Woodland wonderland

Each spring, from around St George’s Day (23 April) to mid-May, many of England’s woodlands are transformed as bluebells come into bloom beneath the budding trees. The azure haze of this brief annual spectacle is one of the most beguiling natural sights this country has to offer, and if you go online you’ll find numerous lists recommending the best places to see it.

One spot that never seems to feature on these lists is Workman’s Wood, a few miles north of Stroud, yet this glorious beech wood, clinging to the slopes of the steep-sided valley of the Sheepscombe Brook, is among the hidden treasures of the Cotswolds. The National Trust (NT), which owns and manages the wood, admits as much on its website, telling us that it ‘is quiet and peaceful all year round, since it is not near a main road and access is not obvious, so it doesn’t receive many visitors’.

Although access may not be obvious, the tracks that thread the wood make for relatively easy walking – albeit with occasional steep and muddy stretches – and there is little in the way of stiles or other obstacles to worry about. Best of all, perhaps – which makes the lack of visitors even more puzzling – the easiest place to begin and end a walk through Workman’s Wood is by one of the finest traditional pubs in the Cotswolds.

The only problem – if it can be regarded as a problem – is that, although the wood is threaded by a multitude of paths, and although there are numerous sets of waymarks, information on the trails they indicate is seemingly non-existent. On top of which, no map – not even the Ordnance Survey – shows all the paths. So, while I have suggested a circular walk that takes in its varied landscapes and habitats, there are many other options, and, should you find yourself heading along the wrong track, all you need do is to head back roughly the same way you came to return to the starting point.

Sheepscombe lies five miles north of Stroud, and the network of lanes leading to it takes you through Slad, immortalised by Laurie Lee in Cider with Rosie. He lived in Slad until his death in 1997 and was a familiar face not only at the Woolpack there, but also at the Butcher’s Arms in Sheepscombe, where our walk starts (SO891104: GL6 7RH). There is limited parking in the lane near the pub, and at busy times you may need to park across the valley on the lane leading up to the church.

To the left of the pub (opposite the gates to the vicarage) head up a steep lane which soon degenerates into a rough track. Carry on through a gate, continue uphill, and, when you emerge on Sheepscombe Common, bear left up a well-walked track curving diagonally uphill through an area scarred by quarrying.

Over to the right you will see Sheepscombe’s cricket ground. Laurie Lee loved village cricket and was a great friend of Sheepscombe’s demon bowler and local poet Frank Mansell. Laurie bought the ground in 1971 in memory of his uncles who were founder members of the club, and the club still owns it today.

After 125m, a gate leads into Lord’s Wood. Carry straight on (ignoring two turnings to the left) following bridleway signs, and, after 300m, you will see an ivy-covered wall ahead (SO892110). A left turn here would take you into Lady’s Wood, on the edge of the escarpment, and also carpeted with bluebells at this time of year. We, however, will be turning right, along the path less taken, to Workman’s Wood.

After 200m, after the track goes through a wide gap in the wall, carry straight on, with a fence over to your left, for another 150m.

When you come to a gate, cross a slab stile – little more than a high step – beside it and fork left along a broad track (S0896108).

Carry on as the terrain grows increasingly dramatic, shelving steeply away through the trees below you. The range of buildings which appear high on the ridge ahead after 600m belonged to Ebworth House, which was demolished in the late 20th century. They are now used by the NT as a base for forestry and conservation operations. A little further on, as you curve round the contours, ignore waymarks pointing up a steep path on the left, and carry on along the broad track (SO900112). A few metres further on, when it joins another track, carry straight on uphill. At a crosstrack with a wood carving of the head of a green man, carry straight on downhill, following a green oak-leaved NT waymark.

Carry on following NT waymarks for 600m, until you come to a fork (SO904115). Below you on the right you will see a large hut with a corrugated-iron roof. It houses a pumping station, and was part of an extensive system of pumps, rams and ponds which supplied water to Ebworth House.

Instead of following the NT waymark here, fork right downhill. After 250m, when a track joins from the left – and the NT waymarks resume – carry straight on, but a little further on turn sharp right to double back downhill (ignoring the NT waymark pointing ahead).

When a track joins from the left, carry on, but a few metres further on turn left down a track doubling back downhill alongside a spring.

When you come to a track running along the bottom of the valley, turn right along it (SO906113). After 100m you come to a shelter with benches, an ideal place to stop and soak in the atmosphere of this hidden valley. Old maps show that it was once known as Slade Bottom. It’s only been known as Workman’s Wood since 1989, when it was renamed after John Workman, who oversaw the transfer of the Ebworth Estate to the NT.

Follow the track as it runs alongside two large ponds, and continue on in the same direction past another pumping station (SO902109). After another 250m, when the track forks, don’t follow the bridleway sign but bear right uphill.

At a T junction, bear left, and at a crosstrack carry straight on uphill. When the track forks, continue uphill, but at the next crosstrack turn left along it, following a public footpath waymark.

This leads through a gate into St George’s Field, owned by the Guild of St George, a charity for arts, crafts and the rural economy founded by John Ruskin in 1871 (SO896107). Take a track branching right across the field, and on the far side – faced with two handgates – go through the one on the left. Carry on in the same direction, crossing a broad path, and, after going through the gate you came through at the start of the walk, head back down to the Butchers Arms. n

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Fact File

Starting point: Butchers Arms, Sheepscombe (SO891104: GL6 7RH); butchers-arms.co.uk

Length of walk: 4 miles

Approximate time: 2 –3 hours

Accessibility: Some steep sections but mostly along good paths; one low slab stile

Map: OS Explorer 179