The Cotswold Way. Kev Reynolds

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      A quintessential Cotswold village, with a wide street lined with handsome shops, houses and hotels – hence ‘broad way’. It is said to have been ‘discovered’ by William Morris, in whose wake came a number of Victorian artists to extend its fame. The village has a long history, but during the era of the stagecoach it grew in importance, providing accommodation and a change of horses in readiness for the steep haul up Fish Hill. Nowadays horses have been replaced by horsepower, and Broadway is at times a snarl of traffic amid a clutter of commerce.

      Without traffic the village is a gem: wisteria-clad cottages, 17th-century almshouses, an avenue of red-flowering chestnut trees, a village green and two churches. The oldest of these is St Eadburgh’s, which dates from the 12th century, and the other is the Victorian church of St Michael and All Angels, passed on the way out.

      Broadway has a wide range of shops, pubs, tea rooms and accommodation. Tourist information: Cotswold Court, The Green, Broadway 01386 852937.

      Soon after passing the church turn right onto a track, then go beyond a few houses into the meadowland ahead. The path takes you over a footbridge and across another meadow to West End Lane, across which you have a choice of paths. The right-hand option leads to Buckland, but directly ahead the Cotswold Way goes through a gate and up an enclosed path into a sloping meadow. At the head of the slope enter Broadway Coppice, a woodland mixture of hazel, oak, birch and ash. The path winds on before emerging at a hilltop field. Now bear left along the field edge, and at the end go round the back of a stable-cum-barn, then right to join a track heading left. At this point you re-enter Gloucestershire.

      The farm track takes you almost due south towards more wooded hills, before entering an untidy farmyard area. Bear right to follow a rough track going along the right-hand edge of a field, rising steadily and with tree-screened views soon showing into the valley off to your right, with Buckland nestling at the foot of the slope.

      Continue on the track, passing through a field gate with a crown of trees half-left ahead, and walk below a lovely line of beeches to gain the crest of a ridge. Views open once more. To the left stands a handsome farm and a few barns. The ridge narrows considerably, green and rabbit-shorn, with grey drystone walls criss-crossing, the slopes bearing a mixture of scrub and grassland habitats.

      In their season cowslips and early purple orchids paint the hillside with a flush of colour. Bullfinch and yellow hammer flit to and fro while jackdaws circle lazily over the topmost woods.

      The track takes you past a region of hollows on the left; these are one-time quarries. About 200 metres later, immediately after a junction of tracks, bear right over a cattle grid and walk along a cart track which curves through a long meadowland, keeping near the scarp edge with the mixed woods of Long Hill Plantation on your right.

      Coming to Shenberrow Hill (grid ref: 080 335) pass to the right of a farm, go through a field gate and descend to the right through a tight cleave (or dry valley) among trees.

      Shenberrow Hill above Stanton is the site of an Iron Age hill fort of about 2½ acres (1 hectare). When it was excavated in 1935, various artefacts were revealed, among them pieces of pottery, a bronze bracelet and two bone needles.

      Be warned that this ‘dry valley’ can be rather muddy in inclement weather. At the bottom of the cleave veer left, cross a stile, then descend along the right-hand side of meadowland. Before long bear right over a stile into an adjacent meadow and continue downhill towards a pond seen in a hollow. This is Stanton Reservoir, a pleasant corner giving a dazzle of light amidst the trees. Keep above the pond to the right, go through a gate and bear left to pass below its northern end. A track now leads down to Stanton (accommodation, refreshments), a glorious little village with almost-perfect cottages lining an almost-perfect street (grid ref: 070 342).