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Odyssey 2008: The Cotswolds of Great Britain New
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Dates:
(10 days, 10 nights) |
Assembly Point:
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Tour
Cost: $4,500 (includes 10 nights lodging, all meals, luggage transfers from lodge to lodge, leaders, trail maps & narratives) |
ItineraryOver the course of the past 10 years, our Odyssey Series has become Timberline’s signature adventure for cyclists. It has been in the context of this series that we rode from Wood River, IL, to Astoria, OR, in 2004, commemorating the bicentennial anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Last season, we Chased the Great Divide for almost 2,700 miles from Lordsburg, NM, to Jasper, AB, commemorating our own 25th anniversary.
Hasn’t the time come for us to offer a similar experience for our hikers? We think it has, and in the season ahead, we’ll unveil our Odyssey Series for Hikers—a series, like our cycling series, that will be renewed with a different extended adventure each year. Each of the cycling odysseys that we have staged has been a unique, extraordinary experience, tailored for those, who flat out, love to cycle. We hope that these have been experiences that will be cherished long beyond their completion. Our new Odyssey Series for Hikers will be driven by these same principles and commitment.
We’re headed to England for this inaugural adventure to hike the historic Cotswold Way, but not just a piece of it as so many groups do—we’re doing the whole thing. We’ll begin where the Cotswold Way begins—at Chipping Campden—and we’ll hike southward with an ultimate destination of Bath. In the course of this 10-day trek, we will have walked 103 miles through a continuum of charming villages, many of which date back at least to the early-17th century.
In so many ways, the Cotswolds offer what we might hope to find in the English countryside. Rising gently from the broad, green meadows of the Upper Thames, cresting in a dramatic escarpment above the Severn Valley, the Cotswolds clearly are best defined as gently rolling hills, rather than mountains. The characteristic honey limestone, which constitutes the bedrock of the Cotswolds, produces the fertile soil and lush grasslands for which this area is noted. Sheep have grazed the Cotswold hills for centuries and the region has prospered in the past as a major producer of wool and as a substantial trading center. But, along came cotton and the Industrial Revolution leaving the Cotswolds locked in a time warp. As a result, this region never lost its rural character and remains wonderfully untainted by industrialization and urbanization.
We’ll assemble in Chipping Campden the day prior to departure and plan our arrival early enough to explore this town whose prosperity during the early 17th century typified the golden age of the Cotswold wool trade. On Day 1, we’ll hike to Broadway (5 miles), considered to be one of Britain’s most beautiful villages with its attractive houses and shops built of honey limestone. Day 2, it’s on to Winchcombe, the ancient Saxon capital, noted for its many ornate churches. Along the way, we’ll pass through Stanton, whose narrow streets are lined with stunning cottages and farmhouses, and visit the ruins of Hailes Abbey, founded in 1246, and Sudeley Castle (12 miles).
On Day 3, we’ll walk through the delightful countryside of Cleve’s Common, the highest point (approximately 1,000') on the Cotswold Way, and then on to Cheltenham, we’re we’ll spend the evening (15 miles). Our path continues along the top of the escarpment on Day 4, crossing open grasslands into a beautiful beech forest. We’ll overnight in Birdlip (9 miles) and continue to Painswick on Day 5 (7 miles), a fascinating town with its honey limestone structures and wealth of historic treasures to visit on this relatively short day.
We’ll cross the valley of the River Frome on Day 6 to Nympsfield (14miles), passing numerous ancient burial grounds along the way. Nympsfield Long Barrow was excavated in 1937, yielding some 13 skeletons dating back to 2500 B.C. We’ll spend the evening in Nympsfield and hike on Day 7 to Wotton-Under-Edge, a delightful village situated under the edge of the Cotswold Escarpment and noted for its fine shops and lively pubs (11 miles).
On the way to Tormarton on Day 8, we’ll walk through ancient Old Sodbury, dating back in time to the 11th-century reign of Edward the Confessor (8 miles). It’s then on to Bath at the southern terminus of the Cotswold Way on Day 9 (15 miles). Ancient Bath is the only town in Britain to have achieved World Heritage City designation. Magnificent architecture and landscape are everywhere, a reflection of Bath’s 2,000-year-old legacy. Among the many
features for which Bath is noted are its legendary Roman baths, fed by the waters of the area’s prolific hot springs. Bath clearly is one of those places in which we need to linger; it’s gardens, art galleries and museums demand that we spend, not only our final night here, but a good part of our final day exploring this extraordinary town. We’ll ultimately return to London, where Odyssey 2008 concludes.
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