Cotswold Way, Broadway to Winchcombe - with a steam train too

Published: Jun 8, 2024 by

We were looking at the National trails website and saw the Cotswold Way wasn’t too far away from Brackley. We decided to walk a section but wanted a way of parking at the end of the section and some way of getting to the start. After looking at our map, we discovered the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR).

The GWSR offers a steam railway travelling 14 miles from Cheltenham Race Course to Broadway. We decided that a steam train would be a great way to start our adventure, so we parked up at the Winchcombe station and then got the steam train to Broadway, walking the 12.7 miles back along the Cotswold Way to Winchcombe.

Check the timetable on the website to see when the trains are running as they may not run every day and be sure to check when the car park closes as we were close to being locked in.

After exiting the train at Broadway station, we headed south along Childswickham Road and turned right onto Church Street and then joined the Cotswold Way. The Cotswold Way is well signposted with the national trail acorn signs as was very easy to follow.

The path heads up hill in a general southerly direction with Broadway Tower visible on the hill to the east, before turning west and then heading back down hill to Stanton. There is a nice pub on the hill called The Mount Inn that we stopped at for some refreshments whilst enjoying the view from te pub garden, before continuing on our way south, heading around Stanway House.

The path crossed a few fields, before heading steeply back up hill once more. There were some fantastic views here and a well placed bench at the top of the hill to rest on and have a drink of water. We were lucky with the weather that day and could see for miles (see the video in the Instagram carousel below).

The walk then heads along the top of the hill for a time, before finally heading back down hill past Hales Fruit Farm and the ruins of Hales Abbey, before heading towards the edge of Winchcombe. We turned off to the right along a footpath and headed back towards Winchcombe, passing below the railway track bridge and then headed to the train station to collect our car.

It was a beautiful day and a wonderful walk. Some bits were pretty steep, but the views at the top of the hills were definitely worth the effort. We noticed there were other paths that skirted around the bottom of some of the hills, such as the Winchcombe Way, so there are other options if you don’t fancy tackling all of the hills on this section of Cotswold Way.

After our walk, we headed to the nearby campsite at Hales Fruit Farm, where we rented a bell tent for the night and cooked a barbeque. The breakfast at the Orchard Kitchen the next morning was also fabulous. All in all a great weekend.