Walk 9: Dudbridge - Uley Bury
16th May 2013: We set off from Dudbridge at 8:43am on a lovely sunny morning, and picked up the Cotswold Way (Selsley Variation) at the crossing of the A419. The path heads into a large grassy field and begins a steady climb towards Selsley Common, and away from the busy road. For some reason the field has an isolated metal stile in it, and a substantial stone slab forming a bridge over a tiny stream.
In Selsley the route takes you along Pooles Lane and past the unusual All Saints Church, before heading onto Selsley Common - with its wild flowers, skylarks and absence of the usual cows - and climbing a spur to a Topograph and Long Barrow at the top.
The route leaves the Common and descends into Penn Wood picking up a track that follows the lower edge of the wood below Pen Hill. The vivid greens of the new leaves in the sun brighten up the walk through the wood as there is not much scope for views.
Above Middleyard the main route of the Cotswold Way rejoins our path. It's come pretty much directly from the canal at Ryeford, and has missed out on Selsley Common. A good path continues through the wood, at one point popping down below the lower edge of Stanley Wood to give views of May Hill, the Malverns and back to Standish Wood, before re-entering the trees and gradually rising towards both the road and the Coaley Peak Picnic Area where there is another restored Long Barrow - Nympsfield Long Barrow - although not as impressive as Belas Knap.
The route now follows the edge of the escarpment across the open grassland of the picnic area to another Topograph on Frocester Hill with fine views of the Severn Vale and towards Stinchcombe Hill, to be visited on the next walk. The Tyndale Monument can just be seen poking up above the horizon.
The path now follows a narrow strip of National Trust land which is gradually hemmed into a disused quarry with roads on either side above you. Steps lead out of the quarry to the road junction. After the junction the path descends sharply into Coaley Wood, where the noise of the road was drowned out by the chainsaws as Forestry Work was being carried out. As the noise of the chainsaws died away the path rises and then levels out, passing through the wood and some disused quarries to re-emerge by the road next to Uley Bury (a large Iron Age Hill Fort) at a bench with views towards Cam Long Down.
The official route leaves the escarpment here and heads for Cam Long Down, but it seems a shame to be so close to Uley Bury without visiting it, so we made a clockwise circuit before returning to the bench at 11:35am.
Walk Distance: 7.2 miles (11.6 km), 2h44m.
Cumulative Distance: 67.1 miles (108.0 km), 24h24m.
The next walk, Uley Bury - North Nibley, may happen on Friday, 17th May, or Saturday, 18th May.
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