Shurdington - Crickley Hill - Little Shurdington

Keith Mead

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Crickley Hill, a conspicuous promontory on the Cotswold Escarpment, has been a favoured site for settlement since prehistoric times. Owned now by the National Trust, it is an excellent viewpoint and a place full of interest for nature lovers and geologists. In this walk, we climb from the floor of the Severn Valley to the top of Shurdington Hill, then follow the scarp edge along to Crickley. This is a good spot for a picnic and there are several waymarked trails for exploring the hill and its history. Our return route descends the end of the promontory and then follows quiet field-paths back through the village of Little Shurdington.

England - South West England - Gloucestershire - Cotswolds

Features

Ancient Monument, Birds, Butterflies, Church, Flowers, Food Shop, Great Views, Hills or Fells, National Trust, Nature Trail, Pub, Public Transport, Toilets, Wildlife, Woodland

9/13/2021 - Keith Mead

For Elizabeth Beer. Thanks for your comments. This part of the walk, where it descends from Crickley Hill through Greenfield Farm, is actually part of the 'Gloucestershire Way' long-distance route, and is certainly a public right-of-way. I visited the area today, and there were no adverse signs or barriers, and the route through the farmyard was clear. So I think the route, as described, is alright.

8/22/2021 - Elizabeth Beer

Sorry for the double comment here, but I wanted to point up a concern about the path itself (as distinct from the errors we made in following it!) The footpath just before the Greenfield Farm gate (described in the comments for Waymark 14) is possibly no longer a public footpath -- the markings were unclear to us. A handwritten metal sign on a tree read "Permissive Path Closed", and this stretch of the path doesn't appear as a footpath on FootPathMap.co.uk, but other trees in the field were still marked with public-footpath arrows. We likewise aren't certain if passing through the farmyard at Greenfield Farm is still allowable. Thanks for a lovely walk! We've just moved to Cheltenham and have been eyeing up Shurdington Hill from our upper-story window, so it was great to have a walk there.

8/22/2021 - Elizabeth Beer

My family and I took this walk today and mostly had a lovely time. It's a big walk for our small children (which we expected going into it), but they were able to walk it and enjoy it! Not surprisingly, some details have changed a bit since this walk was posted -- some areas the guide described as overgrown were now nicely mowed, and other areas were surprisingly overgrown although we did seem to be on the proper path. Chris Coombs's comments about muddy/boggy bits were really handy today, since yesterday was wet! We did get confused on the approach into Greenfield Farm. We crossed the stream all right (noting that the stepping stones mentioned in the walk have been upgraded -- the stile now forms a nice little bridge across the stream!). When we began to cross the meadow, we came to a tree with a handwritten metal sign reading "Permissive Path Closed". Other trees in the same field still had their Public Footpath arrows, so we thought we were all right, but FootPathMap indeed doesn't show a footpath for this portion of the walk. We easily found the gates leading into the Greenfield Farm farmyard, but the sign on the tree had made us nervous of trespassing, and we mistakenly crossed a stile immediately to the left after the small farmyard gate. This does lead to a footpath, but not the one we should have been on! As the next steps in the guide are fairly general (cross two fields and two stiles), we were far out of our way before we realized the mistake. This isn't to say it's the guide's fault! The (correct) photo at Waymark 16 didn't match what we saw, and the instructions told us to go THROUGH the farmyard and head north-westerly, not (as we did) strike out west and southwest on the footpath immediately inside the gate. So if you're novices, as we are, make sure to actually follow the guide! :) Overall a very enjoyable walk on a lovely day.

1/8/2015 - Chris Coombs

My wife and I walked this trail yesterday and, despite high winds and slate skies, every step was a joy. The initial relatively steep ascent to the top of Shurdington Hill rewarded us with some breathtaking panoramic views over Gloucester and the Severn Valley before the trail led us over green hills, through pretty woodland and out onto a stunning viewing platform which was the real highlight of our walk. The kindly soul who went to the trouble of photographing each waypoint made the trail far simpler to follow than most we have hiked. As relatively inexperienced hikers, not once did we have to consult a map or take out a compass due to the commendably clear directions. Whoever is responsible for these deserves a great deal of credit and praise. Thanks to such clear, useful and interesting instructions, we finished this relatively short walk in high spirits and delighted with the experience. A gentle warning to those walking in the wetter and rainier months: our walk was very treacherous at times on the steeper parts. The first hill at Shurdington, shortly after you set off from Church Lane, was slick with slippery mud on parts of the ascent, as was the steep descent past Crickley Hill after the viewing point. On our walk, the conditions meant each step had to be considered carefully in places so please bare this in mind if you're setting off after there has been rainfall. It is also worth noting this also applies to the field-approach to Greenfield Farm where, understandably, cattle and tractor movements had made the field exceptionally boggy so expect to be ankle-deep in mud!