Walking in the Cotswolds

If you walk along the Cotswold Way you’ll more than likely see other people.

Would definitely see others if you hiked to the Broadway Tower.

Hiking in the UK is popular with locals and tourists.

P.S. Are saying this out of fear? I’ve often hiked solo when in the UK.

Born when Truman was President.

Last solo jaunt out and about was in the Walthamstow Wetlands November 2024. Saw no one. Also walked along the Parkland trail from Finsbury Park to Crouch End. Not crowded but there were people with their dogs, children, joggers, grandparents, families on the well maintained trail. Really enjoyable walk.

No, I was not asking out of fear. Just the opposite …. We enjoy meeting strangers along the way! But the Cotswold Way would not work for us. We’re staying in Stow on the Wold and would probably be walking there and around Bourton on water since we won’t have a car to pick our places to visit.
By the way, I was born three weeks before Truman became president …. Ha! In any case, we’re looking forward to our trip. Thanks for your reply!

Well in Bourton on the Water you could take the walking paths in the Greystone Nature preserve.

We did a walking tour of the Cotswolds a few years ago. It was so incredible. The ability to "hike through fields" is called the "right to roam" or "right to walk". I don't know that it allows you to walk through ANY fields but there are extensive public walking paths which do at times cross private property. One of the main ones in the area is called the Cotswolds Way. We took a tour with Cotswolds Walks which was amazing but there is lots of information about the public walking paths and how to access them available. It's not much time to plan if you're going in 2 weeks but hopefully others will chime in the information about self-guided walks.

Oh, and we did meet lots of others walking the paths, shared stories, camaraderie and sometimes a meal. One of the highlights.

Rick is wrong to say you can walk in ANY field, unless you want to find a very angry farmer.
Walk in a field with a signed footpath or bridleway, also marked on the maps you will have.
Bridleways are also for horse riders as well as walkers.

Hi Landsmann -

To reiterate a couple of points made above, not every field is able to be accessed by the public. That said, there are plenty of fields that have public footpaths running through/across them, but once on the path you should stick to it and not roam all over the field. If no footpath is obvious on the ground (usually after ploughing), identify your exit on entering if possible and reach it by following the edges of the field as opposed to taking a beeline - it won’t be much fun to do that anyway, especially if the field is newly ploughed. However, many fields in the Cotswolds will be home to sheep or cattle and are unlikely to be ploughed, and the path underfoot should be relatively clear.

Of course, to see where the footpaths are it’s always nice to have a map handy - I like the ‘Yellow Publications’ local pocket maps to cover a fairly small area and they tuck easily into a pocket, which is something the larger Ordnance Survey maps don’t do. You’ll naturally need to be able to read a map, but I’m not sure that’s a terribly difficult thing to grasp, at least on a basic level. Have a quick look at ‘The Country Code’ while you are at it.

One last ‘Wainwright-ism’ to leave you with: “A lone bull is master in his field” - strictly speaking it’s not legal to have a single bull in a field with a path through it, but I’m sure it happens now and again. If there’s a bull in a field with a harem of cows you’ll be fine, just keep your distance, but give a lone bull the benefit of doubt and backtrack or find another way. The worst you can expect from sheep is usually to step in the ample evidence of their presence, or if on a busy route, be mugged for your sandwiches!

Happy trails!

Ian

P.S. I’m not sure about Truman, but I was born in the era of Frederick Sewards Truman, and within the sound of Bill Bowes! In short, when Methusalah was a lad!

how many people actually participate in this practice.

Literally millions.

Follow the public right of way, don’t just wander around. Apart from anything you will find yourself unable to exit the field unless you head for the stile.

Some people will speak to you, the rest will just nod.

Landsmann, have you considered walking along the Thames Path - it's marvelous. It's well signed, you'll meet a number of folks depending when and where you walk and goes thru more meadows than villages/towns. Several excellent guide books are available to help you pick your segements/walks that is unless you decide to go all of the way into London. I walked it last year and if you'd like more info, PM me. Cheers.

Yes we love walking in the countryside in this country. The weather means it pretty much never too hot or too cold to take a good walk so you can do it at any time of year.

There are so many books of walking routes that you can buy. To get a feel just google circular walks near X and you’ll get a few ideas. A good map will show all the available paths. It’s not like in America where you have to follow a set route if you want to walk in a National Park. You can create your own route or take one that someone else has planned out.

get a Explorer OS map of the area and learn what footpaths and bridleways look like on the map. Are you good with a topographic map? Then learn what the usually round footpath markers look like on fence posts and take your bearings from there. Learn the various types of stiles and what they look like and how to use them. Always believe a Danger Bull sign even if you can't see the lad. And don't disturb cattle or sheep at calving or lambing time or when the youngsters are young. A riled up mother cow and her herd can be much more dangerous than a bull. Every year we have walker (usually but not always with a dog or dogs) trampled and killed by herd of cows stories. So easy to avoid.

Follow the worn paths, it is not fair to farmers to trample their crops or grass. Grass is hard enough to grow this year in heat and drought and for goodness sake don't use anything with a flame. You don't want to be the cause of a huge wildfire. Don't drop litter, and be careful with glass in the sun.

The Ramblers have some good info on their website. Try this page for starters, with info on public rights of way:

https://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking-hub/where-you-can-walk-england-and-wales

https://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking-hub/where-you-can-walk-england-and-wales

The site also has a page where you can search for walks in particular areas.

As others have said, you can’t walk through just any field. But the point is, what might on a map be described as a public footpath could just be the edge of a field - don’t expect our public footpaths to look like actual paths.

And yes, walking/rambling is extremely popular here in the UK. I have several pairs of appropriate shoes and boots and a library of Ordnance Survey maps and books & leaflets of walks, and I don’t think I’m that unusual.