A Weekend on the Cotswold Edge

Travelling

Alfie & Megan

Departing

Pitsea, 2:30pm Fri

Staying

Studio flat, Slad

20 November

Friday

Travel day. No dinner stop — food's being bought for cooking at the flat instead.

Depart Pitsea

~2h30 drive

Leaving at 2:30pm — Friday afternoon traffic on the M25 approach is never guaranteed, even leaving before the worst of it.

Supermarket stop, Stroud

Slad itself has no shop — stock up here for the weekend's cooking.

Arrive Slad, check in

~10 min drive

Self check-in via lockbox — no need to coordinate arrival time with a host. Should be around dusk — sunset's roughly 4:07pm.

21 November

Saturday

The big driving day — two routes back to back, no deadline pressure since there's nowhere else to be.

Breakfast at the flat

Route 2 — The Southern Sweep

~1h45 drive

51 miles. Frocester Hill, Coaley Peak, over to the A433 past Kemble airfield.

Lunch, Painswick

Route 1 — The Doorstep Loop

~1h30 drive

36 miles. Slad Valley, Sheepscombe, Birdlip, Sapperton — starts and ends right at the door.

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Rodborough & Minchinhampton Commons — sunset drive

Pencilled in, weather dependent. Sunset is around 4:06pm, so aim to be up there by roughly 3:40pm. Confirm nearer the day rather than treating this as fixed.

Dinner at the flat

22 November

Sunday

Full day out — two farms, roughly triangular route out and back via good roads.

Breakfast at the flat

Route 4 — The Two Farms Tour (outbound)

~45–60 min drive

Via Painswick and Cheltenham — deliberately avoids the Air Balloon junction at Birdlip.

Cotswold Farm Park

Open 9:30am–5pm. Highland cattle among the rare breeds.

Lunch at the Farm Park shop/café

Route 4 — The Two Farms Tour (middle leg)

~30 min drive

On to Chadlington.

Diddly Squat Farm Shop

Shop and bar close 4:30pm — car park closes 5pm sharp. Quieter than summer, but it's still a Saturday-adjacent weekend crowd.

Route 4 — The Two Farms Tour (return leg)

~1h15 drive

Sunset's around 4:05pm on this drive — worth keeping an eye out for a spot to pull over if the sky's doing something good.

23 November

Monday

Pack the car fully before setting off — no return to the flat once you leave.

Breakfast, pack up, check out

No return to the flat once you leave — pack the car fully before setting off.

Route 3b — Bibury & Burford

~1h drive

~35 miles to Burford (rough estimate — being trimmed from the full 67-mile loop to end one-way at Burford, final figures pending). Driven fresh, first thing, with luggage already loaded.

Drive home to Pitsea

~2h30–3h drive

From Burford via the A40/Oxford/M40 corridor — ordinary sat-nav from there, no need for a scenic route.

The routes

Reference only — see the map for the traced lines.

Route 1 — The Doorstep Loop

Slad Valley, Sheepscombe, Painswick, Birdlip, Sapperton.

36 mi · 1h30

Route 2 — The Southern Sweep

Frocester Hill, Coaley Peak, Nympsfield, A433 past Kemble.

51 mi · 1h45

Route 3a — The White Way Loop

Cirencester, White Way, Withington, Andoversford. Banked for another trip.

61 mi · 2h04

Route 3b — Bibury & Burford

Barnsley, Bibury, Burford. Being trimmed to a one-way finish at Burford.

67 mi · 1h56*

Route 4 — The Two Farms Tour

Painswick, Cheltenham, Cotswold Farm Park, Diddly Squat, home via Cirencester.

88 mi · 2h35

Weather reminder

Remember — weather this time of year is likely to be cold (highs around 7–9°C, possible frost overnight), often wet, and with short daylight (sunset around 4pm). Worth checking the actual forecast again closer to the date rather than relying on this.