Kinban two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Kinban here.

I completed this route yesterday walking southeast from Kineton. I have to say I really enjoyed this walk and was grateful MikeM had created it as an alternative to the flagged Kinban one. The route has plenty of interest and character, as it traverses a section of a MoD site, a section of the Cotswolds and some lovely villages. My tracked route on the OSMaps app has this closer to 14 miles in length, and has some steep elevation leading me to give this at best a moderate technical difficulty.

Although there are several pubs en route, I advise checking opening hours if you aim to use one of them for refreshments. I unfortunately aimed for the Dun Cow at Hornton which was closed due to a private function. This was frustrating after walking past the open Castle at Edgehill and Ratley's Rose & Crown. Never mind I thought, i'll go to the Red Lion at Horley... only to find on arrival it doesn't open till 6pm on Saturdays.

The route exits the lovely village of Kineton behind very quickly via an unsealed track with a view of the forthcoming Edge Hill on the horizon (photo 1). Just after a mile into the walk, the route reaches the boundary of MoD Kineton which is apparently western Europe's largest ammunitions dump. This is emphasised in photos 2 and 3 which warn of a "slight risk of explosion" and patrolling guard dogs - a new one for me on a Slow Ways walk! I could hear no continuous sirens wailing so I carried on. On several occasions the route crosses the railway (photo 4) which serves the military base and has some interesting history.

After leaving the army base behind, you head into the Cotsolds AONB and through Radway. The fact you're now in the Cotswolds is reflected in the steep ascent of Edge Hill towards the folly that is the Castle pub and hotel. The route leaves the village of Edgehill behind via a lovely pathway (photo 7) and before long you have passed through the next lovely village of Ratley and you are on the way to Hornton.

The route then takes you up and along the top of Bush Hill. I noted in the route description that this route was created to avoid the muddy Poplars farm in Kinban one. Whilst I haven't done that route for comparison, I did encounter a very muddy section whilst walking along the top of the Bush Hill (photo 10). Thankfully it had been dry for a few weeks, but it was still quite muddy and led me to wonder how much worse it would be if it was wet! There were also cattle in this field, although they didn't seem to be bothered about me at all. The route then crosses the plateau of Bush Hill via the D'arcy Dalton Way before descending into pretty Hornton.

After leaving Hornton, the route follows along the left to right sloping side of a valley towards Horley. My ankles breathed a sigh of relief when the end of the mile long sloping aspect was reached as it descended to cross a brook before ascending towards Clump Lane (photo 13). Horley was another delightful village to pass through (photo 14). The route then takes you across arable land before quickly passing through the suburbs of Banbury to the end of the walk.

As well as the aforementioned challenges with elevation, the route has plenty of gates, stiles, footbridges and steps to negotiate. There was no risky road walking to contend with, and where road walking was required it was through quiet villages and mainly on pavements. I'd definitely recommend this route and hope you find this review useful.

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