Easier walking today with few hills. Crossing busy roads, a deer park, ancient strip lynchets and passing a hill fort where English history was redrawn.

Day Ten:  Old Sodbury to Cold Ashton (Pennsylvania). 8.5 miles/13.5km

As to be expected at this excellent overnighter, our host Joan provided a decent breakfast. It is a shame that she has finally decided to give up the B&B business, but at 84 years old, I suppose she has an excuse.

Leaving Old Sodbury we were soon into the Dodington Park Estate. The grounds were landscaped by Capability Brown in 1760 for Sir William Codrington. The park was altered by the addition of landscaping, trees and new lakes. There was a real feel of barely contained tolerance of walkers across this lovely park, with a multitude of signs, instructions, barbed wire and warnings of cctv. Even a couple of the ewes were slightly hostile, approaching within feet of us to warn us away from their lambs. But, it was pleasant walking nonetheless, with well graded footpaths and buzzards wheeling overhead.

Leaving the park, we were soon into Tormarton. A lovely little village once blessed with two pubs. One of which, The Major’s Retreat, once The Portcullis, has been long closed. I chatted to one of the villagers, busy working on the roof. The village hopes to return the place to a working life, with pub, daytime café, evening meals, rooms, and stand-alone apartment for rent. It will take them two or three years but it will be a much appreciated over-nighter for those on the Cotswold Way, in an area where there is a real shortage of such facilities.

Soon after leaving Tormarton we crossed the M4, the noise a little overwhelming after days of relative peace. Then a turn down a lane to a farm, passing this for a peaceful foot rustling walk through grassy tracks between the farm fields, flowers lined the path, barley growing high and well, before coming to one of the oddest and unsettling occurrences on any of my trails. There was a sign, you can see it below, attached to a trail waymarker. I interpreted it as a landowner attempting to divert the path. The guide book informed us there was a post pointing incorrectly to the left here. My map said the trail turned right. Checking O.S. maps online showed the definitive route turning right. Despite our uncertainty, we turned right.

A short walk along the trail bought us to the A46, crossing that, we passed some parked cars, the drivers watching us approach, and past a loitering man, into the woodland opposite, following the trail downhill. Another man appeared from behind some trees, I grunted a greeting, he did the same and Mrs TPOTC and I walked on. Exactly the same interaction further down the hill. We now realised that this is a place where men meet men.

I led an uncomfortable Mrs TPOTC out of the wood into the adjoining field and we made our own trail through the chest high grass for a bit downhill, before rejoining the actual trail a little further on. From there it was fine and good walking with wide views, occasional Red Kite, until we had (yet another) uphill and rejoined the diverted trail, that had left us earlier.

The trail unfortunately skirts the extensive dry stone walls bordering the deer park at Dyrham. The word Dyrham stems from ‘deor ham’, or deer enclosure. We never saw a single one. Oddly, we had only seen one deer the entire trail, just a few miles back. They populate the Cotswolds in good numbers but can be shy and unseen, unless early in the morning or late evening.

We had time to kill today and a handy bench beside the path on the gradual curving descending path beside Dyrham Park was the ideal place to sit, rehydrate, chat, and study the contours of the hill fort opposite and the medieval strip lynchets on the slope below. Hinton Hill Fort goes by a couple of names, also known as Dyrham or Burril Camp, A battle between the Saxon and ancient Britons was fought here in AD577, the latter were driven back to Wales and Somerset while the Saxon’s gained control of Gloucester, Cirencester and Bath. Three Kings were slain in the bloody onslaught- Coinmail, Condidan and Farinmail. The resultant political and cultural outcome is still reflected in current day society.

There a very different feel to the trail today as we got ever nearer to our end. It all seems just a little more agricultural and less welcoming. We turned into Dyrham Park to visit the café at the lovely Dyrham House, not that we intended on visiting the house or grounds. It was lunchtime and a cream tea beckoned. We approached the door to the café and a volunteer barred our way- “are you members?” It is National Trust property, “No, we are just visiting the café “, “I’m afraid not, it is only available to members”. No amount of cajoling, then arguing, made any difference. Why a cash-strapped organisation would turn paying customers away from their tables, I have no idea. I found out later that if we had entered via the St Peter’s church gate, we would have been able to gain entry to the café that way. It baffles me.

Tonight’s accommodation was something a little different. The Old Swan Holiday Lets in Pennsylvania provide a slightly alternative style to what we had been experiencing. We had previously attempted to email and book an evening meal for 19.00 as there seemed little in the way of options close by, but had been unsure as to what we were actually getting. With no reply to my email, I rang last night to check. It still seemed a bit wooly, but we were assured we would have a meal cooked for us for 19.30, though what it would be, we hadn’t a clue. Due to our lack of café halt earlier we arrived half an hour before the earliest check-in time of 15.00. However we had access to our comfortable room, the only double bed in the establishment. We now found out that the evening meal would be a communal affair, for all the eight guests here tonight, at 18.30.

Despite an incredibly rude and inept host, it was a good evening. Conversation was wide and food almost reasonable. I later popped out to the next door village garage for a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to round off my evening. Final day on trail tomorrow.

• Cotswold Way- National Trail
  • Cotswold Way: Chipping Campden to Stanton
  • Cotswold Way: Stanton to Winchcombe
  • Cotswold Way: Winchcombe to Dowdeswell
  • Cotswold Way: Dowdeswell to Birdlip
  • Cotswold Way: Birdlip to Painswick
  • Cotswold Way: Painswick to King’s Stanley
  • Cotswold Way: King’s Stanley to Dursley
  • Cotswold Way: Dursley to Wotton-under-Edge
  • Cotswold Way: Wotton-under-Edge to Old Sodbury
  • Cotswold Way: Cold Ashton to Bath