Sue Gearing takes her time on a day-long ramble in the North Cotswolds

This is a day-long walk getting a real feel of North Cotswold country south of Bourton on the Water going through the Windrush and Eye valleys and visiting five picturesque Cotswold villages and hamlets.

It's 11.25 miles, about 5.5 hours walking – allow time to stop and enjoy. Use the map OS Outdoor Leisure map, 45 The Cotswolds, ref: 126 197.

Park in Cold Aston village, which is south of Bourton-on-the-Water and reached from the A429 Cirencester to Stow-on-the-Wold road. Head through the village towards Notgrove. Reach the school on your right and continue on a little further. Then go left on a lane Unsuitable for Motors, and park on the side.

W ith the longer spring and summer days now upon us, here's a longer walk – a day's ramble through the North Cotswolds.

It opens in fine style with a stride out under a double avenue of beeches and explores the rolling open farmland and sheltered combes of the Windrush and Eye valleys.

There's an ancient dovecote en route, great village pubs at Naunton and Cold Aston and a riverside tearooms at Lower Slaughter.

Walking is undulating on well-marked paths and several long-distance trails, including the Wardens' Way.

There are no major hills and there are mainly gates with only one or two stiles. It's a really good dog challenge, too.

If you are used to shorter walks, this is an ideal circle and an ideal time to try something longer!

START

Turn left out of the Unsuitable for Motors lane, and walk away from the village.

1. BEECHES

After a line of houses, turn left on the Gloucestershire Way (GW) under a double avenue of beeches. At the end, go through a gate and turn right on a track. Very soon, turn left into a field through a gate on the GW and bear right down the field towards picturesque Notgrove. Reach a signpost and gate and go across grass to a lane.

2. NOTGROVE

Continue on. Reach a junction. Our route is straight ahead along a short drive/track up on the other side of the grass. Go up, passing garages, and into a field. On the far side, enter the cottage garden and then cross right over a stile. Go down a few yards beside the cottage and then bear diagonally right across the field to a signpost on the far side. Come on to a quiet lane.

3. LANE

Turn right on to the Diamond Way, a 96-mile route from Moreton-in-the-Marsh. Eventually reach the A436 and cross. Follow the path opposite downhill.

4. RAILWAY TUNNEL

Go under a railway tunnel. Continue on. Go through a gate and carry on with a hill on your left. Curve gently right and head towards a house in the hamlet of Aylworth.

5. AYLWORTH

After a gate go on along the track past the large house. Follow the bridleway sign, bending left and climbing for a few yards. Now turn right through a metal gate marked with a bridleway sign. Go on and cross a lane and continue across the side of the hill. Join the track below.

Go through a gate and just continue on, going through another gate. Go down a little closer to the stream keeping it on your right. Ahead is a hill and the choice of two paths. Take the one on the right which rises less steeply than the other. Uphill at a marker post, turn left still climbing a little. Go over a stile and on.

6. GOLF COURSE

Pass Naunton Downs Golf Course and reach a road. Follow the track on the other side which drops downhill. Half way down, as the track bends, leave it and go straight on down quite steeply. Cross the Windrush.

7. DOVECOTE

Go straight on through a gate. On the left is a rare 15th-century dovecote which was part of the Manor of Naunton. It may well be open and you can go inside. Entry is free but donations welcome.

Continue uphill to reach a road in Naunton. Turn right through the village and soon turn left up a lane marked as the Warden's Way. For the pub, go on a few yards past this junction to the welcoming Black Horse Inn.

8. WARDEN'S WAY

Go up the Warden's Way (WW), and soon follow the signpost for the WW right, through a kissing gate and on through another gate. Climb steadily. Go through a gate and on up through trees where there should be bluebells in season. Continue into a field and on up, into another field. At one stage you drop down into a dip and then climb up the other side.

Join a tree-lined Tarmac drive and maintain direction all the way to a junction with a lane. On the right just before the junction, turn right on the marked WW. Continue through fields paralleling the lane. When you reach a larger road ahead, continue to stay in the fields, bending right and now paralleling the road on your left. At the end of the field go left through a gate on to the road.

9. ROAD

Cross and follow the WW opposite. Follow it to a barn.

10. BARN

Go right through a gate at the barn, passing it on your right and continue on along the WW, gradually dropping down. Stay with it all the way down to a valley where you curve gently right, with woodland rising on the left. Go ahead on to a track and past a picturesque line of cottages to the B4068. Turn left. After a few minutes reach a lodge house left and just past this turn right on the WW down a bridleway track.

11. RIVER EYE

Stay with it, following the River Eye on your left for nearly three quarters of a mile, passing close by a cottage on your left. Reach a lane in Upper Slaughter, one of the most photographed of Cotswold villages.

12. UPPER SLAUGHTER

Turn right on the lane climbing and soon reach a small green and junction. Turn left and just around the bend go right, still on the WW. Cross the River Eye and turn right on the footpath coming up into park-like country. Go ahead in the field with good views right across to the Manor House Hotel and its small lake. Continue ahead through fields with the stream over on your right to reach Lower Slaughter.

13. LOWER SLAUGHTER

Bend right to the picturesque old mill, which is now a tea room, museum and shop. Continue on a walkway by the river with a good view of the millwheel. Go past glorious old cottages and turn right over a small stone bridge. Now continue ahead straight up a lane out of the village, climbing steadily to a junction with another lane.

14. MACMILLAN WAY

Go ahead on the Macmillan Way, a 290-mile route designed to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. This leads you to a road. Cross. The route is diagonally across the field to the far right corner, but you may need to go round the edge to avoid crops. Go through a gate and then turn left and follow the field edge all the way to a crossing track. Turn right. Bend round past a magnificent old converted mill.

15. WINDRUSH

Cross the River Windrush. Follow the lane up out of the valley. At a bend ignore the Windrush Way going right. Continue up to the next bend and here go right on the Gloucestershire Way into a field (you are also still on the Macmillan Way).

16. GLOS' WAY

This 100-mile route crosses Gloucestershire from Chepstow to Tewkesbury. Follow the left wall, which bends. At the top, cross the main road and stay on the Way with the wall on your left. Go around a corner at the bottom and after a yard or two go left through an opening in the wall and on to a farm track.

17. TRACK

This leads to Camp Barn on your right but you go straight over and follow the left edge of two fields until you reach a road. Turn right and follow it all the way along, down and then up into Cold Aston – about three quarters of a mile.

18. COLD ASTON

Carry on past the village pub, the Plough Inn. At the village school stay left and shortly reach the Unsuitable for Motors lane where you parked.

The Black Horse Inn, Naunton, GL54 3AD. Tel: 01451 850565. The Plough Inn, Cold Aston, GL54 3BN. Tel: 01451 821459. Closed Mondays. Please call to confirm opening times before setting out.