On a suddenly warm and sunny day, a short walk in a part of Gloucestershire that neither of us knows at all well. Essentially, the walk involved parking in the village, and walking up a steep hillside for about 20 minutes to the hilltop fort.
Once there, the views were spectacular...
we felt that this walk, which mostly involved following the perimeter of the fort, would have been considerably less rewarding if the trees which lined the main edge were in leaf. In other words, we were glad we had done this in winter.
The path was very good, and as we turned onto the western side of the fort we were able to walk alongside the fence which ran round the fort area itself. The inside of the fort is accessible, you go through a gate on the corner, (although this would not be encouraged when cattle are grazing it from april to october), but there's not much to see in the central plateau, the interest is all on the edge looking out.
At the south-east corner (where Ralph is pictured) you undertake a steep descent through scrub, then woodland (described as 'bushes' inexplicably in the guide), then a 'meadow', essentially a recreation ground, although with far too much of a slope for ballgames.
After a while, the main street is reached, and a gentle stroll back to the car gave us a chance to look at some of the very grand houses. It's clearly a wealthy area, and also pleasantly quiet.
Having passed the Uley Brewery as we descended to the village, we were pleased to find that there was a pub which sold the local beer. The pub also sold a huge bowl of chips for 2 quid, including the 37 sachets of assorted tomato, mayo, tartare, hp and other goop with which we decorated the table. A really lovely trip, followed by a detour on the way home to take in the features of Wotton-under-Edge.
