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South west of Cheltenham (map reference SO 91 14) lies Witcombe Park and nearby is Witcombe reservoir. This link to streetmap.co.uk - Great Witcombe shows the area concerned but a better map is the OS Explorer map 179. The area is a natural basin (most of which is the Witcombe Estate) in the Cotswold escarpment. Round the top of this basin, to the south, passes the Cotswold way.

From Witcombe Park (SO 912 144) there radiate five main footpaths. All of them meet the Cotswold Way at the top of the hill. Witcombe park is on the 105m contour. The Cotswold way at the top is above the 200m contour in places, so the climb is about 100 metres. Despite these five paths, we found a plethora of 'Private - keep out' signs that forbid free access across farm tracks and open pasture land and which despoil Witcombe Park and marred our holiday there. Nevertheless it is a beautiful area, particularly in spring. Using the footpaths, it's possible to do a 5kM circular walk without encountering more than a very minor road.

The five paths are:

1. (E) East - towards Birdlip, meeting the Cotswold Way at SO 922 143
2. (SE) South east. Initially this is the same as path 1 but it branches past Woodlands Farm. Meets CW at SO 920 138.
3. (S) West south west towards Cranham Wood. Meets CW at SO 906 137
4. (SW) Across the reservoir, then south past the Roman Villa to the Cotswold Way at SO 898 140
5. (W) Across the reservoir and west meeting the Cotswold Way on a minor road at SO 894 149

In April 2007 we took an Easter holiday at Witcombe Park and we took with us our two cats, Xanna and Misty. This is a photo gallery of the holiday. It includes not only cats but scenery and plants of interest, particularly edible plants - see Food For Free section of my site.

As the photographs show, Easter 2007 was extremely warm - this was the second week in April.

We did many walks from the holiday home up the footpaths and round on the Cotswold Way so the photos are not in itinerary order but apparently out of sequence - in date order. All were photographed with a Canon EOS 350D camera. Originals (average size 4MB) are available - please use the contact button.

Click on the thumbnail for a full size picture and more information.

1: The cats assess the area.	2: Misty walking on the hills above Witcombe.	3: Wood Anemone	4: Footpath to reservoir from Cotswold Way
5: Footpath at Witcombe Roman Villa	6: Witcombe Park holiday accommodation.	7: Allium ursinum and Cardamine pratensis	8: Misty and horses on bridle path
9: View of Witcombe park	10: Cotswold Way in Witcombe wood	11: Cotswold Way in Witcombe wood	12: The cats rest after a long walk.
13: Our cats on the path at Witcombe	14: Our cats on the path at Witcombe	15: Our cats on the path at Witcombe	16: Cats on Cotswold way through Witcombe Wood.
17: Cooper's Hill Wood in early April.	18: Xanna takes a drink	19: Anemone and celandine	20: Footpath across Witcombe reservoirs.
21: Witcombe reservoirs from footpath	22: Cuckoo Flower	23: Dog violet	24: Bluebells in Witcombe wood
25: Witcombe Park cottages	26: Sunset over Cooper's Hill	27: A cat can look at horses!	28: Large bittercress
29: Our Siamese cat, Misty, takes a drink	30: Our cats enjoy a walk in the mist.	31: Our cats enjoy a walk in the mist.	32: Cotswold bluebells in Witcombe Wood
33: Witcombe park in the mist	34: The south east footpath, Witcombe Park

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