23/07/17 - Wye to the Thames Summary

Number of Stages - 12
Start - Hereford on 07/05/16
Finish - Oxford on 23/07/17
Total Distance Walked -  130.5 Miles
Geocaches Found - 68


I forgotten how I found out about this walk, but there's no doubt on where I got the guide book from.  What did I used to do before eBay?

Think I paid more than £2.50 as well

Published in 1995, it details 12 walks that run between the railway stations on the Cotswold Line.

The Start is Hereford (The Wye) and the end is Oxford (The Thames).  Each stage begins at a railway station, involves a ramble ranging between 5 and 18.5 miles and then catches the train back to your starting point.  Simple but effective.

And with the exception of the industrial estate at Pershore, all of the paths remain.

Highlights
The walking is uniformly excellent and you pass through some great Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Oxfordshire villages/towns, with some cracking boozers.   I don't think I will ever forget nearly getting press-ganged into the Ledbury faction of the Morris Men at the Prince of Wales pub on Leg 1.

Everyone knows how good the walking is in Malvern but the qualities of Worcestershire Walking in Evesham (arrival by hand pulled ferry) and Pershore are there to be explored on this route.

This of course leads to the honeypots of the Cotswolds, including Moreton in the Marsh, the start of the Cotswold Way in Chipping Campden and Sezincote Hall.

Oxford is a fitting finale to any adventure.

Almost Joining the Morris Men in Ledbury

A Typical Cotswold Walking Vista

Lowlights
Man, they got free parking at all the stations back in the nineties.  Now you can expect to have to pay via an App or phone call.   After walking for 5 hours, its a little saddening to get whisked back to you starting point in less than 10 minutes and often paying the best part of a fiver for such a short journey.

And GWR seem to stop operating for a couple of hours at lunch time.  Time it wrong and you could be hanging around for a train for rather a while.

The Stages
Blog for each Stage.

Stage 1 - Hereford to Ledbury
Stage 2 - Ledbury to Colwall
Stage 3 - Colwall to Malvern
Stage 4 - Malvern to Worcester
Stage 5 - Worcester to Pershore
Stage 6 - Pershore to Evesham
Stage 7 - Evesham to Honeybourne
Stage 8 - Honeybourne to Moreton in Marsh
Stage 9 - Moreton in Marsh to Kingham
Stage 10 - Kingham to Charlbury
Stage 11 - Charlbury to Hanborough
Stage 12 - Hanborough to Oxford

The Photo Album on Flickr 

Flickr Album (arrows to move through photos)