The Beacons Way - Walk 4

Walk 4: Garreg Las

[map] [photos]

Monday, 8th May 2017

I arrived at the Llyn y Fan Fach car park at 11:30am. The car park itself is 1km beyond the end of the road leaving the village of Llanddeusant to the east, along a rough track that passes two farms.

Today's walk would be more like a "normal" walk up a hill. Starting from a car park in the valley, I was going to ascend a 635m hill, and then return. Simple.

The car park is quite popular with people walking up to Llyn y Fan Fach, but the walk up Garreg Las is much less well travelled. The car park itself is about 1km off the route of The Beacons Way, so I crossed the river (there's no bridge, but there are plenty of stones in it to aid crossing), and picked up a track that crosses Brest y Fedw and joins on to The Beacons Way route, which I then followed back down to the road. The official route follows the road into the village of Llanddeusant, but on the way out to collect my stone I followed the track to Gorsddu and then a footpath to Blaensawdde (which may be muddy after a wet spell), to emerge on the road below Gellygron. If you don't have pressing business in Llanddeusant you could use this short cut to avoid some road walking (although the views of Picws Du from the road are worth the extra walk). From here I was able to follow the official route back to the summit of Carreg yr Ogof and then to Garreg Las to retrieve my journey-stone...

From the twin Bronze Age cairns on the summit of Garreg Las the route continues along the ridge northwards over greener terrain, until you reach the rocky pavements and quarried outcrops on the summit plateau of Carreg Yr Ogof. There is a trig point here (585m - but not quite at the highest point). If you look at the aerial photos of the summit on Google Maps [link] the jaggies are not digital artifacts, the summit is actually like that.

Picking your way down through the remains of quarrying on the northern slopes of the summit (the entrance to the cave the peak is named for is at the base of a quarry about 100m north of the summit), you join a bridleway that leads down the grassy northern spur of the mountain towards the village of Llanddeusant. You leave the open hillside at a gate onto a green lane, and here is the first Beacons Way waymark we have seen in 17 km.

The green lane descends into the valley, and becomes a rocky track, and then a tarmac road. We cross the river by a bridge (with a commemorative stone marking its opening on 15th April 1929), and then the road climbs to the graveyard and church at Llanddeusant.

Follow the road leaving the village to the east, and after about 2km of quiet road walking the route branches right, back over the river (by a bridge opened on 11th February 1913, but recently refurbished), and then follow a stoney track by the river, which then begins to climb out of the valley up Brest y Fedw. At this point I returned to the car park.

Walk Distance: 15.1 km (9.4 miles), 4.4 hours.

Total: 4 walks, 71.9 km (44.7 miles), 19.2 hours

Beacons Way completed: 34.7 km (21.6 miles), 22.1%.

The next walk will also start from Llyn y Fan Fach Parking.

The Beacons Way - Walk 3

Walk 3: The Black Mountain

[map] [photos]

The official route on this section was amended in 2016 to avoid the environmentally sensitive area of the summits of Pen-y-clogau, Pen Rhiw-ddu, Garreg Lwyd and Foel Fraith, and now follows a route that contours around the northern slopes of these. I've previously visited the 600m summits of Garreg Lwyd and Foel Fraith, so I was happy to stick to the official route, rather than the "old" route marked on my maps

This part of the route is available in Google StreetView [link].

Wednesday, 3rd May 2017

I arrived at the upper car park on the A4069 by The Black Mountain Quarries at 10am. It was windy, but sunny.

I set off to find my journey-stone. The paths on this section are faint and I started by following a track that left the A road a little to north of the revised path. When this ended I followed faint paths running in the general direction I wanted to go. The route is bounded to the north by a road, and descends to join it at the far end, so you can't go too far wrong (at least in fine weather). The faint paths wind through the remains of quarrying, and eventually lead to a descending green ramp that takes you down to the minor road below, before splitting off on a stony track to join a bridleway, which brings you back to the road, by a parking area and the small disused quarry where I had left my journey-stone. The stone recovered I continued eastwards on The Beacons Way...

I retraced my route along the bridleway, track, road and grassy ramp, and then tried to follow the official route more closely than my outward journey. I'm not sure it was worth it though - it's easier to follow the faint paths on the ground that are going in the right general direction, and eventually you will emerge on the A4069.

After crossing the A road, the route takes a track through the old quarries and passes through the abandoned quarry on the northern spur of Foel Fawr before leaving it behind on a good path that emerges from the extreme eastern end of the quarry. The path contours around the slopes of Foel Fawr and Moel Gornach and gradually gets fainter before joining a path that runs south towards the col between Garreg Lwyd and Foel Fraith. At some point you have to leave this path and strike out eastwards to keep on route, skirting the slopes north of Foel Fraith. I was glad to be crossing this area after a dry spell, as there were signs that the ground could get quite wet.

At this point the official route tells you to aim for a tree in a shakehole, but this is not visible when approaching from the west. I contoured around below the northern slopes of Foel Fraith before ascending the shoulder above Blaen y Cylchau to emerge in a small quarry. I stopped on a table sized block to have a break where the grass was scattered with daisies.

Setting off again I dropped down the pools at the col between Foel Fraith and the southern end of the ridge of Garreg Las, to rejoin the "old" route marked on my maps. Although I'm only 1h15m out from where I parked, the area feels quite remote. Just under a mile to the south west, across the Afon Twrch, lies Tyle Garw - reputedly the most remote summit in mainland Wales.

The eastern slopes of Garreg Las are a jumble of weathered gritstone boulders, but a small path winds up through them to the southern end of the ridge, and then faint paths run north through the rocks and crossing pavements to eventually arrive at the twin Bronze Age cairns at the summit of Garreg Las. The highest point on The Beacons Way so far (and a new 600m Welsh summit for my ticklist).

I left my journey-stone under one of the many thousands of rocks on the plateau, and hoped I would be able to find it again when I returned, then retraced my steps back to the parking area by the quarries on the A4069.

Walk Distance: 20.6 km (12.8 miles), 5.5 hours.

Total: 3 walks, 56.8 km (35.3 miles), 14.8 hours.

Beacons Way completed: 27.7 km (17.2 miles), 17.7%.

The next walk will start from Llyn y Fan Fach car park, beyond the village of Llanddeusant.

The Beacons Way - Walk 2

Walk 2: Carreg Cennen Castle

[map] [photos]

Sunday, 23rd April 2017

I arrived at the Car Park at Carreg Cennen Castle at 9:50am. My first objective was to walk back along the route towards Bethlehem to find my journey-stone. This took me about 30 minutes, but the stone was still there. And so The Beacons Way continues...

The route passes through fields towards the farm of Cilmaenllwyd, and detours around to the west of the farm by a well marked route on a well made track that doesn't appear on the official route mapping, or on my OS maps. Either way you end up at Castle View Farm, from where you follow the road to the car park at Carreg Cennen Castle, with the castle itself looming on the skyline perched atop a green hill.

Just beyond the car park there is a café/shop and you can pay to visit the castle ruins (dogs allowed on leads), but that wasn't my reason for being here today (although apparently there is an interesting cave that provides the castle with access to a well, which can be explored with a torch). Instead the path skirts below the castle mound and then descends through Coed y Castell wood to a footbridge over the Afon Cennen.

The route crosses another footbridge and then uphill on a stony track to join a farm track which cuts diagonally across the slope. Here you see why the castle was positioned where it is. From the north it appears to be at the top of small green hill, but from the south you can see that it is perched on the edge of a 300ft limestone cliff.

We exit the farmland at the entrance to Brondai farm and emerge onto a tiny road (with grass growing in the middle) that runs through the open hillside of The Black Mountain. As we have entered Open Access Land the waymarks disappear and we're on our own when it comes to route finding.

The little road winds through a landscape of pillow mounds (marked on the map as Beddau'r Derwyddon, which means Druid's Graves, but they are the remains of medieval warrens used for rabbit farming). Just beyond a cattle grid, we leave the road by the remains of ancient enclosures. There is a faint path which contours it's way across the hillside, avoiding shake holes. In the middle section it's easy to lose the path, but it becomes better defined as it crosses a stony stream-bed below a pronounced gully on the hillside. The path becomes a track which joins the minor road.

Although you are only navigating by yourself for half an hour, it is probably best to tackle this section where there is good visibility (and if you can manage it, after a prolonged dry spell).

I left my journey-stone in a disused quarry by the road, then retraced the path to Carreg Cennen Castle (where the car park had filled up).

Walk Distance: 17.8 km (11.0 miles), 4.4 hours.

Total: 2 walks, 36.2 km (22.5 miles), 9.3 hours.

Beacons Way completed: 17.9 km (11.1 miles), 11.4%.

The next walk will start from the Mountain Road Car Park on the A4069 by Herbert's Quarry.

The Beacons Way - Walk 1

I've decided to do The Beacons Way - a hundred mile walk across the Brecon Beacons National Park.

I'm doing the walk in the opposite direction (from Bethlehem to The Skirrid) to most descriptions for a variety of reasons. Partly because I know The Black Mountain least, so I wanted to explore that area first, partly because as I progress along the route I will be getting closer to home, and also because last year, when walking on Hatterall Hill it struck me what an enticing finishing post The Skirrid makes. And surely Bethlehem is a place of beginnings.

Also, to make logistics easier, I have decided to split the walk into several manageable segments that will allow me to do walks of about about 10 miles (16 km) from a single start point with a dog. Mostly this means doing the route one way, and then retracing it in the opposite direction to return to the chosen parking spot. Which means I'll end up doing the route twice, once in each direction, and turns a walk that is just under 100 miles into a walk that is just under 200 miles.

Any of my walking chums who would like to join me for any of the walks are welcome to get in touch.

Walk 1: Carn Goch

[map] [photos]

Saturday, 8th April 2017

I arrived at the small car park below Carn Goch just before noon. At Carn Goch there are two Iron Age hill forts, the larger of the two is reputed to be the largest Iron Age fort in Wales. But before I visit them I have to return, back down the road to Bethlehem, to find the carved oak bench that marks the start of The Beacons Way (for me, in most descriptions this bench is actually the end of The Beacons Way). I took a photo of myself, Teasel and my "journey stone" (this is a marked pebble, which I will carry along The Beacons Way and hide at the end of each walk to ensure it makes a continuous unbroken journey from the start to the end of the route) on the bench, and then set off at 12:30pm.

The route follows the road out of Bethlehem, along a farm track, and across some (slightly soggy in places) fields to come out on another road by a chapel. We then follow this road to the car park at Carn Goch. Here the route enters Open Access land. The route is way-marked on footpaths across farm land, but where it crosses open country you are on your own, so it's best to know where the route goes on a map and how to follow it on the ground. (Note that the official route, created in 2005, was revised in 2016, and so differs from the route given on some OS maps. I'm following the route as given on the breconbeacons.org website).

The route follows the ridge of Carn Goch, passing a stone monument to Gwynfor Evans (the first Plaid Cymru MP) erected in 2006, and three stone benches, before arriving at the smaller of the two Iron Age forts. Drop down to the gap between the two forts (here I had my lunch in the shade of a small tree), and then ascend to the larger fort encircled the remains of its massive stone wall. Leave the fort at it's north-eastern edge and follow a path down to the minor road below, which passes Garn-wen and becomes an enclosed track traverses diagonally the slope below Trichrug.

Reaching Bwlch y Gors, the way-marked path crosses a very wet boggy area to get to a stile, but it is drier to continue along the track to a gate, and then follow a different track on the other side of a wall to arrive back at the stile. The route follows the edge of a field, and then enters the wood of Carreglwyd. A good path through the wood drops down steeply to a forest track and follows this to exit the west side of the wood, where it becomes a track along the edge of some fields (which are wet in places) below the ridge of Carn Powell.

The footpath emerges at a crossroads and follows the road toward Trapp, past a couple of forestry plantations, the second one marked as Helgwm on the map. It was here that I planned to end the first leg of my walk, but I didn't find anywhere obvious to leave my journey-stone, and the onward path seemed to cross a marshy field, so I thought it best to get that out of the way, so I set out across it, and as we reached the far side the way became drier. Crossing a ladder stile brought us into a drier field, containing the remains of an old quarry, and at the far side of this field, by the stile into the next field I left my journey-stone in a pile of stones, and returned back to the Carn Goch car park.

Walk Distance: 18.4 km (11.5 miles), 4.9 hours.

Total: 1 walk, 18.4 km (11.5 miles), 4.9 hours.

Beacons Way completed: 9.1 km (5.7 miles), 5.8%.

The next walk will start from Carreg Cennen Castle.

Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage and the First Computer Program

The 10th of December 2015 will be the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Ada Lovelace.

In 1842, in Italy, Charles Babbage gave his only public lecture on The Analytical Engine. The lecture was transcribed, in French, by an Italian military engineer. Ada translated the transcript into English, and subsequently Babbage suggested she add her own commentary on the transcript.

This she did, and in 1843 she published the translation of the lecture, along with a copious set of her own notes (that were twice as long as the translation of the lecture). In one of these notes is a diagram that is considered to be the earliest published computer program.

I was intrigued as to what this program looked like, and how we could run it today. So I explored this in the following three articles:

Part 1: Starting with the diagram, I wrote my own version of the algorithm in a modern programming language (Python). Then I wrote a transliteration of the diagram (also in Python) that could be run directly, and produced an "assembly language" listing that corresponds to the cards that would be used to program the Analytical Engine (if it had been built).

Part 2: I wrote an emulator for the Analytical Engine, which could run the assembly language program produced in Part 1.

Part 3: I code up an assembler that reads a mnemonic format corresponding directly to the diagram in Ada's note and produces the appropriate sequence of cards needed to program the Analytical Engine Emulator from Part 2. Finally we produce a program that corresponds directly to Ada's diagram and runs on the Analytical Engine Emulator.

The end result is an emulator for the Analytical Engine in Python that lets you run Ada's program to generate Bernoulli Numbers, or you can write your own programs for it.

Downgrading a Package in MacPorts

MacPorts installed a new version of XEmacs and it broke things. So instead of fixing it I just went back to the previous version.

Here's how I did it:

1. Create a local repository in ~/lib/macports/local:
   
   % mkdir ~/lib/macports/local
   
   
2. Add the local repository to /opt/local/etc/macports/sources.conf:
   
   file:///Users/jim/lib/macports/local
   
   
3. Find the previous revision of XEmacs:
   
   % svn log http://svn.macports.org/repository/macports/trunk/dports/editors/xemacs
   
   It's r141410.
   
   
4. Check it out (into ~/lib/macports/local):
   
   % svn co --revision r141410 http://svn.macports.org/repository/macports/trunk/dports/editors/xemacs/ editors/xemacs/
   
   
5. Run portindex on the local repository:
   
   % portindex ~/lib/macports/local
   
   It should report: "Ports successfully parsed: 1"
   
   
6. Now port list xemacs shows both versions.
   
   xemacs  @21.4.22  editors/xemacs
   xemacs  @21.5.16  editors/xemacs
   
   
7. Install the local version
   
   # port install xemacs @21.4.22
   
   

That's it.

Cabin Pressure Advent Calendar

Inspired by this site, I've been listening to an episode of Cabin Pressure every day since 28th November, so that I'm ready for the final episode ("Zürich") to be broadcast in two parts on 23rd and 24th December (6:30pm, BBC Radio 4).

Of course there are many brilliant lines in each episode, but here are my particular favourites (to be updated each day):

Abu Dhabi

Douglas: Again, I fear you flatter my knowledge of cat pathology.

Boston

Martin: Where's Carolyn?
Douglas: Sharpening her teeth.
Arthur: Brushing.
Douglas: Brushing her teeth. Yes, sorry.

or:

Arthur: I didn’t know you for very long, Mr. Leeman, but I'll always remember you as ... as a shouty man. You loved to shout; shout and smoke – those were your twin passions. And so, in a way, I suppose you died doing what you loved: shouting and smoking, and covered in foam. I don't know if you liked that. You probably didn’t. 

Cremona

Arthur: The thing is, is it unprofessional to tell a passenger that you once made a collage of her face out of pasta shapes?
Douglas: Hmm, I really don’t know.
Arthur: You see, part of me thinks ...
Douglas: Oh, I’m sorry. Did I say "know"? I meant "care". I don’t really care.

Douz

Martin: Right. Well, I've made my point anyway.
Jutteau: You've made it. I 'ave disagreed with it. I'm going to do nothing about it.

Edinburgh

Birling: (To the tune of "Cwm Rhondda") Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, yum yum-yum-yum-yum-yum-yum! Bread of heaven, here I come!

Fitton

Martin: Well, we can sit in the plane, or we can sit in the rain.
Douglas: Can't we sit in the car or sit in a bar?
Martin: Douglas.
Douglas: I'm sorry, I thought we were staging an impromptu tribute to Dr. Seuss.

Gdansk

Carolyn: This is my son Arthur, and I promise you he couldn't hurt a fly...
Arthur: Thanks Mum!
Carolyn: ... because the fly would outwit him.

Helsinki

Carolyn: Oh, my goodness! Well, you certainly have surprised me with a cake.
Douglas: Thought we might.
Carolyn: Perhaps what's most surprising about it is that it's a fishcake.

Ipswich

Martin: I've had one. One is the correct dosage of quiche for the adult human male.

Johannesburg

Douglas: Carolyn, you're really not helping.
Carolyn: I know! I'm not trying to. 

Kuala Lumpur

Carolyn: (Pretending to be a passenger) It means I'm gluten-intolerant.
Arthur: Well, I'll, I'll try not to be too gluten annoying.

Limerick

Martin: Is this the famous Admiral's pie?
Arthur: Yep.
Douglas: The admiral's not a fussy eater, is he?

Molokai

Douglas: You took my Petrus '05, and you ... mulled it?

Newcastle

Martin: (cabin address) So, we should be taking off in ... about an hour.
Carolyn: (shouting from the cabin) Martin! What have you done now?
Martin: (cabin address) So sorry about the delay – which is not, incidentally, because of anything I've done now.

Ottery St Mary

Arthur: Well, I was the one who thought of putting an otter in the fridge!

Paris

Arthur: Can I tell you in my own words?
Douglas: Who else's words had you planned to use? Winston Churchill's?

Qikiqtarjuak

Arthur: Bears! Bears, bears, bears, bears! Polar bears! Look! On the ground.
Douglas: Of all places!

Rotterdam

Douglas: I'm not being childish, but if I can't go to the Grand Prix I'm not being in the film.

St Petersburg

Arthur: Here you are, Skip. Nice hot cup of coffee.
Martin: Oh. (takes a sip) Ugh! It's cold!
Arthur: Nice cup of coffee.
Martin: It's horrible!
Arthur: Cup of coffee.
Martin: I'm not even sure it is coffee.
Arthur: Cup. 

Timbuktu

Douglas: It's been a topsy-turvy sort of Birling Day, hasn't it? We flew away from the rugby; Mr. Birling got soberer and soberer; and Arthur ruined everything with his knowledge and erudition.

Uskerty

Arthur: You know, between the dames and the horses, sometimes I don't even know why I put my hat on.

Vaduz

Herc: I didn't realise you were in such thrall to royalty.
Carolyn: I don't give two hoots for royalty!
Herc: I think you give four or five hoots.
Carolyn: I do not.
Herc: And not just any old hoots: low and reverent hoots, like an owl at a Jubilee.

Wokingham

Arthur: I've brought Boggle, Guess Who?, Connect Four and Kerplunk.
Wendy: Are they ... rappers?

Xinzhou

Arthur: It's not "Have a banana", it's "'ave a banana!" - like the song!
Carolyn: What song?
Arthur: The "'ave a banana!" song. I don't really know it, except for one bit.
Douglas: (sings) Let's all go down the Strand.
Arthur: Are you alright, Douglas?

Yverdon-Les-Bains

Martin: ... but it's not brilliant for anyone else, is it?
Arthur: Oh, don't say that, Skip. The Swiss guys'll get used to you!

or:

Martin: I'm like a capsized duck. 

Zurich (Part 1)

Theresa: Was that the time Martin landed with one engine?
Carolyn: That's right.
Theresa: Yes, he's often told me that story.
Martin: Not that often.
Theresa: Quite often.

Zurich (Part 2)

Arthur: Don't worry Skip - Douglas always saves us. Like remembering the brake pads.
Martin: That was me!
Arthur: Well, yeah, but you were being Douglas. 

OK. Bye.

Raspberry Pi Time Machine

Backup is a good thing. And anything that makes making backups simpler is also a good thing. That's why I like Apple's Time Machine. But my 5 year old, 500GB Time Capsule is running a bit short on space, backing up two Macs.

So, I was thinking of upgrading to a funky new 5th generation Time Capsule, with 2 or 3TB of hard disk on-board. It's got exciting new technologies like "beamforming" and 802.11ac. It even looks like a TARDIS (with a white paint job).

But those probably won't make any difference to my existing kit, and the WiFi base station part of my current Time Capsule works fine. So, I thought, why not just hang a 2TB USB HDD of the Raspberry Pi and back-up to that?

Fortunately someone else had already had the same idea and written down how to set up the Raspberry Pi as a remote server for Time Machine, so I just followed that. And it works fine.

Bear in mind that neither the networking or USB on the Raspberry Pi is superfast, but neither was the external HDD I added to it. (Use a disk with a separate power supply). And the backups happen in the background anyway, so speed isn't really that much of an issue.

Note: I have since bought a Synology DiskStation so now I do my back-ups to that rather than using the Raspberry Pi.

Numbers and Letters

Inspired by this week's Only Connect, I thought I'd make a list of letters and the smallest number they appear in when written in English, starting from one (or zero):

A: one hundred and one (or one thousand, if you don't like using "and")
B: one billion
C: one octillion
D: one hundred
E: one (or zero)
F: four
G: eight
H: three
I: five
J: never happens
K: never happens
L: eleven
M: one million
N: one
O: one (or zero)
P: one septillion
Q: one quadrillion
R: three (or zero)
S: six
T: two
U: four
V: five
W: two
X: six
Y: twenty
Z: never happens, unless you get to "one zillion" (or zero)

How Do I Tell If My Bank Is Affected By HeartBleed?

Consider the following two scenarios:

Scenario 1:

You walk into a bank with a £10 note.

You: Can you change this £10 note for me?
Bank: Certainly, Sir. How would you like it?
You: Ten £1 coins please.
Bank: Certainly. There you go. Thank you.

You walk out of the bank with £10.

This is normal behaviour for a bank.

---

Scenario 2:

You walk into a bank with a £1 coin.

You: Can you change this £1 coin for me?
Bank: Certainly, Sir. How would you like it?
You: Erm.... Sixty-five thousand, five hundred and thirty five £1 coins please.
Bank: Certainly. There you go. Thank you.

You walk out of the bank with £65,535.

If this happens the bank has a bug in it.

A Grand Few Days Out

Gromit 5 ("Golden Gromit")
Gromit Unleashed

Although I don't live in Bristol any more I am back there every now and then, and this summer Bristol is home to 80 Gromit Statues as part of Gromit Unleashed.

Like Wow! Gorillas back in 2011 I've been steadily collecting photos of the Gromits on my visits to Bristol (assisted by my Dahon Speed P8).

Visit my Facebook Album to see my progress. Or view the iCloud photo stream.

So far I've photographed 68 out of 80, and I've got a couple of weeks to try and get the remaining ones, although I'll probably only manage to get 7 or 8 of them as the rest are too out of the way for casual visitors. (One of them is in Paddington Station in London!)

But they will all be in Bristol at the RWA from 18th to 22nd September for one final showing before being auctioned off, so there's a chance to mop up any stragglers.

Update 4th September 2013: I've collected 76 out of 80. The ones I have left are:

• #77 "Bristol Bulldog", Bristol Airport, Lulsgate Bottom.
• #78 "The Secret Garden", Lye Cross Farm, Lye Cross.
• #79 "aMazing Gromit", Cheddar Gorge, Cheddar.
• #80 "Gromit", Paddington Station, London.

None of which are conveniently located to be collected in the next few days, so I'll see them at the RWA, or not at all.

Cotswold Way - Walk 14

Walk 14: Lansdown - Bath Abbey

[See the photos on Facebook]

22nd May 2013: The forecast for today offered the best chance for arriving in Bath without having got wet, so I seized the opportunity and Teasel and I set off from Lansdown Battlefield at 10:38am.

The path returns to the edge of the escarpment at Hanging Hill, with views over Bristol and the distant Welsh Hills beyond. The trig point on the prow of Hanging Hill (235m) has no view as it is enclosed by vegetation. The path follows the edge with views over the pleasant green valley of Pipley Bottom to Keynsham and a glimpse of the River Avon.

The track runs between a wood and a golf course before cutting across the golf course (on the site of a Roman Fort) to rejoin the escarpment along the top of Pipley Wood, and runs below the earthworks of a hill fort to the prow of Little Down, before cutting back across the fort to the edge of Bath Racecourse, and then following the edge round to the viewpoint and Topograph of Prospect Stile (the final Topograph of the walk). From here the conical hump of Kelston Round Hill is prominent.

The route drops down off the edge and heads towards Kelston Round Hill. There is access to the Hill by a Permissive Path, so we made the ascent and had a sandwich at the top by Kelston Clump. From here there are views over Bristol to the North West, and Bath to South East, and further South to the Mendips.

Descending Kelston Round Hill we rejoin the official route and continue along the spur of Dean Hill to Penn Hill. All the time the sprawl of Bath continues to grow below, and the Abbey (Journey's End) can be made out in the middle of the city. We drop down off the spur, though a playing field and emerge on Penn Hill Road in Weston on the outskirts of Bath.

The route manages to weave its way through quiet roads and alleyways through a field at Primrose Hill (which is applying for Village Green status) before ascending a stepped pathway to Sion Hill. Here we cross the Bath Approach Golf Course to emerge in Royal Victoria Park.

From here a knowledge of Central Bath is quite useful, as the way markers become small stickers on lampposts and bollards and are quite easily missed among the urban visual clutter. The official route passes in front of the famous Royal Crescent and around The Circus with its carved friezes before heading in to Central Bath until you arrive at the square containing Bath Abbey.

Here there is a carved circular stone marker marking the official end (or beginning if you're starting from Bath) of the Cotswold Way. It was installed in October 2012, but when I arrived there was some work going on to the slabs around it, so I wasn't able to have a final photo taken on top of it.

We finished the walk in Bath at 1:10pm without having been rained on for the entire route.

Walk Distance: 7.36 miles (11.8 km), 2h38m.

Cumulative Distance: 110.5 miles (177.8 km), 42h16m.

This walk completes The Cotswold Way in May!

Cotswold Way - Walk 13

Walk 13: Tormarton Interchange - Lansdown

[See the photos on Facebook]

21st May 2013: I was joined for this section by Helen and Minnie the dog.

We left the car park by the Tormarton Interchange at 10:13am. The route goes through fields by Beacon Lane Plantation. The motorway is hidden from view but the traffic noise makes its presence obvious. The path turns south and the traffic noise begins to die away. The path passes under a set of power lines that in 2004 were the scene of an art installation called "Field" consisting of dozens of fluorescent tubes planted in the ground. As dusk fell you could see them glowing.

Crossing a minor road the route continues down Field Lane and then skirts around the edge of the Dyrham Park Estate before descending into the village of Dyrham. Walking through Dyrham you pass the ornate gates of Dyrham Park with it's manicured lawn and grand house.

Leaving the village the path hops through a gap in the hedge to a tree with an impressive seat built all the way round it, and then continues through fields past Sands Farm nestled in a secluded green valley, past some small ponds and a larger pond that doesn't appear on the map, before climbing on a well constructed path through the Dyrham Wood blanketed in wild garlic. There is a seat here and a message box containing a book for passing walkers to leave notes.

The route crosses Gorse Lane, and a path has been made on the other side of the hedge so you don't have to walk along the road, and then after crossing a field emerges at the tiny village on Pennsylvania. Here we make the first crossing of the A46 for the day. Another couple of fields are crossed and we emerge on the A420 at the tiny collection of houses that makes up The Folly.

Crossing the A420 we follow a track to the church at Cold Ashton. This marks the 100th mile of our walk. We stopped for a sandwich on a bench outside the Old Rectory at Cold Ashton with pleasant views over the green valley to the south.

Continuing through Cold Ashton we re-cross the A46 for the last time and follow Greenway Lane downhill, past a nursery selling "special plants". The road becomes a path through fields, passes a fishing lake before climbing through fields to emerge on a track that brings you out at the site of the 1643 Battle of Lansdown, there are information panels an a monument to Sir Bevil Grenville who was mortally wounded in the battle.

We reached the layby by the battlefield, and the end of the walk at 1:53pm.

Walk Distance: 7.7 miles (12.4 km), 3h40m.

Cumulative Distance: 103.1 miles (165.9 km), 39h39m.

The final walk will take place on Wednesday 22nd May.

Cotswold Way - Walk 12

Walk 12: Hawksbury Upton - Tormarton Interchange

[See the photos on Facebook]

19th May 2013: Today I was joined by Duncan and Lindsay, who also joined me on my final Munro exactly 6 years ago to the day. The weather today was more clement.

We left the pool at Hawksbury Upton at 10:11am and followed the Way along Bath Lane (a track, that is clearly heading in the right direction), until it joins Highfield Lane, here a footpath has been made through the fields on the other side of the hedge so you don't have to walk along the road. Shortly the path cuts across a field with a derelict barn and enters the aptly named Walk Wood, above Horton Court. The Way has been re-routed here to pass over a hill fort, rather than continue to Horton along the road. We stopped on a bench perched on the edge of the escarpment for a sandwich.

Crossing the fort and descending into Horton you pass a folly constructed in the year 2000 as a nesting site for swallows and barn owls, and then enter the village of Horton next to the school. Cross the main road and almost immediately you leave the village again through fields to cross a small valley that has been dammed to make a reservoir. We crossed another field (one which was full of inquisitive cows) and emerged into Little Sodbury by a farm. Past the church and along the road for a bit before ascending through a wood to come out at another hill fort that I've seen many times from the A46 but never visited before.

The path crosses the middle of the fort and then cuts back down through the wood and across fields to emerge in Old Sodbury, again next to the school. Cross the road and go through the churchyard to emerge at a popular viewpoint (complete with Topograph). We stopped and had another sandwich here.

The path descends through a couple of fields to come out at the A432, which is crossed near The Old Dog Inn. Follow Chapel Lane for a short while before cutting across fields to reach a road at Coomb's End. Here the path enters the parkland of Dodington Park, currently owned by vaccuum cleaner salesman, James Dyson. The path ascends through grassy fields grazed by sheep (and one of them featuring a statue of a stag), and crosses the infant River Frome (which eventually flows into Bristol's Floating Harbour) before coming out at the busy A46.

A dash across the road and across many stone stiles brings us to the village of Tormarton, and after following an indirect route through the village past the Church the route leaves the village along Marshfield Lane, crossing the M4 before following tracks through the fields adjacent to the motorway, and recrossing the A46 to arrive at the car park by the Tormarton Interchange. We finished the walk at 2:39pm.

Walk Distance: 9.6 miles (15.5 km), 4h26m.

Cumulative Distance: 95.4 miles (153.5 km), 36h00m.

The next (penultimate) walk will be on Tuesday, 21st May. Tormarton Interchange to the site of the Battle of Lansdown. Overall there are 15 miles of the Way remaining.

Cotswold Way - Walk 11

Walk 11: North Nibley - Hawksbury Upton

[See the photos on Facebook]

18th May 2013: Teasel and I set of from North Nibley at 9:38am, along with Mark, Liz, William, George, Alice and Tess the dog, who were joining us for the start of the walk. The route crosses the B4060 and heads up a shady recessed track to ascend the slopes of Nibley Knoll. The official route ascends steep steps, but these have recently been closed by a landslip. The diversion follows the bridleway to the top of the escarpment and then cuts back towards the plateau and the Tyndale Monument. Here there are fine open views across the Severn Vale and the River Severn to the Severn Bridges.

The path now follows the edge and enters woodland arriving shortly at Brackenbury Hill Fort. Here Teasel and I carried on while our companions returned to North Nibley. The path emerges from the wood to follow the edge of a lush green field, and then begins to descend a spur towards Wotton-under-Edge. Perched on the end of the spur above the town is a stand of trees, on a spot originally planted in 1815 to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo.

The path descends sharply to emerge back on the B4060 in Wotton, and passes through the town, and follows an alley to a churchyard before leaving the town along Valley Road, which becomes a path alongside a stream, which continues across a road to come out at Coombe. Here the route follows the road briefly, before striking steeply up a track to come back out on another road over Blackquarries Hill. After 1km of road walking a track cuts off right along the edge. Follow this arrive at a seat overlooking Tor Hill. Here we found a guidebook to the Cotswold Way, but soon caught up with its owners and were able to repatriate it.

The route enters a wood on Wortley Hill and begins descending on a forest track that soon becomes a miniature ravine with fallen trees spanning the top before emerging into fields by the village of Wortley. Cross the road and follow a mown path through a grassy field to a footbridge crossing a stream, then follow a track up to the village of Alderley. Here the route skirts around the bottom of Winner Hill to join a road running alongside Kilcott Brook. The road is followed for a mile and then the path heads uphill along another recessed track, through a field and Claypit Wood carpeted with bluebells.

The track along Clay Hill turns a slight bend and suddenly the Somerset Monument of the edge above Hawkesbury appears and soon we are by the base of it. Here a permissive path obviates the need to walk along to road and at 1:48pm we arrives at the reedy farm pool by Hawkesbury Upton.

Walk Distance: 10.6 miles (17.1 km), 4h10m.

Cumulative Distance: 85.8 miles (138.0 km), 31h25m.

The next walk will be Sunday 19th May. Hawksbury Upton to Tormarton Interchange. There's about 24 miles left to do.

Cotswold Way - Walk 10

Walk 10: Uley Bury - North Nibley

[See the photos on Facebook]

17th May 2013: We set off from Uley Bury at 8:05am. The early morning mist, which had lifted from surrounding areas was still lingering on Uley Bury and Cam Long Down, rendering them invisible. The route descends rapidly below the steep slopes of Uley Bury and emerges at Hodgecombe Farm. Cam Long Down rears up ahead, its summit in the mist. As we ascend steeply through fields to reach the trees on Cam Long Down bits of the surrounding escarpment begin to appear through the mist.

We reach the lumpy summit ridge of Cam Long Down - "one of the few places on the Way to offer an uninterrupted 360° view" - well not today as it's still wreathed in mist, offering only the occasional glimpse of the fields below. As we descend to the saddle between Cam Long Down and Peaked Down (Cam Peak), the mist starts to lift, giving views of Downham Hill.

The official route no longer goes over Cam Peak, but we nipped up it through the bluebells to look back at the emerging escarpment and onward past Dursley to Stinchcombe Hill. Then we returned to the official route which takes you through the fields to enter Dursley via Long Street, past the Market Hall and along the pedestrianised shopping street.

Passing the new Library and leaving Dursley on Hill Road (which is aptly named) we pass The Old Spot, venue for many Macaroni Penguins gigs (the next one is on 14th July), and then ascend sharply up the road and continue climbing to the plateau of Stinchcombe Hill via a wooded track. Emerging on the golf course by the Club House the path now follows a circuitous route around the golf course following the edge of the plateau. For three miles the paths weaves in and out of the woods ending up only 1/3 mile from the point where you first emerged. (Although to be fair the signposts do offer you the choice of shortcutting this part of the route). When you reach Drakestone Point the view improves, and the escarpment topped by the Tyndale Monument is clearly visible. There is also a Topograph, trig point and impressive stone bench here.

The plateau curves around Hollow Combe and then drops down along a wooded track, and continues through fields to cross a stream and a road (the B4060) before following a track lined with wild garlic that ascends into North Nibley. The hedgerows shield the views of the Monument until you arrive in the village. We finished the walk at 11:05am.

North Nibley is about two-thirds of the way along the Cotswold Way.

Walk Distance: 8.0 miles (12.9 km), 3h01m.

Cumulative Distance: 75.1 miles (121.0 km), 27h25m.

The next walk will probably be on Saturday, 18th May.

Cotswold Way - Walk 9

Walk 9: Dudbridge - Uley Bury

[See the photos on Facebook]

16th May 2013: We set off from Dudbridge at 8:43am on a lovely sunny morning, and picked up the Cotswold Way (Selsley Variation) at the crossing of the A419. The path heads into a large grassy field and begins a steady climb towards Selsley Common, and away from the busy road. For some reason the field has an isolated metal stile in it, and a substantial stone slab forming a bridge over a tiny stream.

In Selsley the route takes you along Pooles Lane and past the unusual All Saints Church, before heading onto Selsley Common - with its wild flowers, skylarks and absence of the usual cows - and climbing a spur to a Topograph and Long Barrow at the top.

The route leaves the Common and descends into Penn Wood picking up a track that follows the lower edge of the wood below Pen Hill. The vivid greens of the new leaves in the sun brighten up the walk through the wood as there is not much scope for views.

Above Middleyard the main route of the Cotswold Way rejoins our path. It's come pretty much directly from the canal at Ryeford, and has missed out on Selsley Common. A good path continues through the wood, at one point popping down below the lower edge of Stanley Wood to give views of May Hill, the Malverns and back to Standish Wood, before re-entering the trees and gradually rising towards both the road and the Coaley Peak Picnic Area where there is another restored Long Barrow - Nympsfield Long Barrow - although not as impressive as Belas Knap.

The route now follows the edge of the escarpment across the open grassland of the picnic area to another Topograph on Frocester Hill with fine views of the Severn Vale and towards Stinchcombe Hill, to be visited on the next walk. The Tyndale Monument can just be seen poking up above the horizon.

The path now follows a narrow strip of National Trust land which is gradually hemmed into a disused quarry with roads on either side above you. Steps lead out of the quarry to the road junction. After the junction the path descends sharply into Coaley Wood, where the noise of the road was drowned out by the chainsaws as Forestry Work was being carried out. As the noise of the chainsaws died away the path rises and then levels out, passing through the wood and some disused quarries to re-emerge by the road next to Uley Bury (a large Iron Age Hill Fort) at a bench with views towards Cam Long Down.

The official route leaves the escarpment here and heads for Cam Long Down, but it seems a shame to be so close to Uley Bury without visiting it, so we made a clockwise circuit before returning to the bench at 11:35am.

Walk Distance: 7.2 miles (11.6 km), 2h44m.

Cumulative Distance: 67.1 miles (108.0 km), 24h24m.

The next walk, Uley Bury - North Nibley, may happen on Friday, 17th May, or Saturday, 18th May.

Cotswold Way - Walk 8

Walk 8: Painswick - Dudbridge

[See the photos on Facebook]

13th May 2013: I got up, had my breakfast and stepped out the front door onto the Cotswold Way at 8:07am. Past the Spectacle Stocks and through Painswick Churchyard with its fine collection of yew trees. Then through the lych gate, across the A46 and along Edge Road to Hambutts Field, which recently acquired a memorial post to commemorate Tony Drake who was instrumental in the development of The Cotswold Way.

So far this could be the start of a normal day - walking the dog in Hambutts Field. But instead of taking our normal route we struck out across the fields to Washbrook Farm. The path goes through a small woodland with plenty of bluebells and over a footbridge. Here the long climb up to Scottsquar Hill starts. Initially through a field, we passed a stone post telling us we were now 55 miles from Bath. The other side said we were 47 miles from Chipping Campden (although by my route it's 51 miles), and then joined Jenkin's Lane to bring us out on the A4173 by the Edgemoor Inn. Here the path marches directly up the slopes of Edge Common. I opted for a slightly less steep route by detouring to the north.

Once the crest of the ridge is obtained, you cross the road and then descend through woodland down the far site to follow another track contouring around the hill through woodland with only occasional views. After a mile or so you emerge onto a road which drops down to Cliff Well, a tiny building the formerly housed a well (although it now seems to be capped with concrete). The building is adorned with many stone carvings and the following inscription:

DEO GRATIAS
Whoer the Bucketfull upwindeth,

Let him bless God who Water findeth:

Yet Water here but small availeth,

Go seek that Well which never faileth.

John C. 4, V. 14.

Carrying on one shortly encounters The Siege Stone commemorating the raising of the Siege of Gloucester on 5th September 1643 by the troops of Charles I, although I couldn't make out either of the inscriptions.

The path soon comes out at another road, turns up it briefly and then makes a short steep ascent up a farm track to regain the escarpment and come out at the trig point on the summit of Haresfield Beacon (217m).

From here the path passes ancient earthworks and traverses the top of a small green valley to come out on Shortwood Common. At the end of the spur is another Topograph topped with a relief model of the surrounding countryside. According to my calculations this is the half-way point of the Cotswold Way (although I won't know the actual half-way point until I've actually finished).

From here one crosses the open grassland to the National Trust car park, and then enters Standish Wood - a popular, pleasant and ancient woodland. After a while the waymarked path through the wood joins the track of Robber's Road, past a large Long Barrow glowing green in the sunlight, and then through disused quarries to emerge on a spur overlooking Stroud. Continuing through fields (and the excellently named Three Bears Wood) you cross a railway line to emerge on a school playing field. A short distance along Ebley Road brings you to the restored Stroudwater Canal at Ryeford.

Here I opted to take the alternate route that takes you over Selsley Common, but first you follow the canal into Stroud. Now this section has been restored it is a pleasant stroll to the Stroud Council Offices at the former Ebley Mill. Picking up a path from the corner of the council car park leads you through a field and up some steps to a former railway, now a cycle path by the A419 Ebley Bypass.

The path crosses the road (at a pedestrian crossing), where the next walk strikes off up towards Selsley. I carried on along the cycle path to finish at the remains of Dudbridge Station (1867 - 1969).

Walk Distance: 10.1 miles (16.3 km), 3h37m.

Cumulative Distance: 59.9 miles (96.5 km), 21h40m.

The next walk will happen when the weather improves. (Possibly Wednesday morning, 15th May). Update: Thursday 16th May looks more likely.

Cotswold Way - Walk 7

Walk 7: Barrow Wake - Painswick

[See the photos on Facebook]

12th May 2013: The forecast had been for rain spreading from the west in the afternoon. Then it gradually moved earlier and earlier until it was due to arrive at 11am. So we set off early from Barrow Wake at 8:45am. It was sunny, but there was quite a chilly wind blowing and clouds were massing to the west.

The path follows the edge of the escarpment and then enters the woods at Birdlip Peak, after which views are fleeting for several miles. Quite soon you cross a road descending steeply to The Witcombes. A brave soul was cycling up it. The path cuts down the slope to pick up a track through Witcombe Wood. With the heavy showers yesterday the track was a bit squishy in places, but not too bad.

After 3 miles of walking on forest tracks (there are plenty of way marks to keep you on the route), with only the purple haze of the bluebells, the odd wood pecker and the odd fleeting glimpse of Witcombe Reserviors and Roman Villa for amusement we emerged in the small village of Cooper's Hill - famous for the cheese-rolling antics of its inhabitants. The path passes underneath the strip of hillside where this takes place, and then goes steeply up through the woods to emerge at the top of it. We stopped for a sandwich.

It's then back into the woods and another steep pull up to the earthworks of another ancient settlement at High Brotheridge, and the road noise indicates were are getting closer to the A46. Descending through Rough Park we came out at Cranham Corner, crossed the A46 and head back into the woods. Emerging shortly onto a road, that becomes a track, and then a golf course.

This is Painswick Common. I have walked here dozens of times with Teasel, so we depart from the official route (which follows an often muddy bridleway across the common) to follow the gentle slopes across the golf course and up to the hill fort at the summit on Painswick Beacon (283m). We descended The Beacon, had another sandwich and then crossed the golf course to reach Catbrain Tump, rather than take the official route past the rather unappealing Catbrain Quarry (which has taken a significant bite out of the hill), and rejoined the official path by the Cemetery. Only to depart from it again to pass through The Plantation (instead of walking through the Walker's Car Park and road) to reach Gloucester Road into Painswick. The official route carries on along this road into the centre of Painswick, but I took Gyde Road, past the rather grand Gyde House, crossed the A46 and the Recreation Ground to arrive at The Cross and my front door at 11:37am, having successfully avoided the rain (which turned up within an hour).

Walk Distance: 8.7 miles (14.0 km), 2h50m.

Cumulative Distance: 49.8 miles (80.2 km), 18h03m.

The next walk (which will include the half-way point) is scheduled for Tuesday 14th May, but I may have to bring it forward to Monday 13th May to make better use of the weather.

Cotswold Way - Walk 6

Walk 6: Lineover Wood - Barrow Wake

[See the photos on Facebook]

10th May 2013: Teasel and I set off from Lineover Wood at 10:30am. The forecast was for a cool overcast day, but there was the odd patch of sun and we made good progress. The re-routed path sticks to the higher ground through the wood, but that also means it's close to the A436, but they soon diverge and the traffic noise dies away.

The route passes under the crackling power lines that we first met just after Belas Knap and skirts around the top of Wistley Hill with views back to Cleeve Hill and on to Hartley Hill, before heading back towards the main road. Apparently in times past you had to walk along the verge of the A436 to Seven Springs, but now a path has been created along the edge of the field on the other side of the hedge. Still close to the road, but massively better than having to walk along the road.

At Seven Springs you cross the A435 and follow a quiet road and then a track which climbs slowly up Charlton Kings Common to regain the top of the escarpment. I've been here a few times (it's a popular spot), but never seen it so quiet. As we arrived at the summit trig point of Leckhampton Hill (293m) (which has been painted light green for some reason) the sun came out, so we stopped for a spot of lunch.

The path leads down to a car park and then follows the road back uphill to pick up a track that passes Salterley Grange and a golf course to come out at Star College. More road walking takes you past an old army base before heading into Barrow Piece Plantation where the path follows the edge of the escarpment to Crickley Hill - the site of a 6000 year old Stone Age settlement. An excellent viewpoint, but annoying traffic noise from the A417 below. This becomes louder until you are unceremoniously dumped into the traffic by the Air Balloon Roundabout.

We dashed across the road at a suitable gap in the almost continuous traffic, and followed the pavement uphill (with heavy traffic slowly coming down the hill) until we were able to pick up the traffic free remains of the old road to the viewpoint at Barrow Wake. We arrived at 1:20pm.

Walk Distance: 8.6 miles (13.8 km), 2h49m.

Cumulative Distance: 41.1 miles (66.2 km), 15h13m.

The next walk, from Barrow Wake to Painswick, should be happening on Sunday 12th May.