Starting point: Hillesley, Gloucestershire (ST769896; GL12 7RD)
Length of walk: 5.5 miles, 3-4 hours
Terrain: Rough paths, stiles, steep climbs and descents; much of the route likely to be muddy in wet weather; cattle may be encountered
Map: OS Explorer 167
The Fleece at Hillesley is open all day from noon Tuesday to Sunday, and from 5pm on Monday (thefleecehillesley.com)
Although only five and a half miles long, this month’s walk is full of contrasts, crossing and re-crossing two tributaries of the Little Avon, venturing up steep-sided holloways, striding along the edge of the escarpment, discovering a hidden valley and exploring two quiet villages. Hillesley, the village where the walk starts, is home to an award-winning community pub – the Fleece – serving local beers and ciders, and definitely something to spur you on should you start to flag in the latter stages of the walk. Image above: Field paths lead north from Hillesley
Although the Fleece has a car park, it is for patrons only, and there should be plenty of roadside parking in the village. Having parked, set off northward along the road through the village (signposted to Wootton under Edge) as it bears right past the war memorial (ST768897). Set back behind the memorial is Hillesley Farmhouse, dating from the mid-17th century. A little further along the road, Hillesley House, the large ochre-coloured house you pass on the right is also 17th Century, but has been greatly altered and extended.
Opposite the gates to the house, turn left through a kissing gate (KG) to follow a footpath sign across a field.
Go through a KG on the far side and carry on, with views ahead over Severn Vale to the Forest of Dean. After 60m, when you come to a farm track, turn right along it. (This is not the footpath shown on the OS map – this is one of those unofficial – and well walked – re-routings adopted to avoid trampling crops.) The mid-19th mansion you can see ahead is Alderley House, with the tower of Alderley church to its right.
Follow the track as it curves round the edge of the field and swings west, and carry on as it heads downhill. At the bottom, when you enter a copse, follow the track as it swings right, but, a few metres further on, when it swings left, bear right down a narrow path to cross a stile with a footpath waymark. Carry straight on across a footbridge over the Kilcott Brook and head on uphill with the hedgerow on your left (ST764907). Cross a stile and carry on through a coppice, at the end of which another stile leads into a large field. Head across it, and, after climbing over yet another stile, follow steps down to the valley of the Ozleworth Brook.
To your left is Grindstone Mill – once a corn mill, now a holiday let – with an ornamental bridge carrying the footpath over the mill pond. Cross the drive, go through a seven-bar gate with a footpath sign and carry straight on, heading for a telegraph pole and continuing alongside a fence. Cross a stile at the end, follow a track across a field, climb up to another stile, head across another field and go through a KG on the far side. Follow a path diagonally left towards the far hedgerow and, when you come to a lane, turn right (ST762922). At a T junction, cross and head straight on to follow a footpath sign up a holloway known as Cuckoo Lane.
Here is an abrupt change of scene – large fields, rolling country and extensive views give way to a steep and narrow defile, screened from the sun and lined with moss, fungi, ferns and badger slides, as you climb to the Cotswold escarpment.
After going through a gate at the top, the track levels out. When you emerge into the open, follow a bridleway sign diagonally across a field (where you may have to skirt around an electric fence). In the far corner, go through a gateway and continue along the edge of the next field. At the end, go through a gate and follow a bridleway sign up through another gate.
After 200m, you come to a waymark for the Cotswold Way (CW), which you will be following for the next three miles (ST771930). Turn right along the track, which after 400m leads through a KG into woods. After climbing steps, turn right along a farm track and continue along it, following CW markers, as it heads downhill.
Image: Down a rocky holloway
After 500m, when the track forks, bear right. A little further on, when the track broadens to an open space, carry straight on along a narrow path. Here the descent begins in earnest as you drop down into a holloway, the track turns ever rockier and fallen trees impede progress.
At the bottom, go through a KG and turn left (ST767917). When you come to a lane, cross to go through a KG and follow a CW sign diagonally across a field. After going through two gates, you cross the Ozleworth Brook (ST771913). There were two mills here – Monk’s Mill, to your left, and Penly’s Mill, 200m downstream. Both are long gone.
Above L-R: The Fleece at Hillesley, Looking westward from the edge of the escarpment
Turn right along a bridleway known as Kennerwell Lane. How it got its name is unknown, although, as St Kenelm was much revered in these parts, it could be a corruption of Kenelm’s Well. At the end, turn right along a lane and carry straight on at the crossroads into the village of Alderley. The forlorn but grandiose gateposts you pass on the left, with a battered farm gate wedged between them, once led to an 18th-century mansion demolished in 1859.
When you come to a T junction, turn right to visit another of Alderley’s architectural landmarks – St Kenelm’s church, whose tower you saw across the fields earlier. The tower is 15th century, but the rest of the church was rebuilt in Regency Gothic style in 1802 and is an absolute delight.
Head back up to the T junction and continue along the road as it curves right before turning left to follow a CW signpost past Mount House. The tarmac soon ends and you carry on along a rough track into the valley of the Kilcott Brook, one of the most alluring stretches of the Cotswold Way. Admittedly, my view may be coloured because, when I walked it in late July, swifts wheeled low around me, screeching through the sultry air, but the contours of this hidden valley would surely be as beguiling in just about any season – and do look out for the particularly well-defined strip lynchets on the slopes up to your left.
The path leads through a succession of gates, through fields where there may be cattle and along paths bordered by untamed hedgerows. After going through the final gate, turn right along a bridleway, known, somewhat ominously, as Watery Lane. After crossing the Kilcott Brook one last time, you come to a T junction (ST779897). This is where you part company with the Cotswold Way, turning right to return to Hillesley – and the Fleece.
Discover more of Andrew Swift’s work at akemanpress.com. All images courtesy of Andrew Swift
