Wotten Under-Edge to Old Sodbury Day 7

Tuesday 8th October

We had a delightful breakfast of porridge (me) and Royal eggs (Simon) after a rather late night at the Swan Hotel last night. Cotswolds make a really lovely Gin which goes nicely with Elderflower tonic I discovered.

It’s the first day in two weeks that we experienced rain. Started off intermittent with some lovely bright sunshine but as the day went on the rain became heavier turning our trails into muddy slip and slides and at times miniature rivers! This made the hike one of the most challenging sections. The locals told us it was a day of extreme weather with heavy rainfall and they were right!

We came across some interesting cows half way through the walk. They seemed like shorthorns but with long horns!! After checking with some of the older locals at The Dog Inn tonight we think they were Texas Longhorns - a long way from home!! We wondered what on earth they would be doing in the Cotswolds .

The other thing we noticed was the abundance of pheasants running about helter skelter in the fields and along the tracks. They were very reluctant to fly maybe because that’s when they could be shot down in hunting season. It was a challenge to get a photo of a pheasant because they consistently kept a safe distance. Very smart!

It was impossible to find a nice spot to enjoy our packed lunch today due to it being so wet and raining. We ended up stopping in a field and I popped up an umbrella to keep dry. It made for a funny photo!

We marched on towards the Somerset Monument. Unlike the Tynsdale one we were not able to access this due to falling masonary.

As we got closer to Old Sodbury there were many horses with rugs on them in the fields. Later we found out that Old Sodbury is very close to Badminton Trials an international horse riding event.

After 24km of walking we arrived at Old Sodbury. Walking through the church grounds and then on through the tiny village to our stay at Old Sodbury House BnB. We were soaking wet but our hosts soon made us feel warm and dry. Our host Ellie helped us stuff our hiking boots with scrunched up newspaper to help dry them out. It was a fabulous tip. Dry shoes the next day were a godsend. 👟 👟

After hot showers we headed off to the local
pub - The Dog Inn for an early dinner. It was pretty quiet at this pub and we noted how English pubs are all about having a drink and enjoying a lovely English meal. There are no televisions or poker machines which is so refreshing and much more relaxing ☺️Read more