saturday. One final turn left and I found myself standing in front of Bath Cathedral. And at its foot was the plaque that marked the end of the Cotswold Way. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for all the fickle set of circumstances that had made this adventure possible. I said my heartfelt thanks for my 104-mile expedition and began making my way back home. 

Cold Ashton to Bath

10 miles/16kms

Stay at home! 

Total distance - 104 miles/166kms