We love this walk. It’s a quick one and absolutely beautiful. It begins in the gorgeous village (are there any ugly villages in the Cotswold?? I don’t think so) of Miserden and meanders around The Golden Valley’ on the Miserden Estate, 850 acres of woodland, farmland and gardens open to the public, check the website for timings. Once again I used the All Trails app for directions.
We parked at the entrance of the village, just before the really cute village shop, and walked on past the church and straight to the end, keeping on the left at the village centre.
First a little bit of history for you… the village was already known at the time of the Domesday Book (you remember… the big survey of all the land ordered by William the Conquerer in 1086?) with the name of Green Hamspted. The Church of St Andrew was already old at this time, can you imagine? although since then it has had lots of work done at various times. Fun fact from the church’s own website: a surviving Anglo-Saxon detail is the so-called “Devil’s Doorway” opposite and with a similar rounded arch to the main doorway. In historic times the parishioners believed the devil would enter by the south door and leave by the north door.
Let’s get it all in the open and let me confess that the main reason we went on this walk is inside these three jars:
Lynne has a table outside her house (I presume) with an honesty box for payment. This is our second lot and this time we went for the big ones! I’m quite addicted to the lemon curd, the husband is very partial to the blackberry jam and the whole family dives into the chilly jam. Seriously, they are gorgeous.
But back to the walk… past the jam table, at the end of the road, to the left of a private driveway (to the glorious Miserden hall, is the beginning of this short but very beautiful little walk.
There are sheep and cows and horses in this field so it’s better to keep your dogs on the lead… Murphy was not impressed with this decision. Not one bit.
The path meanders gently downhill and then crosses a cattle grid and at this point Murph was let off to run like the loony he really is and go for a swim in the bubbling brook…
Never mind the crazy one… we also had the o.g. dog, Lilli the ferocious beast…
She’s almost 14yrs old, completely deaf and let’s just say her eyesight ain’t great either… but she loves a walk, especially when you have chicken nibbles in your pocket that might end up her way.
The path follows the stream and the stream ends in a small lake at the bottom of the valley.
Past the lake, the path climbs back up the hill (put your dog back on the lead at this point… more sheep action is ahead) and glance to your right for a glimpse of the big hall.
And then you’re back to the village. There’s a pub on the left of the left photo. We haven’t tried it yet… as a matter of fact I haven’t been out to dinner for months!!
Murphy's view: well, folks, it's very annoying that I am never allowed to play with the sheep and other animals, but I like this walk because I can go running in the woods and do lots of swimming.
the-wanderings.com 