King’s Stanley to North Nibley: Not the miles, but the flights.
Tom and Lesley, our hosts at Orchardene, gave us a tip: we could turn right out of their driveway and go straight up the lane to get back on the Way. It would cut off miles and some ascent/descent/ascent.Later this day we’d come to a golf course. The new route goes around it, climbing a hill in the process, but a trail (the original Cotswold Way route) cuts across, two miles shorter.
Learning that today’s walk would be closer to ten miles than thirteen, our spirits were up as we set out.
Good thing, because the path went up, too. It was head down and trudge, breathe deep and add some arm swing. Maybe a mile along, we met a couple women we’d shared breakfast with at Upper Hill Farm. They were about to go the wrong way and we corrected them. They’d gotten lost three times the day before. For most of the morning we were in & out of each other’s sight. But our last view of them looked like they were headed wrong (note: saw them again, see tomorrow, they weren’t lost).
By shortly after 11:00 we were in Dursley. We found bathrooms in a community center open for a flower & craft show.
In the town center we admired the market and strolled up a street turned into a pedestrian mall.
As Bruce stood outside the King’s Head, a local told him about the “world famous spot.” We went there for a pint and lunch. Most of us had sweet potato-coconut soup. I added a roast beef sandwich. Meg & Jan had berry crumble with custard. It was tough to leave.
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| Old Spot is a pig |
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| One whole shelf of books in The Old Spot is beer guides |
And the trail went straight up again. I have seen warning signs in the White Mountains for 7% grades. Here there are 20% grades. It was evil.
We got to the golf course, took the short cut, and strolled into North Nibley in mid afternoon.
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| Meg poses at the golf course where we cut off two miles |
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