Chewin one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Chewin here.

A good and varied walk, but unsuitable for cycles, horses or wheelers, due to narrow paths and gateways, steps, tree roots, and steep gradient at times. No stiles, gates all easily opened. Possible livestock in fields south of Southam, and on Cleeve Hill Common.
Route more or less correctly mapped, I would just make a couple of suggestions at each end.
There are many route options on leaving Cheltenham Royal Crescent, to get out to the racecourse, but this one is good as it avoids busy streets. It dives underneath an archway at Church Street (incorrectly mapped here), & then passes through the churchyard. The Pittville Gates are quite a feature. Personally I would have preferred a route through Pittville Park (as Chebis1), then along East Approach Drive to Albert Road. On Chewin1 the route uses a path between Welland Lodge Road and Broad Acre Road. This has a sharp (blind) turn and I would not like to pass through here at dusk or in darkness.

The path adjacent to the racecourse is narrow and gates would not allow wheelers and bikes. It could be quite noisy if a race was in progress!
Northwards from Shaw Green the route passes through fields where there could be livestock. Hyde Brook is crossed on a bridge, there might be flooding here in really rainy periods, and it could be boggy or muddy in the winter months. The route heads to a gap between houses in Southam, potentially there may be refreshments at Southam de la Bere Hotel, just off route, but it is very posh.

From Southam the route uses bits of old road and footways, then crosses the B4632 (take care here - fast traffic) to head steeply up Ashleigh Lane. After a while a footpath continues heading uphill, and is narrow and/or steep in places, with occasional steps and tree roots. Once on Cleeve Hill Common views open out, across the wide Severn valley to the Malvern and Welsh hills, there are seats, and at the top the golf club and Cotswold Way cafe offer refreshments. The route then follows the Cotswold Way for a short while then continues on a more direct route into Winchcombe. There is a verge where it runs briefly beside the B4632. At Postlip Mill a new path takes the route above the noisy industrial area (CheWin1 not correctly mapped here). Southeast of Postlip House a more direct route could be used by following a narrow, fenced path nearer the stream, (the River Isbourne Way). The mapped route goes up to a pair of pretty cottages, then down through fields with a number of gates to negotiate, (2 horses and 2 pigs were in the enclosures when I passed by), before reaching Corndean Lane.

The final part of Chewin1 uses Corndean Lane briefly, then the Cotswold Way on good paths, through to picturesque Vineyard Street. A shorter route would be to follow the footway directly into the town.

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