AN AUTUMNAL HIKE

Lookng across the Severn Plain

November is far from being the best of months for country walking, but, given a dry and sunny day when it’s not too wet underfoot, this seven mile hike has much to recommend it, says Andrew Swift

This hike is largely flat – although it does have one steep and potentially slippery downhill section where care is needed – it takes in a varied swathe of rural south Gloucestershire, replete with ancient churches and country houses, a grand estate built on the proceeds of slavery and a couple of village pubs.

It starts at Tormarton, a quarter of a mile north of the M4. Head north from Bath along the A46, and, just past the M4 roundabout, take a right turn. After threequarters of a mile, just beyond Chestnut Farm, take the third right and park on the left by Tormarton church (ST769788).

The church of St Mary Magdalene contains a good deal of Norman work, although the south aisle was added in the mid-14th century when Sir John de la Rivere founded a chantry and college of priests here. Manor Farmhouse, south of the church, is said to have been Sir John’s manor house. As you head north along the road, you pass Tormarton Court behind a high wall on the left. Originally the rectory, it was enlarged around 1812 for Lord William Somerset, brother of the Duke of Beaufort, when he became rector.

At the crossroads, carry straight on along a lane heading north. After 750m, turn right to follow a bridleway alongside a wall (ST769798). When the wall ends, carry straight on across a field. The copse to your right marks the site of Brookman’s Quarry, a large underground stone quarry opened in the 18th century. At the end of the field, continue straight on through a gap in the wall across another field. Carry on with a wall on your right, then with a hedge on your left, and finally with a wall on your right. When you come to a lane, turn left along it and at a T junction, bear left again –using the verge as the road can be busy. After 250m, when the road swings left, cross and head up the lane straight ahead (ST786812).

A little further on, you should be able to glimpse Badminton House, home of the Duke of Beaufort, over a mile away to the north-east. After 400m, when the lane swings right, bear left along a bridleway signposted to Old Sodbury. Over to your left, you will see a castellated ventilation shaft, one of six which mark the course of Sodbury Tunnel, 2½ miles long, and built between 1897 and 1903 for the GWR line from London to South Wales.

After 900m, go through a gate and continue through Lyegrove Farm. Carry straight on following a bridleway sign through a gate. After passing the gates of Lyegrove House go through a gate into a large field (ST776815). The OS map shows the bridleway heading straight on, but when the field has been ploughed walkers and riders tend to bear right to follow a grassy strip around the edge.

At the end of the field, with another ventilation shaft to your left, go through a gateway to carry on along the remnants of a green lane – marked as Tyning Lane on the map.

At the next gate, carry on alongside a wall, but, after going through another gate, follow a waymark through a gate on the left. After heading across two fields, a handgate leads onto the busy A46. Cross and go through another handgate to the right of a drive.

Carry straight on alongside a wall. After 350m, just past the second gate on the left, take a track curving into woodland and turn right to follow rickety steps down into a holloway (ST758816). Long disused, this deep and ancient track is strewn with fallen trees and has become impassable, so you have to climb more steps to continue along the edge of the field before a slippery scramble down through woods, with the land shelving away to the holloway far below.

After crossing a stile, where you are greeted by a view northward over the Severn plain, head diagonally down to a handgate (ST757818). Turn left down a path and right at the bottom to go through the lychgate of Old Sodbury churchyard. The church of St John the Baptist is late Norman, with an endearingly low 15th-century tower. The view across the Vale of Sodbury from here is magnificent, and after going through a

kissing gate (KG) on the far side of the churchyard, it is worth pausing by a toposcope which indicates selected landmarks.

Head down to the bottom left-hand corner of the field and go through a KG. Carry on towards a barn and through a farmyard to the main road. Cross to the Dog Inn and head along Chapel Lane to the right of it. After 1,000m, just before the end of the lane, Coombsend Farmhouse on the right is a late medieval hall house altered in 1654.

Turn right along Catchpot Lane and after 75m turn left to follow a CW sign into the Dodington estate (ST753805). Carry on through another gate, cross a drive and follow the path as it bears right between fences. As you head uphill beside a fence, Dodington House, built by the Codringtons, whose wealth came from sugar plantations in the West Indies, lies out of sight to the west.

After passing a CW waymark, go through a KG as the ground levels out, and carry on with a fence on your left. After 600m, as the fence bears left, follow the track straight ahead.

After crossing a footbridge, head uphill beside the headwaters of the River Frome, which flows south west from here to Bristol. Go through a gate at the top, cross a slab stile onto a busy road, cross with care and negotiate a squeeze stile by the milepost straight ahead (ST763790).

Woods on Cotswold Edge

After 200m, cross a road and carry on across a slab stile. After another 75m, two more slab stiles with broken-down steps take you across a lane. Continue through a gate and at a KG carry straight on along a lane. After passing the Major’s Retreat, turn left to return to Tormarton church. n

Fact file

n Starts and ends at:

Tormarton Church (ST769788; GL9 1HT)

n Distance: 7 miles.

n Level of challenge: Straightforward, although with one steep downhill section, three busy road crossings and one short stretch along a less busy road where you need to keep to a rough verge. Cattle, horses and sheep are likely to be encountered.

n Pubs:

Dog Inn, Old Sodbury; 01454 312006; the-dog-inn.co.uk

Major’s Retreat, Tormarton; 01454 218263; majorsretreat.co.uk

n Map: OS Explorer 155

Andrew Swift’s books include Country Walks from Bath and On Foot in Bath, a new and revised edition of which has just been published by akemanpress.com