Knox the Fox joins Turtle Hikers in the Cotswolds

In June, I wrote an article about the Turtle Hikers, six women who have literally hiked thousands of miles together in our mountains. This month, three of these hikers with a tagalong hiker husband, flew thousands of miles to hike the Cotswold Way in England. Knox the Fox knew this was a trip he couldn’t miss.

The Cotswolds, a destination of idyllic landscapes, endless rock walls and quaint antique shops, is about an hour and half above London.

Gail Giffin, Kay Pilkay and Cindy Warmack with husband, Bruce, hiked both the Cotswold Way and Monarchs Way. Monarch’s Way is the trail that King Charles II used to flee England when he was exiled to France for 10 years.

Gail laughingly recounted the adventure, “We walked through cow pastures, private farms, and trails, averaging 5 miles a day. It rained a drizzling rain almost every day, except for one day, it rained so hard we could even wring out our waterproof boots.” The group hiked for about 40 miles over the course of six days, even in 40 mph winds on some days.

The group spent two nights at Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of William Shakespeare in Warwickshire, England. The preserved 16th century house is where the playwright was born and raised. They also saw the childhood cottage of his wife, Anne Hathaway.

One of the favorite stops was Blenheim Palace, belonging to Winston Churchill’s grandfather, where Winston Churchill was born in 1874, and where he proposed to his wife, Clementine, in the Temple of Diana located on the grounds.

The group experienced true English traditions with tea and scones every afternoon and one afternoon had a truly authentic English tea.

Gail said the scenery was an impressive with lots of sheep, ancient rock walls, and beautiful green fields everywhere they looked. I’ve included a gallery of photos from some of the places mentioned in the story.

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