May 5th Leckhampton

On a sunny Sunday 5th May 12 members met at The National Star College and set off on our 5.5 mile walk of the ‘Leckhampton lollipop’. We started down Ullenwood Manor Road, turned left and up a gentle ascent on part of the Cotswold way. At the top of the slope we turned right, continued along a section of Hartley Lane which took us past the Cotswold Lion Brewery to a left turn and the footpath leading to the top of Leckhampton Hill. 165 million years ago in the Jurassic period the whole area we walked was a warm shallow sea bed.

On the way to the top we passed fields and areas covered with cowslips in full bloom and a patch of flowering orchids. Near the top we stopped to have our refreshments with views of Cheltenham. We then walked passed an Iron Age burial mound and through the remains of some Iron Age ramparts. The hillfort was a defended settlement inhabited by the Dubonii tribe and was built more than 2000 years ago.

At the very top we had clear views of Cheltenham, Gloucester and over to the Malvern Hills. We then made our way on around the edge of the hill branching off the path to look at the Devils Chimney: a stack of rocks that was left as a result of quarrying from the 17th to early 20th centuries. We eventually come back to the section of the Cotswold Way we started along and back to our cars before it rained.

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