The walk we were planning for end of September, which we now propose for August 28th, given Tony's unavailability, starts at Horsley and heads up through Kingscote Woods and over fields to Hill Barn, then round to Binley Farm, skirting Kingscote Woods again to get back to Horsley along the high ridge stretching east from Woodleaze farm.
Meet at 10:30am at the car park in Horsley, by the side of the road on the left as you come into the village. If this car park is full, turn left just before the pub (The Hog) along Priory Fields, until you see the village hall and village shop on the right. There is usually more than adequate parking in front of the village hall.
OS Maps route planner says 6.3km with about 100m of climbing over a distance of a kilometre shortly after starting. The rest of the walk has some up and down, but reasonably gentle and not in one lump. We tend to complete it in 90 minutes, at our brisk pace, but a group should certainly manage in 2.5 hours. For those who want a Sunday pub visit, the Hog is almost next to the car parking.
It has some nice woodland tracks and also classic Cotswold views. There is one 100m stretch through a field of knee-high crop. The path is well walked but sometimes the leafy crop vegetation overhangs, and is a pain if it is wet. Wasn’t a problem a week ago when we checked the route because the crop is a bit stunted and Sunday should also be dry. Last week there was also about 50m across a freshly ploughed field, but this should have compacted a bit. Apart from that, mostly good paths, but with a number of stiles. (One stile at least would require dogs to be lifted across.)
