08/01/11 - Cirencester - 9 Miles

Walk from Jarrold - Book 40 More Cotswolds
Distance - 8.5 Miles
Caches Found - 4
First Cache

This walk has been on the list for a long time.  I worked in Cirencester for Rothschilds back in 1997 and fancied coming back for a look around.  I also liked the fact that this starts and ends in a town, so would give me a chance to have a look around after doing a decent length walk.

Drive down took around 50 minutes and parked up at the Abbey Grounds car park.

The first cache cache is barely out of the town - a micro on a bridge over a stream.  This cache plays on the roman history of the town and there are few along this theme - as you would expect.

Erskine Street Cache - look the right way, dog.

Walk northwards towards Stratton at first, taking in green lanes between houses and up to the church at Stratton End.  Take in the 2nd cache of the day - a clip box down in a field and a rather large ice cream box in a churchyard......

The route of this walk is a little weird - it has a sections of repetition, rather than a complete loop.  From Grange Farm, I head across fields to Daglingworth.  Sweeping views of this hamlet are available from a distance.

Daglingworth in the Distance

Daglinworth is typical Cotwsolds - all honey coloured stone buildings... English loveliness at its finest.

Reaching the half way point is a straight up and back trip to Duntisbourne Rouse.  This is little more than a collection of houses, a nice ford and a church.  The route has me retracing the steps back to Daglinworth, taking a different route back towards Cirencester.

Pass a huge expanse of grass on the way back, with a scoreboard.  At first, I thought the grass was a bit long for cricket but closer inspection of the board shows this is a Polo Pitch.  This is a first in 8 years of walking.....

A clock to confuse a working class boy from Smethwick.

More retracing of steps through Stratton before entering the town - dominated by the cathedral in the centre.  A large amount of shops - including a Cornish Pasty shop which made the best place for lunch..... I think a chipper van was most unlikely, in a town that has a Polo Pitch.

Dollar Street view of Cathedral

Historical walk on the flat, weather picked up and a town centre to have mouch around at the end of it..... off to another Roman town with a cathedral on Monday when I go to St Albans for work.