A group of 10 walkers, including one guest and our guest of honour, Christopher Somerville, walking correspondent of The Times, met outside the magnificent porch of Cirencester parish church. From there they walked up Cecily Hill into Cirencester Park, where they stopped to inspect the nets placed under the trees to collect beech mast: the beech trees in the Park are some of the best in the country and the seed is used by many nurseries to grow trees for future forest planting. The walk then passed The Hexagon and Pope’s Seat, two of the 18th century garden buildings erected in the Park by the first Earl Bathurst in association with his friend, the poet and satirist, Alexander Pope.
The route then turned north-east to continue along a path between fields belonging to the Bathurst Estate and forming an interesting contrast to the formal layout of the Park. The fine weather meant that people could appreciate the distant views of Cirencester church tower across the fields. On reaching the village of Stratton, the path continued between houses, gardens and allotments, through a field of friendly and inquisitive cattle, and then alongside the pretty River Churn back to Cirencester.
Later, in the evening, some of the ramblers were privileged to hear Christopher Somerville talking about and reading excerpts from his latest book – a series of anecdotes and thoughts on walking that all who enjoy rambling could relate to.
Cirencester Park: collecting beech seed, the polo scoreboard and the group in front of Pope's Seat
Cirencester church tower across the fields
We won't let you pass until you take our group photo !
A plane (Atlas C1) flying low over the allotments (courtesy of C Somerville)