Cotswold Way - Day 8 of 8 - Toghill to Bath - Last day on England's most scenic multi-day hike

Cotswold Way Day 8 Wick ( Toghill House B&B ) to Bath n anticipation of a shorter day than most we had a leisurely start, and for the first time the weather forecast was for sunshine, albeit a little cold, with no rain. Well, that was the forecast!! After possibly the finest breakfast of the trip, we left at 9.45am. The only way back to the Cotswold Way from Toghill House Farm is back down the main A420 road then across the fields by Toghill Barn Farm, taking roughly 15 minutes. It is worth the effort to reach here as Toghill House Farm B and B was exceptional, and there was a lack of anywhere else to stay. Re-joining the path (10.00am), we passed the Special Plants nursery to our right, before turning right going over a few fields, gaining height once more, with a bench situated at the highest point. The views ahead and behind are excellent. After an hour we reached plaques informing us about the battle of Lansdown in 1643, with battlefield markers all around. The battle took place during the English Civil War between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists. There is a most impressive monument of Sir Breville Granville who was a royalist. During the battle he was hit on the head by a pole-axe, and later died. I presume this is where the expression poleaxed comes from. It is worth imagining the battle between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, which resulted in the death of around 1500 people, and a Royalist victory. Leaving the battlefield and taking care crossing the road, we headed towards the fire brigade complex station, then took a path to the right of this. Through the woods, and back into fields with views to Bristol and South Wales. We met some very interesting Cotswold Wardens who have spent 2 days a week for the previous 3 years re-building the dry-stone wall alongside the golf course. A very commendable way to spend one's time. At the end of the golf course, to the left of the path are the most unexpected sculptures by David Michael Morse. They are incredible of 2 horses and the grim reaper-don’t miss them. Continuing through a gate with more views, there was a cold wind and clouds were beginning to blow in. To the left just before Bath racecourse is Little Down Hill Fort. This is the last of the many Iron Age sites visited on this trip, and is found on the most westerly point of the walk. At Prospect Stile (12.30pm), we reached a trig point with another topograph and bench, we ate a snack with the first great views over Bath and the hills beyond. We were happy as it is now down-hill all the way, and all very excited to be approaching Bath, but sad that the walk was finishing-always mixed feelings. We arrived on the outskirts of Bath just as it was starting to rain, and visited the excellent Western Café in Weston, to try to keep dry. However, it continued to pour with rain all the way into Bath. We skipped some of the official path, taking the main road, then passing through the park, looking at the very famous Royal Crescents, The Circus, through the very pretty city, arriving at Bath Abbey at 3.10pm. We tried to take photos outside it, but the rain was torrential. We visited inside the Abbey, and its exhibition of slavery. We said our sad goodbyes to our friends at this point, as they were spending a few days in Bath. We had originally planned to do this too as it is a beautiful city and a fantastic place to finish a walk, but we had new adventures planned. We had booked our train back to Manchester a few days previously, again using the train ticket splitter website. The train took 4.5 hours with 4 changes, but good value at £30.00 each, arriving back at our home in Manchester at 9.30pm. We also have a travel together card which gives us a third off most train fares. To sum up this was a lovely walk across some very beautiful countryside, interspersed with pretty towns, villages, hill forts, battlefields and towers. We booked all accommodation and evening meals in advance, and arranged with Sherpa bag carrying services to transport our luggage. In hindsight most of the accommodation and restaurants were fairly quiet. But it would have been a risk not to book, especially walking as a group. We would recommend this walk, but remember we covered an average 15 miles a day with an average of 1500 feet of ascent, and descent. We took 8 days to complete the 116 miles from Chipping Campden to Bath. But again, the walk can take as long or as short as you wish to make it. Don’t forget, life is a series of great adventures – go and have some. Happy walking. Distance 10.4 miles 16.5 km Duration of Walk 5 hours 30 minutes Average pace of walk 32 miles per mile Steps 29887 Elevation 620 feet 190m Bath | Cafe | Bistro | Bar (thewesternbistro.com) Total Mileage 116 miles 186km Total Ascent 11,792 feet 3594m Advice YouTube limits the description to 5000 characters. To continue reading Barbara's blog, please visit http://www.hikingwithdaveandbarbara.c...