Saturday 28th March, Day 1 – Arrival
We left Corringham just after 11am and had an interesting journey that included traffic jams, roadworks, heavy rain and two accidents. But that’s the M25 for you! We were also lucky to see some buzzards, red kites and some deer on the journey up here. After a much needed lunch stop at Reading services we made it to our home for the next two weeks at 4:10pm. Woodhouse Campsite and Lovell lodge was waiting for us. The young people were allocated their rooms and spent time settling in.
Dinner was sausages, potatoes spaghetti hoops (or peas) followed by arctic roll. Everybody ate until they were full before completing their first diary entry. After that the young people split into groups and played cards or other games in the Lodge. Leaders had some much needed time to plan lunches, and the following day’s menus. As the clocks go forwards tonight there will not be many hours of sleep between now and tomorrow, although this seems to concern the adults rather than the young people.
Sunday 29th March, Day 2 – 19.24km
Our first day walking. Chipping Campden to Stanton. Weather: rain, wind, rain wind… We began after the photograph at the beginning of the Cotswold way marker in the middle of Chipping Campden.
Immediately after saying goodbye to Tug, we left and walked straight up the first hill! Getting to the top layers of clothing were removed, only to be put back on as it began to rain with strong winds. This was the story of the day. Every time we stopped it rained again. The route was muddy and slippery. There were many sheep with their lambs in the fields to be seen. As we headed higher the wind became stronger. Some explorer scouts set a steady but quick pace, with many following at a slightly slower pace. We took time to regroup behind a convenient dry stone wall before moving on again. This became the norm of the day.
Lunch was spent behind another stone wall at Broadway Tower. We had to be careful as lunch wrappers were whipped out of our hands. A leader had to wait for her bag to come out of a tree before stuffing it back away. As we left it rained again so it was heads down as we left. We walked down into Broadway, a pretty little Cotswold town or village. Leaving the town we took a short detour through some horse paddocks before rejoining the main trail. We then headed up (again) through a coppice of trees, with the wind whistling through our ears. Here we saw some primroses, a lone snowdrop and some hardy wood anemone growing amongst the trees. Heading up past a very muddy farm, we continued past an old quarry and up again to an old Iron Age settlement. Here the wind was even stronger but at least it was no longer raining!
Then came a final steep descent into Stanton. Here the problem of the mud became clear, scouts, explorers and leaders slid their way down the steep slopes. Many ended up on their behinds! As we dropped down we were pleased to see a message from Tug. We knew we were nearly there! A few more slips and then we arrived in Stanton. A very pretty village, made prettier by the fact we could see Tug and that meant the mini bus was very near. We arrived back at 16:10, stripped off waterproofs and headed back to camp. It was over an hour and our bus was pretty quiet, as the young people succumbed to a short nap. At this point the weather improved – typical!
Roast dinners, showers and hot drinks waited for us. A tiring but successful day, with no problems. I think we will sleep well tonight!
Monday 30th March, Day 3 – 15.42 km
A sunny day! The weather was much better than yesterday. We arrived at Stanton and begun at 10 am. We headed out of the village and quickly began our first ascent. We passed through fields patterned with old ridges and furrows from medieval times. We saw in the distance a long railway viaduct. Then we entered a field with the notice “beware of the bull”. Fortunately, it was nowhere to be seen! We entered the quiet village of Stanway. We saw the large entrance gates of Stanway House. Apparently J M Barrie stayed here. Passing through we saw the fast flowing stream which used to power a watermill. Then it was the big hill! All the way up from 101m to 248 m in a very short time. Everyone walked at their own pace and we regrouped at the top of the hill.
A short breather was taken and we were off again. We passed through several fields and felt the fresh breeze which cooled us down nicely. We avoided the dead sheep that had been ravished by some wildlife that fortunately was no longer there. We then began our descent down towards the old Hailes Abbey along a track that bordered a pretty woodland that would be full of bluebells in a couple of weeks. Hailes Abbey was reached and glanced at as lunches were pulled out of backpacks. One explorer managed to sleep leaning against the wall whilst another managed his 6th wee of the Day!
After lunch we passed the side of the Abbey and headed down towards the town of Winchcombe which we could see in the valley. Walking through Winchcombe we were surprised at the fact that so many houses were built on the slope. We crossed a field and spotted a minibus in the distance. Not long now! One more very steep hill and there was Tug waving at us. The final push was hard 100m in height gained in less than 1km.
Arriving at the minibus we were glad for the rest before the journey home. Silence ensued on the bus as we drove home and leaders slept alongside the young people. A much better day weatherwise, we’ll have the same again tomorrow please! There are a few tired scouts tonight!