Given that this is a very long route, I forsook the early part of the Monarch’s Way and its extra mileage, for a quiet, dead straight, good visibility road which ate up the initial (or the final) bit of mileage quite quickly. A short bit of quiet road, a couple of fields, and a pleasant contouring path above the River Coln, brought me back to the former railway line again, then through a garden (yes, the footpath is discreetly signposted through it) and into the village of Withington, opposite the inviting pub. The quiet road out of Withington was quite a slog uphill, but the views back to the well-heeled and beautiful village were quite good. There was a section of the Cotswold Way, with sweeping views over Cheltenham, before I followed the Cheltenham Circular Footpath past some fabulous autumn colour, and then a quiet road into the town....

Mary Oz

For more info see reviews for Chewin 1, including mine, as this mostly the same route, bar a short section of path between Postlip and Wichcombe along the river and the walk through Pittville Park in Cheltenham, which is definitely nicer than going along the roads (I tried both). The plot is also a little clearer (I hope!)...

Mockymock

I only graded it a four because it could do with some tiny tweaks in the plot and, as noted by a previous reviewer, it doesn't route through Pittville Park at the Cheltenham end, which is a nicer off-road walk. Otherwise, I agree that it’s definitely a walking route (rough ground, hill climbs, narrow paths)....

Mockymock

I tackled this route today, starting from Cheltenham, and I have to say - much of what’s already been shared still holds true....

Steve Litchfield

I walked this route in March when the path was dry and easy to follow, going from Winchcombe to Cheltenham....

Duncan Simpson

Later navigating the little park was ok as the woods across the mapped Right of Way were obviously not used from my direction! The poor plotting by The Redding wasn't ambiguous in this direction but later, just after the motorway bridge it was not the plotting per se but I think where the OS map does not match real positions. The ground was *so* wet across all the fields but from this stile onwards was particularly arduous - semi flooded and heavily poached throughout. To be fair the recent and not so recent weather had been really been extreme though, several named storms and there were cancelled trains, flooding elsewhere in the Severn plain, etc, etc....

Daisy C

Instead just go straight ahead along Sandy Lane to reach gates on your RHS into the playing field where you can rejoin the slow ways route....

Karen Phimister

I found the inaccuracy of the plotting of this route irritating, but I didn’t really have difficulty following its intention, so I won’t flag the route as a fail. I’m tempted to give 4*, but cows, bad plotting, and a short bit of grotty railside footpath reduce it to 3* for me, despite a lovely approach into Cheltenham....

Mary Oz

I walked it South to North, from Colesbourne to Cheltenham, and while I imagine a few parts would be a bit steep in the other direction, it skirts around the edge of Leckhampton hill so avoids any truly drastic slopes. If you’re walking from Cheltenham, you can park at Royal Well Car Park, a very short distance Southwest of the starting route: ///planet.passes.button....

Aidan OBrien

Beyond a farm lane the path is less distinct but the route right of the farm is partly waymarked. Beyond the bridge there is little sign of anyone trying to take the right of way lines literally, so just follow the track out to Badgeworth Road. At Hatherley Lane the GPX misses another subtlety, as the path heads left just before the lane and we have to follow the lane right a little to pick up the continuation....

Hugh Hudson

There are numerous side streets to take you out of Cheltenham along pleasant routes including Pittville Park (recommended)....

Andrew Davies

I did not walk all of this route as I came from Little Witcombe so joined at Shurdington for the rest of the way into Cheltenham....

Andrew Davies

Beside Cheltenham Race Course the route is off road, then passes round the edge of an area which is used as a car park during races, and passing the race course railway station. I walked from Bishops Cleeve to Cheltenham and missed the route twice, the first time I missed an almost hidden path sign when crossing Southam Lane....

F Berry

Route more or less correctly mapped, I would just make a couple of suggestions at each end. On Chewin1 the route uses a path between Welland Lodge Road and Broad Acre Road. 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. At Postlip Mill a new path takes the route above the noisy industrial area (CheWin1 not correctly mapped here)....

F Berry

The route as plotted has you walking straight behind the buildings that line The Reddings, but that's not a footpath; just follow The Reddings. The stretch of the route into Cheltenham was good, it just felt very long!...

mtormey

Minor tweak: The footpath bridge over the former railway line near Sandy Lane is closed (no date for reopening), so a mild (5-minute?) detour is needed -- where the bridge is blocked off, follow the turn to the left to Sandy Lane, then walk up Sandy Lane and turn right to enter the park, where you can rejoin the route through the corner of the park. Very pleasant walk from the centre of Cheltenham to Colesbourne, finishing neatly at the Colesbourne Inn. A good mix of town, hill and fields and beech avenues, with interesting views and landmarks (particularly the Round House at Pinswell)....

AmeliaH

Road crossing not obvious and path disappears totally before reaching Swindon Village....

Mark Lardner

Mainly rural with some reasonably quiet urban at beginning and end. There are stiles which are ok for the human walkers but bigger dogs had to be hauled over....

Ann

Some of my group had dogs and a few of the stiles were tricky to negotiate with a big dog....

Hmg