Yatmar one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Yatmar here.

First thing to say is that this slow way uses the same route as Chimar one (Chipping Sodbury to Marshfield) for most of its length, so my review is more or less the same as the one I wrote for that slow way with some extra added to cover the final mile or so.

This is a good well-signed way, easily navigable, in a frequently-walked area of the Cotswold hills and on the plain of the River Frome.

Between Marshfield and Tormarton it crosses a largely treeless and intensively-farmed plateau through big, flat or rolling arable fields and pastures surrounded by stone walls, passing through the pretty old village of West Littleton. There is a pub at Tormarton, and from there the route continues on the Cotswold Way national trail across the busy, fast A46 and descends the Cotswold ridge through the manicured landscaped grounds of the Dodington Park estate to Old Sodbury, where there is another pub.

The remainder of the walk is on flat ground through fields, then around the outer edge of Chipping Sodbury’s housing estate sprawl and into town, all in the company of the little River Frome, which leads through various villagey, hidden back lanes and footpaths before popping out rather startlingly opposite Yate’s huge modern shopping centre and a very useful bus hub. Buses from almost anywhere that has any kind of a bus service in the area seem to pass through here.

Note that the mapped route through the conjoined urban centres of Chipping Sodbury/Yate, although neat, doesn’t go through Chipping Sodbury’s beautiful old High Street and it might be worth dropping the very short way south to visit it on the way, especially if you prefer old-school shops and eateries to a mall experience.

The walk has some big views from the plateau and the Cotswold ridge. Wind and weather can whip across this exposed area and you are very likely to hear skylarks singing in spring and summer. Not so much to see on the lower ground and it is a bit of a suburban walk around the edge of Chipping Sodbury, but the urban walk along the Frome river is fun.

Access is the usual mixture of kissing gates, gates and stone or wooden stiles, and although there is a fair amount of cultivated land, paths are usually on good headlands and tracks and any routes across arable fields tend to re-form quickly after crops are reseeded. There is a moderate climb up the Cotswold ridge if walking from the west.

I like this area and have walked the Cotswold hill parts of this route several times. The route from there across to Yate is efficient and pleasant.

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