Dursto two

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Walked from Stonehouse to Dursley. The middle part of the route, and its highlight, is a section of the Cotswold Way with fine views off the Cotswold escarpment. The Stonehouse end is mostly pavements but is easy and safe. The Dursley end is rougher but less suburban. Overall, this is a beautiful, varied and safe walk, but it is definitely not suitable for any form of wheels as there are several flights of steps and a few stiles, and a narrow section by a stream on the descent to Dursley.

From Stonehouse station, we go down residential streets and follow Bath Road east, then cross and follow Ryecroft Road North past an old mill and over the Stroudwater Navigation. We cross the by-pass using pelican crossings and continue uphill past Stanley Mill to King's Stanley (there is a pavement on the right/west side).

We turn left up St George's Avenue, which becomes Church Street and High Street before we bear right onto Castle Street (which becomes Castle View, Woodland View and eventually Woodside Lane. There are pubs and a Co-Op in Kings Stanley - these are the last faciilities before Dursley other than benches and picnic tables, so stock up here if you need to. Where the houses and pavements end, we take the footpath parallel to the lane, which has a couple of stiles (by this point the lane is quiet so you may prefer to stay on it). We cross an open field to another stile where we rejoin the lane as it narrows and climbs uphill.

Eventually we pass the last cottage and continue uphill on an unsurfaced track with holloway sections. We ignore Gipsy Lane and continue uphill, reaching the Cotswold Way at a gate with a bench.

From here onwards the Cotswold Way signs are a good guide to the best route along and below the escarpment. We start on a good track through the woods just below the edge. There are a few steps before we emerge in the Coaley Peak nature reserve, and pass the rather impressive Nympsfield Long Barrow. Once we lose the trees to the west there are excellent open views (unfortunately for me it was too hazy to see much beyond the Severn estuary). Once we leave the park, the path descends a little to the right before climbing back to the road junction (several short flights of steps). The signposted route bisects the road junction (take care) before descending quite steeply down to the right through the wood. Follow the Cotswold Way signs along an undulating path along the wooded hillside. Just beyond what may be an old quarry we join a path that slants up from our right and climb to a viewpoint with a bench, then continue downhill, following the Cotswold Way through another holloway and a farm track, then a short road section. Here we turn left and lose the Cotswold Way (which continues up and over the hill in front of us).

Our path follows a couple of field edges then descends into the stream bed, with several narrow bridges - this section is rough and may be slippery when wet. Beyond the farm lane we continue on a surfaced lane parallel to the stream, going a short distance right along Farfield before continuing on a well used path along the stream and across fields.

A short section of the route down is not a right of way, but it is clearly marked as a permissive path, and has stiles. It soon joins another right of way, descending steeply down steps through a little wood before we follow the edge of the wood to the edge of Dursley, then follow Long Street up to the meeting point (Castle Street can be crossed at a pelican crossing).

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