Day 153 - Walk to Evenlode, Broadwell & Stow on the Wold

We got our walking mojo back, baby! The temperatures are on the rise, the snow is melting and the sky, while not sunny, is bright. Since we have a busy week ahead, we awoke this morning knowing we had to take advantage of the day and go for a longer walk.

Our choice for today was a walk along back roads to Stow on the Wold passing through Evenlode and Broadwall en route. Road walking would allow us to avoid the inevitable mud on footpaths being produced by quickly melting snow.

Evenlode, Gloucestershire.

We last walked through Evenlode on Day 59 of our trip, but on this walk, we came into the village from a different direction. It is a quiet, lovely village of pretty homes and lots of trees and green space. As we walked through, two ladies on horseback passed and greeted us a good morning.

From here, we continued along the quiet roadways to the village of Broadwell, which rests predominately where land flattens at the bottom of the hill leading up to Stow on the Wold. It is on this hill that lies fresh water springs, the largest of which the town is thought to have taken its name.  The village seems to be quite spread out. The village church, manor house and home farm are at the upper and north west end of the village. North of this is the site of a former Roman villa. The road crosses through a large village green with a stream from the spring running through it.

The green in Broadwell.

Stow well.

From this point it was a steady uphill climb to Stow, but the roadway remained very quiet. We did go off road onto the Monarch's Way for a bit, but managed to sidestep the bit of mud that appeared from time to time. This route took us passed two still intact wells that served the town of Stow for centuries up until the last one. The wells have never been known to have failed, and when we passed, the spring was pumping out a steady stream of clear water. It's hard to believe that it is no longer in use.

Phil near the top of the aptly named Well Lane in Stow amidst what we hope is the last of the season's snow.

St. Edward's Church, Stow on the Wold

The walk from Moreton to Stow is about 6 1/2 miles, and predominantly uphill, so it was time for a mid-afternoon lunch...after a short stroll to St Edward's Church (you may remember it from a previous blog as it has a Tolkienesque doorway around which two trees solidly grow.

The Norman church has parts that date back to the 11th century. In 1646, during the English Civil War, the Royalist army were marching to join  King Charles I's forces at Oxford. When they were defeated by Parliamentary forces, about 1,000 prisoners were held within the church.

In more modern times, the church is famous for being where the funeral of The Who's bass player, John Entwistle took place in 2002. Entwistle lived in a house called Quarwood in nearby Lower Swell.

A peek inside Huffkins Tea Room
and Bakery.

We enjoyed a really lovely lunch...and a truly fabulous cup of tea ... at a tearoom in Stow called Huffkins. Everything on the menu is handmade, and delicious! They even supply their cakes to the Queen, so nice to know we were eating food fit for a Queen.