Chalford

Belvedere Mill, Chalford

I returned from a trip to Gloucester via Stroud to do this walk from Chalford. You cross the main road and pass the imposing Belevedere Mill, the first of many reminders of the water-powered cloth mills which dominated the Stroud area. The mills are on the River Frome, but the first couple of miles of the walk follow the adjacent Severn and Trent canal. At first there is water in the canal, even though it is much narrower than in its glory days.


At Brimscombe Port (another reminder of long-gone days) you face the imposing New Mill, but then the route follows a road for a while, the canal having apparently been built over to make way for an industrial estate.


Soon it reappears again, and the path continues, passing arched brick bridges, as far as Thrupp. Here you turn north, crossing over the fast-flowing river Frome, and at last having a clear sight of it.


From Thrupp the extremely steep Claypits Lane leads up to the high ground on the north of the Frome valley. Soon you reach the lovely Nether Lypiatt Manor.


The neo-classical house, an unusual style for the Cotswolds, dates from 1702. According to the walk book this house was once owned by Prince and Princess Michael, but I learned from a friendly passer-by that it is now owned by the scientist-inventor-businessman Lord Drayson, who loves racing Aston Martins in his spare time.

Shortly afterwards there is a winding descent followed by another steep climb to Bussage. This was soon followed by emerging onto a large modern housing development, a bit of a surprise. The path back towards Chalford led through a wood which was absolutely carpeted with Greater Stitchweed.



Finally, there was an extremely steep descent back to Chalford and the valley bottom.

From: 50 walks in the Cotswolds (AA).

Map: Explorer 168 (Stroud, Tetbury and Malmesbury).

Conditions: dry, cloudy with the sun trying and sometimes succeeding to break through, 12 degrees maybe.

Distance: 6 miles.

Rating: four stars. Very varied and interesting. A good workout.


Sightings

A heron by the Frome and a pair of Yellow Wagtails on the opposite back of the canal. I also saw a single butterfly - a Small Tortoiseshell, the first of the year. And a fallow deer which watched from woodland, without great interest, as I toiled up Claypits Lane.


Flower of the day

These splendid Marsh Marigolds were growing right in the canal bottom.


Reflections

My "flower of the day" project last year was a great way to widen the range of flowers I can identify. This year, having resumed the project before the start of spring I am reinforcing what I learned but also gaining a much clearer sense of the sequence in which different wild flowers come into bloom.