The Jewel of the Cotswolds 

On a 10 mile circular route we climb Fish Hill along the Cotswold Way to visit Broadway Tower at 1024ft above sea level; the 2nd highest point in the Cotswolds.

The top of the tower is one of England's most spectacular viewpoints with 14 English counties said to be visible on a clear day. The park affords a nice cafe'/restaurant.

Location:

Meeting at the foot of the hill in a stunning Cotswolds village, Broadway is often referred to as the 'Jewel of the Cotswolds' and the 'Show Village of England' because of it's sheer picturesque beauty.

10:00am - Leamington Rd Car Park, WR12 7ET

Please bring some change for parking.

Waterproofs, walking boots and a packed lunch are essential.

Do bring dogs, but there are sheep and roads to cross, so be prepared to use a lead. 

We only regret the opportunities we don't take... 

The Route:

Meeting at the foot of Fish hill in this stunning Cotswolds village, Broadway is often referred to as the 'Jewel of the Cotswolds' and the 'Show Village of England' because of it's sheer picturesque beauty.

We head off through Broadway Coppice and up Barhill before dropping down to Buckland on our way to Snowshill for a well earned lunch break.

Snowshill is best known for the Snowshill Manor National Trust property with its unusual collection of furniture, musical instruments, craft tools, toys, clocks, bicycles and armour, all collected by architect and craftsman Charles Paget Wade between 1900 and 1951. His Arts and Crafts-style gardens are arranged in an eccentric combination of terraces and ponds forming outdoor rooms, with bright colours and delightful scents.

We return back along the Cotswold Way via Sidelands Wood and Snowshill Lavender, a farm with 35 acres of lavender fields, which sells lavender products, plants and local crafts.

We arrive at the tower to take in the spectacular views from 1024ft above sea level on the top of Fish Hill. This is the 2nd highest point in the Cotswolds (after Cleeve Hill) and the top of the tower is one of England's most spectacular viewpoints with 16 counties said to be visible on a clear day - the most from any spot in the country. The park also affords a nice cafe' restaurant.

The 'Saxon' tower was the brainchild of Capability Brown and designed by James Wyatt in 1794 in the form of a castle, and built for Barbara, Countess of Coventry in 1798–1799. The tower was built on a hill, where beacons were lit on special occasions. Lady Coventry sponsored the construction of the folly to find out whether a beacon could be seen from her house in Worcester 22 miles away, and it turned out it could.

For some years, the tower became home to the printing press of Sir Thomas Phillipps. Near the tower is a memorial to the crew of an A.W.38 Whitley bomber that crashed there during a training mission in June 1943. In the late 1950s, Broadway Tower monitored nuclear fallout in England; an underground Royal Observer Corps bunker was built 50 yards from the Tower. Staffed continuously from 1961 and designated as a master post, the bunker was one of the last such Cold War bunkers constructed and, although officially stood down in 1991, the bunker is now one of the few remaining fully equipped facilities in England.

From the site of the tower, we make our long decent back down to village from whence we set off.

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Join us for a hike in beautiful places like the Brecon Beacons, Cotswolds, Malverns, Chilterns, Peak District, Oxford...

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