Heart of England Way - Part 7 - Chipping Campden to Bourton on the Water

A cold, frosty, bright and still day.  A perfect day for walking.  An early start too as daylight is short at this time of year.  Well done to Chipping Campden for still allowing street parking.  I made a stuttering start, having to return to the car to get my gaiters and then missing the path.  Over some horsey fields and I was soon at Broad Campden though I'm still confused as to why there was no HoEW waymarking on this first stretch.

Some frosty topiary in Broad Campden

The HoEW gets more undulating at this southern end of the path and there's no doubt I am entering the Cotswolds.  The sandy coloured building are everywhere.  It was very different walking to last weeks mud.  A drier week and a hard frost made for easy walking,  Gone are the leather boots and I'm back in lightweight walking shoes.

The frost is hanging around well into the morning

I wonder if they realised this would make a good picture when they put the bike there?

On arriving in Blockley I spied a village coffee shop.  Who'd have expected a coffee shop in a small village in mid-winter to be packed but packed it was.  I think they've found a winning formula. 

I can heartily recommend the caramel slices

  Between Blockley and Bourton-on-the-Hill there were indeed a few hills to climb, a few geocaches to find and even a hunt out with the hounds.  After a short road section in Bourton the path turns due south and passes through the Sezincote Estate with its Indian style manor house.

Sezincote House

The last section of the Heart of England Way passes through a series of typical Cotswold villages, straight off the front of a chocolate box.

Long afternoon shadows and Lower Slaughter church

End of the Way at Bourton on the Water

I had miscalculated the distance today and had set off very early thinking it was a twenty mile stretch but it turned out to be only fifteen miles so I arrived earlier than expected. I had a hunt around to see if there was anything to signify it was the end/start of the HoEW but never found anything.  

My mind went back to my childhood when we used to come here occasionally to see my grandparents who came here on holidays each year.  I remember one year they said I could have a present from the shops.  I saw a flower press and asked for that but it never materialised. 

After a very quick look around the town I jumped on a bus that took me to Morton in Marsh and then another back to Chipping Campden arriving just as the sun was setting.

Walking the Heart of England Way has been a very enjoyable experience.  I've been lucky with a string of fine weather days on weekends.  I used OS Explorer maps and also had the route downloaded onto my GPS.  I found the HoEW guide by Stephen Cross a useful resource.  Although I didn't carry it with me I found the background information on the places I passed through most interesting.  The information it contained on transport links was also most helpful.