Sapperton and Daneway

The Sapperton valley

En route for Gloucester, I diverted to the west of Cirencester to do this delightful walk which starts in the pretty village of Sapperton. The start point is the church, originally Norman but now mainly dating from the early 18th century.

From here the route follows the Macmillan Way through farmland and then descends quite sharply to reach the bottom of the Frome valley. You cross the river at a point where a small stream joins and then climb quite steeply again up a sunken track on the other side. This emerges on a high plateau where you walk along the edge of a large field, a short length of tarmac and then another large filed before descending again to the valley at Daneway.

You now walk along the valley bottom along a broad grassy path towards the Siccaridge Woods Nature Reserve, home of the dormouse according to its welcome sign. This is a narrow band of ancient woodland on the side of the valley and along the ridge at the top. Even at this time of year it is a delight to walk through.



You descend again to the valley bottom and cross a bridge over the Thames and Severn Canal. This was opened in 1789 and finally abandoned in 1927 (but see below for recent developments). It must have been a major undertaking as the valley has quite a pronounced slope and so there are a lot of locks in a short distance.



The canal is quite desolate: silted up, overgrown and with ruined locks every few hundred yards. The River Frome runs close by and, by contrast, is clear, clean and fast-flowing.


You pass through the hamlet of Daneway, consisting of not much more than a pub, and soon come on another sad relic of the canal: the entrance to the Sapperton Tunnel, which is no less than 2.17 miles long.



You climb over the impressive entrance portal and up a steep meadow to return to Sapperton.

Distance: 4.5 miles.

From: Cotswold Walks (Pathfinder Guides).

Map: Explorer 179 (Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud).

Rating: four stars. Very varied and interesting and a good work out for a shortish walk.


The Thames and Severn Canal

Thanks to Google, I found the website of the Cotswolds Canals Trust, who - thankfully - are engaged in restoring the Thames and Severn Canal and its sister the Stroudwater Canal. The tunnel portal is one example of the restoration work. The site describes the Severn and Trent Way which runs 36 miles from Framilode to Lechlade.

It also turns out that the Sapperton Tunnel was the longest ever built when it was completed and was subsequently exceeded by only two others. Which two? A few more clicks revealed that the Standedge Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal is the clear winner at 3.24 miles, followed by the Strood Tunnel on the Thames and Medway Canal (2.23 miles).