A Stylish Place in the Cotswolds

After exchanging anniversary cards Debbie and I pack the car and set off for the Cotswolds just as it starts raining which gets very heavy on the M4. An auspicious start to a few days away. We arrive late afternoon to a warm welcome from our host and take in the lovely view across the Painswick Valley looking west to the ridge that Duncan and I walked across along the Cotswolds Way. It's a very tranquil spot with just a hint of a hum from the A46. We walk up the lane, or Wick Street as it's called, in the evening for a view over Painswick and turn back as the black clouds roll in and we have to shelter under a tree during the downpour. We dine on asparagus and samphire washed down with champagne to celebrate 14 years of wedded bliss. Our home is a wooden sided converted pig sty with ancient wooden beams but cosy enough with the wood burning stove. Thursday morning it's raining but doesn't seem to bother the horses grazing in the field below us. By the time we've breakfasted the rain has stopped and we walk into Painswick to admire the typical Cotswolds buildings and the church with 99 yew trees. We then walk down and up the steep hill to Bulls Cross then back home just in time to miss another torrential downpour which is a good excuse to laze about reading. It's an impressively atmospheric evening with huge black clouds interspersed with the sun lighting up their edges. Friday morning is cloudless and we stride up to Bulls Cross to start the Laurie Lee Wildlife Walk which is a lovely route through woods and down the Slad Valley to Laurie's childhood village. It's breezy with clouds scudding in on the north wind but sunny to keep us warm especially when ascending the sides of the valley. After blackberrying and lunch we have a drink in the Woolpack garden overlooking where we've walked before visiting Lee's gravestone in the churchyard opposite and then the cottage where he grew up. With a pint of local rough(ish) cider inside me we climb back over the ridge to our own valley and sit in the sun looking out westwards. After a while the cold northerly drives us inside to the warmth of the fire and to finish our books. Dinner is rounded off with freshly picked blackberries and apples generously left outside a house for free (a common feature round these here parts). Saturday is another cloudless morning but with a distinct nip in the air and after gazing out one last time to see a deer frolic in our field we drive to my parents who I haven't seen since February. A good chat and hearty meal from the chippy then we drive to Lansdown to put a rose from Matt's rosebush in his field. Back to my parents to pick up my glasses that I forgot then an uneventful drive home by the back rounds due to the M4 being closed nearing London. A lovely few days away.

The sty from Wick Street

Not bad for a sty

View from our bar

Rain and sun

Sunset over the Painswick Valley

The valley in the morning

Painswick from Wick Street

Painswick churchyard

Our visit to Lilliput

The Laurie Lee Wildlife Walk

Lake just before the steep bit

Looking up the Slad Valley

Looking down the Slad Valley

Intrepid Trekkers

Slad in the distance

View over where we've come from - from the Woolpack at Slad

Laurie's gravestone

The Woolpack

Rosebank - Laurie Lee's childhood home

The Pilgrimage from Wick Street to Slad

View over Weston and Bath from Lansdown

A rose for Matt

Eastbourne Riviera

Friday I get a train for a fiver to Eastbourne for an Autumn hiking weekend with Duncan. Nice apartment overlooking a bowling green (complete with ad for funeral director) then a vista of Mediterranean like trees to the pebble beach and a sea glittering. Duncan arrives and we're off for big shop by which time it's getting dark. Lovely curry and beers and then bed where I fall asleep watching le Tour highlights.

View from the flat

Fitful night so a little tired Saturday morning but after a cooked breakfast we're raring to go. We walk into the town centre to get the train to Glynde (10 minutes but more expensive than my ticket from London) and we walk up a steep hill to join the South Downs Way which we are following into Eastbourne. The Way is very popular with walkers, cyclists and the odd horse rider. It's mainly in open ex;posed to sun and wind but with enough wooded parts to keep in interesting along with the nice villages with expensive cars. We get great views over the downs and then over Bournemouth and across to Hastings as we descend to the sea. After a couple of beers in the pub I cook pasta with tomato sauce for tea before watching our teams win their first games of the season on MOTD before my le Tour fix.

The Long Man of Wilmington

Duncan climbing up past the Long Man - it was steep!

Lunch above the Long Man of Wilmington

At last beneath the trees

Following the South Downs Way

Sunday morning we're not in a rush as after a leisurely cuppa we have a quick dip in the sea before breakfast. Water is pleasant and the sun is out and a cormorant is drying it's wings on a pole in the water. Will be hot today and I already have a red neck from yesterday.  We hike to Pevensey seeing a couple of seals basking on the way and yes it is very hot. After breaking out of the castle grounds we loop round coming into Eastbourne along the main roads which can't be helped. Back home we collapse with beers and gaze at the view of azure seas and a cloudless sky before an evening swim and tea.

Our flat behind the bowling green

One of the many Martello towers

Pevensey Castle

Pevensey Bay loop (Strava got a bit mixed up in Morrisons)

Very leisurely breakfast then bus to Seaford for a hike back along the cliffs in very hot weather with a light breeze but no shade. After a dip at the Birling Gap it's up and down over the Seven Sisters to Beachy Head before descending into Eastbourne and a trek along the seafront passing all the oldies. After recovering from heat exhaustion we go for a couple of beers at our local then get chips to eat on the beach. A lovely end to the day.

Sunrise

A chalky cliff

Duncan striding away from Seaford

The Seven Sisters

Shimmering Sea

Beachy Head Lighthouse

A shimmering backdrop

Seven Sisters & Beachy Head

Tuesday we breakfast and pack and after a little bike gears fiddling Duncan drops me off at the station and we say our goodbyes. Some great walking although a little hot for my liking. There again I can't complain that it didn't rain on us which is a first for our hiking weekends.