a chance of infection. At the end of each day, carefully examine warm, moist areas of your body – in particular those pressure points where clothing presses against the skin, such as the back of the knee, armpits and groin. Should you discover a tick, remove it by firmly grasping the insect as close to the skin as possible (tweezers are best) and with a steady movement, pull its body outwards, without twisting or jerking which may otherwise leave the head beneath your skin. Cleanse the bite area with disinfectant. If you suffer lasting irritation around the bite area, or flu-like symptoms a few days later, consult your GP.
To avoid blisters, wear comfortable lightweight boots and well-fitting socks that you know from experience will not give you any problems – in other words, don’t set out on a 100-mile walk in brand-new, untested footwear. And do change your socks daily. Should you discover a ‘hot spot’ on heel or toe during the day, stop at once and fit moleskin or Compeed before a blister can develop.
Apply sunscreen and lip salve, and wear a wide-brimmed hat for protection against sunburn. Make sure you remain hydrated throughout the day by drinking plenty of liquids (not alcohol; leave that until the evening, if you must). Fill and refill your water bottle from reliable sources at every opportunity.
Carry a first aid kit and a mobile phone for use in emergencies (and hope you can get some reception, see below), and if you are walking alone, let a friend or family member know your itinerary.
Mobile phones, wi-fi and the internet
Mobile phone coverage is sporadic along the route; good in places, but non-existent in others. Most B&B establishments now offer use of wi-fi (free or for a small charge), but my advice is to enjoy a few days away from the internet. You may come to realise it is not essential to everyday living! There’s a real world out there: enjoy the freedom it offers.
The Country Code
And finally, as you set out to walk the Cotswold Way, please remember that the countryside needs your care and respect.
The Country Code evolved from principles set down by Octavia Hill, a champion of the countryside and one of the founders of the National Trust, who wrote in the early days of the 20th century:
Let the grass growing for hay be respected, let the primrose roots be left in their loveliness in the hedges, the birds unmolested and the gates shut. If those who frequented country places would consider those who live there, they would better deserve and more often retain, the rights and privileges they enjoy.
THE COUNTRY CODE
The path beside Dowdeswell Wood Nature Reserve (Stage 4, Southbound; Stage 10, Northbound) is flanked by drifts of ransoms (wild garlic) in springtime
1 Enjoy the countryside and respect its life and work.
2 Guard against all risks of fire.
3 Fasten all gates.
4 Keep dogs under close control.
5 Keep to public paths across farmland.
6 Use gates and stiles to cross fences, hedges and walls.
7 Leave livestock, crops and machinery alone.
8 Take litter home.
9 Help to keep all water clean.
10 Protect wildlife, plants and trees.
11 Take special care on country roads.
12 Make no unnecessary noise.
ALL ABOUT THE COTSWOLDS
Kelston Round Hill, from Prospect Stile (Stage 13, Southbound; Stage 1, Northbound)
The wolds form part of an extensive belt of oolitic limestone that runs from Dorset in the south to Yorkshire in the north. The highest and broadest part of this belt is an undulating tableland, raised on its western side and draining gently towards the east, down to the Thames Valley and the Oxfordshire Plain. On its western side, where the Cotswold Way goes, the scarp slope falls abruptly to the Severn Plain, revealing its most dramatic features. This sharp-edged tableland has long jutting prows and spurs, time-moulded coombes and island-like outliers, plateaus fuzzed with woodlands and a grid of drystone walls.
Numerous mounds provide evidence of a long history of occupation along the very rim of the escarpment, from which early man scanned the broad views, alert to approaching danger. Today the Cotswold wayfarer seeks those same vantage points as highlights of the walk, places on which to sprawl in the grass and dream among the flowers.
To read more about the Cotswolds see the list of recommended books in Appendix C.
Geology
About 180 million years ago, the region now known as the Cotswolds was covered by a warm, shallow sea. On its bed settled the shells of tiny creatures along with sediments of sand and clay. Over untold millennia these sediments were compressed into the oolitic limestone that was pushed up to form the very backbone of the land, and which provided the stone that has since been used for the construction of countless lovely cottages, manor houses and churches, not to mention the long miles of drystone walling seen almost everywhere.
The Cotswold mass has an eastward tilt, with the sharp face of the escarpment to west and north, and the limestone resting on several thicknesses of soft Lias clays. Thanks to that tilt, natural weathering processes are aided in their slow but steady destruction of the whole area: streams are constantly weakening the scarp slope, the clays slip and overlying rock crumbles without its former support. Thus the scarp has become a corrugation of bays and projecting prows, similar to a coastline, but without the tides of an ocean lapping at its base. Yet even without the wash of tides the scarp is being worn away and pushed further east and south. ‘Outliers’ such as Cam Long Down near Dursley, Bredon Hill near Evesham, and Dundry Hill to the south of Bristol, provide evidence of the former position of the Cotswold scarp and suggest that the wolds once spread throughout the Severn Vale.
At the end of the last ice age, some 10,000 years ago, the bare bones of the Cotswolds were given a flesh of vegetation. At first, no doubt, the wolds would have been colonised by deciduous woodlands, but in Neolithic times clearings were made and primitive forms of agriculture attempted on the virgin land. With successive generations the open spaces grew until, by the Middle Ages, the Cotswolds were one vast sheep walk. Then the process of agricultural evolution exchanged pasture for arable land and, following the Enclosures smaller fields were created. Now, it appears, the wheels of evolution are turning once more.
Plants and wildlife
Three seasons’ colours on the Cotswold Way
To the flower-loving wayfarer Cotswold limestone brings a rich treasury of orchids (green-winged and early purple in late April and May, common spotted, pyramid, musk, bee and frog in the full flush of summer), harebells and cowslips in the meadows, wild garlic (ramsons) massed with bluebells in damp, shaded woodlands in springtime, following a green carpet of dog’s mercury towards the end of winter.
Cleeve Common contains the highest land on the Cotswold Way, at over 1000ft (300m), and is one of the last remaining ancient grasslands. As many as 150 species
