Cotswolds Way in the Books

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Day 7 Hiking, July 23.

10.5 Miles, 23,360 Steps, 6.5 Hours

Noades House, Tormarton to The Brooks Guest House, Bath

The trail from the north came out on the left and immediately climbed the steps across the lane.

Danish couple I shared the breakfast table with. They quickly caught up to me and left me in their dust with their long legs, although they too come from a land that is Flat.

PA so close?

Durham Park Estate.

What a tall stonewall surrounding the Durham Estate looks like with a hiker passing below - tall.

Lunch from a gas station, actually the only gas station encountered on the Cotswold Way aside from that one in town back at Wotton-under-Edge. Had heard there was a cafe nearby but decided the risk of traffic to get there wasn’t worth it. Had the Tuna Toastie and a Fanta. Sat on a rock wall to eat while watching motorists fill up with petrol. Not very good food.

While sitting at the petrol station two guys came walking up and wanted to know about the cafe. Told them I had tried to get there but thought the road too dangerous. They took off and returned 5 minutes later, they agreed with the road. One was from Philadelphia and the other South Dakota.

Cutter of those wicked blackberry briars. They keep leaping out and attacking this hiker.

Marta, the amazing Polish woman who turned around on a busy highway to rescue this hitchhiker and drove her to the outskirts of Bath. We had a great conversation talking about my time in Krakow in 2005 and where she was from - Pozan. She now works as a Polish translator for the courts system and would have gone further into Bath City Center, but she was due in court. Back in the late ‘90’s she wanted to go to America and learn English and decided the cheapest way was to be an au pair. Lived and worked with a family with 4 children in the Miami area for two years before migrating to England.

Brooks House where tonight’s pillow is, with poor WiFi.

Fireplace in my ‘upgraded’ room. Don’t need any more warmth, but this historic touch is more important.

Waiting for a bus into Bath, but was ‘rescued’ by the guy at the nearby pub who had given me directions. Rather than waiting for 35 minutes for the bus and a lengthy ride to town he drove directly to the Brooks Guesthouse and we had a good chat. He has traveled all over the US. Made it to Chicago but not Wisconsin. He went to school as a kid in the Chesapeake Bay Area as a kid, for some reason. He is a well known artist in this area (looked the type), only shared his first name - Anton, but drove this tired person directly to where tonight’s home sweet home is. I feel like the stars were aligned in Lois’ favor today. The body was tired and hurting.

Bath Abbey. The City Center was crowded not only with tourists but there was a graduation from the Bath Spa University today. All graduates lined up for their traditional photo in front of the Abbey. I waited my turn for the Cotswold Way circle.

Roman Baths

Bakery

King and Queen Bath

Abbey. Learned that no matter the population of a place, if it has an Abbey, it automatically becomes classified as a City. In Bath the Abbey is the called - The Abbey. No religious name is attached such as Mary/John/ Peter.

Plaque commemorating that the baths have been here since the First Century.

On the outside of the Abbey.

Cotswold Way completed!

Royal Crescent. Built in 1767/75. “Was the first crescent shaped terrace houses in Europe. It combined glamorous city living with beautiful countryside views.”

Falafel for dinner from a tiny walk up place where there was only room for 2 people to stand. The wrap was Huge. Have half packed for tomorrow.

Street where Jane Austen lived with her family.

So this section of the adventure has been completed. It was far more challenging than expected. Guess that is a sign of what one person finds hard might be considered easy peasy by another (younger/fit/non injured). I did have troubles. Moving forward towards the next the stretch which hopefully will not involve hills, I shall try to give it my best attempt.

Feel sorry for Leo who has discovered unexpected pain in a knee, I can relate! Sorry to learn of this. Leo gained a knee brace and mine decided to part ways with this hiker. Today wished for its return.

Tomorrow travel day to find the source of the River Thames.

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