Newglo one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

I trialled this route on May 9, 2026 after spotting it was (surprisingly) a gap in the national network. I found the same issues as the other two reviewers. I made good use of the hourly bus service between the two ends of this route. The section from Kents Green to Gloucester is - for me - the part that earns this Slow Way four stars. I would avoid Newglo during prolonged spells of wet ground conditions and/or river floods.

Near the start point in Newent, I noticed this blue plaque (photo one); I'd heard of Joe Meek and "Telstar" is the first pop music tune that I can remember encountering, but I was not aware of the Newent connection. The fallen tree (photo two) and flooded path do nothing to enhance Newent and its environs as walker-friendly, but the other reviewers provide workarounds, through the nearby recreation ground. I further escaped Newent by using the OS map app to follow the course of the PROW across the monotonous arable field (photo three); other reviewers point out that it is also possible to skirt round the field edges.

Solar panel arrays appear to be a contentious issue on the next section of Newglo; I encountered this array (photo four) which I assumed is part of the established Rymes Farm development; another large development was refused planning permission at nearby Moat Farm: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd0vyv7rejlo

The approach to Tibberton passes the old school (photo five), an attractive listed building from 1849 ( https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1153354 ) that contains a self-catering apartment called The Old Schoolhouse Retreat.

After Tibberton, the next point of interest is the monument atop the bank (photos six and seven) on the far side of the high-risk crossing of the busy B4215 (stay alert and take care). The inscription commemorates a battle in the First English Civil War:

THESE STONES TAKEN FROM THE ANCIENT WALLS OF THE CITY OF GLOUCESTER MARK THE BURIAL PLACE OF THE WELSH OF LORD HERBERT'S FORCE WHO FELL IN THE COMBINED ATTACK OF SIR WILLIAM WALLER AND COLONEL MASSEY ON THEIR ENTRENCHMENTS AT HIGHNAM, MARCH 24, 1643.

Newglo follows the southernmost of two footpaths after the crossing, along the overlain courses of the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal (1798-1881), the Ledbury and Gloucester Railway (1885-1964), the Wysis Way and the Three Choirs Way (photo eight). Edward Thomas' famous poem "Adlestrop" was written after travelling west by train to Dymock station, a stop on the Ledbury and Gloucester Railway, in the summer of 1914. At the gate just before the bridge over the former railway line, the PROW bears right off the line and up to a stile. Once across the farm track and down the other side, there is a Great Western Railway boundary marker beside the footpath (photo nine).

Newglo continues close to the course of the canal and railway until branching right, away from their course towards Rodway Hill and then left to pass through a strip of woodland named Rodwayhill Covert on the OS map. Level fields lead to the commuter village of Highnam, and once threaded through the residential streets there, the route skirts the southern edge of the woodland on Lassington Hill to join the shared cycle/pedestrian route to emerge by Over Farm, which has a deli counter and cafe among its visitor attractions. The shared cycle/pedestrian route then leads to a choice of crossings of the busy A40 dual carriageway, as mentioned by other reviewers. It is well worth making a short detour to look at the restoration of Over Basin (photo ten), The Lock Keepers (photo eleven) and the site of Over Lock, probably the deepest on England's canal network when it was in use (photo twelve).

Once across or under the A40 dual carriageway, Newglo crosses Over Bridge, built 1825-30 by the famous engineer Thomas Telford (photo 13): https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/over-bridge/ The fine detail of the route plotting of Newglo is erroneous in the vicinity of Over Bridge: it is not possible to proceed through the bridge's built-in tunnel as the plotting shows, it is necessary to negotiated the hairpin bends of the shared cycle/pedestrian route off the eastern end of the bridge to continue along that shared route into Alney Island Nature Reserve (photo fourteen).

Newglo then becomes an engaging edgelands* exploration through to the urban redevelopment of Gloucester Docks, beyond which it leads through city centre streets to the finish point near the meeting point of the City's four ancient thoroughfares, named after city wall gates at the cardinal points.

*"Edgelands", Paul Farley and Michael Symmons-Roberts, 2011.

I walked this with my dog and a friend on Saturday 12th April 2025, starting at Gloucester Bus station around 8am. The route was generally as described on the Slow Ways app. Crossing the A40 at Over is tricky, it's a busy dual carriageway. Try and bear this in mind and time it during quieter times. Once you leave Highnam the public rights of way are not particularly well marked and the stiles/gates are generally poorly maintained and not dog friendly. During the final approach to Newent across the agricultural land the natural path differs slightly from the route and leads you slightly South arriving at a small playing field before you take a right onto Meek Road to pick up the Slow Ways route down into the centre of Newent. Couple of pints at The George Hotel. Nice.

Walked this route on a middling spring day in 2025, and overall found it to be a good and interesting route from Newent to Gloucester. On the whole, the route as laid out is pretty accurate and navigable, with a couple of exception, which I will attempt to describe. There are a number of stiles and kissing gates, as well as uneven ground.

You begin the route by leaving from the Market Square in Newent, and heading up the no-through road of Bury Bar Lane. You cross over the road at the top of Bury Bar and head off down the green lane (Photo10 - the old drove road to Gloucester or so I am told!). The route suggests you follow this to the end, and then head diagonally across a field on a footpath. Unfortunately, the end of the green lane is no longer accessible - due to both a recent tree fall (Photo11), but also it is increasingly muddy these days. On top of this, in the time I've lived in Newent, I've never known anyone walk diagonally across that field (normally full of potatoes). Given this, when you get to the second half of the green lane, it is better to head into the neighbouring playing field, and follow the hedgeline at the back along (Photo9) until you come to the top corner, and can pop out into the field. Following this path completes the two other sides of the triangle and you meet back up with the end of the diagonal path. Hope that makes sense - basically you want to do the right angle of the triangle, rather than the diagonal.
After this, things progress pretty much as the route suggests, following field edges, ducking through small woods, and walking some shortish sections of roads. There are two sections where the footpath swaps sides of the hedge (Photo7 and Photo8). There are some lovely views up here, of both Mayhill and the lovely treescape of the fields here (Photo6 and Photo12). When you get to the bend in the road at Kent's Green Farm, continue on straight through the farm yard. At this point the route and the OS map make it look like you want a fork to the right, but you actually follow the main track through the gate, then take a right turn after 10-15 metres - it is fairly obvious there isn't a right fork, but can make you think you have missed it. You then just keep following the footpath and your instincts across the next few fields. When you come to the field with the pylons - you are heading across the field to the first of a couple of footbridges, through a young woodland, then on to the next footbridge - it is not that obvious, but head for the low concrete footbridges (Photo13) under the power lines and you will be right. Head off down the side of Lower Farm, and onto the road for a short bit of tarmac pounding.

The road brings you into Tibberton, and you turn up Orchard Rise, looking for the second of two footpaths off to the left - marked Wysis Way and Three Choirs Way. This cuts down the back of the bungalows, and across some fields towards a farm complex. Here, again the maps show a diagonal path across a field to the farm, but the more obvious route is up a grass verge between two field (Photo5), up to the farm track and follow it round to the left through the farm yard. Continuing on brings you to the main B4215, which you cross and head off down the right hand of two footpath signs, continuing along the Three Choirs Way. There is no mistaking where you are going along here for some way, as you are following the old disused railway line (Photo1). The ground is a bit uneven underfoot along here, as it seems to be heavily used by horses. Lovely quiet bit of footpath, with lots of birds and I was even lucky enough to witness a fox out looking for second breakfast. After a while the old church at Rudford comes into view - St Mary the Virgin - beleived to date back to the Norman Conquest (Photo2). Only open on certain days, but a beautiful small church. Continue along the right hand side of the old railway line, then take a small dog leg to the right - almost up to the road, before heading left towards the woods again. Up ahead you will see a stile into the woods on the ridge - you are heading for this, up and over the ridge, and then along through a couple of fields to Highnam. Here you can carry straight on up the footpath opposite, or follow the route to the right down to Maidenhall - there is a small shop and post office here if you need refreshments. Follow the footpaths through Highnam, popping out of the houses on the other side by the play area and Lassington Woods. The route suggests skirting round the woods, but the suggested footpath wasn't obvious, so I diverted across the playing fields into the woods themselves, and down the hill to meet up with the Wysis/Three Counties again, and then the Sustrans route 45 cycle path. This takes you down through Over Farm to join up with the A40, and as you rise up over the hill, you get a lovely view of the Gloucester Cathedral in the distance (Photo3). At this point I would recommend stopping at Over Farmshop for supplies or coffees etc. You then get you head down for a short stint along the A40, before following the route 45 cycle path under the A40 across to Telford's Bridge across the Severn (Photo4). This brings you in to Alney Island, where there are a network of paths to choose from - the suggested route follows the signs through the centre of the island towards Llanthony Lock, staying on route 45. This brings you round to pop out by Gloucester Docks, where you can then make you way up into Gloucester centre, where there is something for everyone. For me it was a quick hop across town to the bus station and back to Newent. Another Slow Way completed - and nice to be a Pioneer on this one.

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