A difficult route in Cotswolds. Check the GPS track on Outdooractive for full details of the route, waypoints, and terrain.
Starting Point: Street parking, High Street, Chipping Campden (SP 153 393)
Terrain: Town streets, field paths, Cotswolds Way escarpment, road, Donnington Way field paths, village lanes, churchyard, woodland path, open hillside, road crossing, golf club path, road underpass, Broadway town streets, Cotswolds Way hillside, Broadway Tower, open hilltop, road crossings, road, field paths
A superb and varied circular from Chipping Campden that takes in two of the great escarpment viewpoints of the north Cotswolds, one of its most distinctive landmarks and a Cold War surprise that few walkers could have anticipated finding on a Gloucestershire hilltop. The opening section along the Cotswolds Way to Dover's Hill sets the tone immediately — the path climbs steadily northwest from Chipping Campden before the escarpment edge opens up and the Vale of Evesham spreads out below in a view that genuinely stops you in your tracks. The Donnington Way carries the route west across the broad upland plateau in fine style, the long field paths giving a real sense of space before dropping into the quiet churchyard at Weston sub Edge. Broadway is reached by a clear path past the golf course and under the road, and the town itself richly rewards any time spent in it. The ascent on the Cotswolds Way to Broadway Tower is steady and satisfying, the tower appearing above the hill with fine drama. The nuclear bunker just beyond it makes for one of the more unusual features in any walk in this collection — a genuine piece of Cold War history in an entirely unexpected setting. The return northeast on the Cotswolds Way across Broadway Hill and back towards Chipping Campden is equally fine, the path clear and the views wide, bringing an excellent and memorable day out to a thoroughly fitting close.