(S/E) From the Swineford Picnic Area car park (ST 691 692), walk forward through the picnic area; approx. - 50m; look for a metal gate in the left-hand boundary hedge line (ST 691 693). Pass through the gate, and turn right, continue uphill, passing through several gates, to a road – Brewery Hill (ST 692 670). Turn right, and continue uphill, passing the ‘Upton Inn’ on your left. Continue ahead; approx. - 85m, to - Wick Lane (ST 693 670). Turn left into Wick Lane.
(1) Follow the road round to a house and two cottages; approx. - 300m, on your right. (Note: a white metal gate on the righthand side of the two cottages (ST 694 702)). Pass through this gate, turn right, and follow a rough path that runs behind the cottages to a stile, cross over the stile, and into the field beyond.
Follow the left-hand boundary hedge line; aiming for a metal gate at the bottom left corner of the field (ST 697 704). Pass through the gate, onto a path, that runs between high hedges. On exiting the path; follow this field’s left-hand hedge boundary to a wooden stile (ST 697 704). Cross over the stile, turn right, and follow a well-worn path, around a large overgrown thicket, into the field beyond. Continue to follow the left-hand boundary hedge line of this field.
At the corner of the field, walk forward down a slope, approx. halfway down, look for a footpath (ST 699 705) on the right, leading through the tree line. Use this cut-through to access the next field. On exiting; continue to follow this field’s left-hand field boundary hedge line; approx. 60 m, look for a path, on the left, that runs between high hedges (ST 701 706). Pass between the hedges, over a stile, and turn right. Continue along the path to a farm building; approx. 100m, on the left. Pass through a gate; onto the metalled driveway, directly ahead.
(2) Follow the driveway, passing Beach House and farm buildings on the right, to a gate. The gate is opened by pressing a ‘selector button’ fixed to the wall on the right; approx. 5m from the gate. Press the ‘select button’ to open the gate; pass through and continue ahead to – Beach Lane; approx. 75m. (Note: the gate closes automatically.)
At Beach Lane, turn right and walk forward; approx. 15m, look for a driveway entrance on your left (ST 705 708), note a stile to the left of the driveway, cross over the stile into the field beyond. Continue ahead to a gate with a stile; cross into the field beyond. Follow the right-hand field boundary to a second stile (ST 705 709), cross into the third field beyond. Walk forward; as a guide, aim for the left side of a large gap in the field boundary hedge. Locate a stile (ST 705 711), to the left of the gap; cross over onto a narrow-fenced path. (Note: - do not go through the gap. I did, and had to backtrack up a very steep hill!) Continue along the path: through scrub trees, into a large field, turn right. Walk ahead, aiming for the edge of a line of trees (ST 704 713), that roughly divide the field into two.
At the treeline; turn slight left, continue downhill, aiming for the left side of a small outcrop of trees, approx. at the mid-point of the lower boundary treeline (ST 704 715). Look for a path through the trees, leading to a plank bridge. Cross the bridge, and through the kissing gate, into the field beyond. Turn slightly left; cross over two fields to a kissing gate at the top left of the second field (ST 703 717), pass through the gate, and turn right.
(3) Walk forward along a broad lane; running the front of - Coldharbour Stud farm buildings. Continue past these buildings; through some scrub trees to a gate (ST 705 717), pass through the gate into a field. With the field boundary fence on your left; walk forward along the field boundary fence to a gate; approx. 30m, pass through the gate into a paddock. Turn slight left, look for a metal gate on the far side of the paddock; walk forward and pass-through this gate: cross over a farm access road; through a gate opposite, into a second paddock. Turn ¼ left, aim for the top corner of this field, to a kissing gate (ST 707 717). Pass through the gate; turn right, onto a lane with a crushed stone surface.
(4) Follow the lane - Cold Harbour Farm Lane, downhill to a small splash stream at the bottom of the hill (ST 710 712); cross over the stream (Note: - there is no bridge), to an unmade-up path directly opposite. Follow this path uphill; through trees, until it eventually turns into a lane – Grandmother’s Rock Lane. Continue up the lane, until it meets a road – Marshfield Lane (ST 709 706). Note a road sign in the opposite hedge for - Lansdown 2 miles. Turn left, and walk forward; approx. 5m. Look for a Foot Path sign, alongside a house boundary wall – Hanging House cottages, pointing to an unmade-up path. Turn right and continue up the path – Hanging Hill. (Note: The path is steep, rocky in places, and wet in winter.) At the top of the lane, pass through a gate at (ST 711 703) onto a semi-rough, scrubby area.
Note: From this point, it is recommended that you do not follow this part of the Hanging Hill path, as shown on the map; as it leads through an area of scrubby over-grown bushes, fallen trees, and the path is difficult to follow. Instead, take a wide sweep around the bushes on the left, and uphill, until you meet a wire fence. Turn right, and walk forward, following the fence line; approx. 120m, to a small monument; marking the easternmost position of the Parliamentarian and Royalist armies, during the Battle of Lansdown.
(5) Alongside the monument is a kissing gate, pass through the gate onto a path – the Cotswold Way. Continue along this path, through kissing gates, until it meets a second path coming in from your back right – a Y junction. Turn slightly left, and continue along a path running alongside the golf course. Continue ahead for approx. 530m, to a path junction; follow the main path round to the right, and cross over the golf course. (Note: be aware of golfers.) Continue along this path, alongside the golf course; to a metal farm gate at (ST 712 692).
(6) Pass through the gate, onto a crushed stone path; continue ahead, downhill into to the village of North Stoke – approx. 0.9km. Continue down through the village; look for a traffic ‘No Through Road’ sign, on your right, attached to a telegraph pole at (ST 715 699), turn right, and walk down the lane – approx.130m. At the bottom of the lane, follow the road around to the left. Continue ahead to an unmade-up path running between hedges. (Note: ignore the footpath signs, on the right, at bottom of the lane, pointing into fields)
Continue along this path; downhill, without deviation, for approx. 750m, to a kissing gate at (ST 691 692). pass through the gate into a large, open field. Follow a faint path downhill, to a kissing gate, at the bottom of the hill at (ST 692 692), pass through the gate into the field beyond. Turn slightly left, and continue ahead to a kissing gate (ST 692 692), pass through the gate, and continue up the slope to a road. The car park is on the right.
