Family-friendly route Cheltenham to Winchcombe

[Rob Archer]

Going on a family get-together in Winchcombe in the Cotswold in October half-term. Were arriving at Cheltenham by train (all booked) and need to get to Winchcombe. We're experienced cyclists but living in East Anglia the children (9 & 12) aren't acclimatised to hill-climbing with luggage. I'd also like to avoid busy or fast roads. I've looked at a couple of routes: direct via the B4632 Cleeve Hill (hilly and possibly busy?). or a quieter (but longer) route via Gotherington and Gretton.

Anyone know the area and can advise?

[Richard Fairhurst]

Cleeve Hill is busy. If you're cycling with kids I'd follow the route via Gretton. You can salute Tom Rolt, pioneer of canal restoration and railway preservation, as you pass - he lived in Stanley Pontlarge!

Sustrans is working on a Cheltenham-Bishop's Cleeve route which will one day make the first half of the route easier.

[andrew_s]

Follow the Cleeve Hill route out as far as Southam, immediately before the bottom of Cleeve Hill, then follow the road round through Woodmancote to the Gotheringon road and go through Gretton. This avoids the racecourse road to Bishop's Cleeve, which is the busiest.

The quietest route would be up Aggs Hill or Ham Hill to Whittington, just to the north side of the A 40, then past Charlton Abbots to Winchcombe, but either hill is substantially tougher than Cleeve Hill, and may involve quite a lot of pushing.

[robgul]

Being a former Cheltenham resident here's my 2p

Follow Sustrans route from station to Wymans Lane (I think that's where it stops)
Turn left over level crossing (E-W)
Turn right and right again and under railway (W-E)
Follow to traffic lights on A435 and straight on
First left into Kayte Lane
Through Bishops Cleeve and exit on Gotherington Lane (NE corner of Bishops Cleeve)
Right in Gotherington village - will be SP Gretton
Follow that road all the way through Gretton (passing the Prescott car hill-climb course)
Road comes into the centre of Winchcombe.

A few slopes but nothing horrendous and not much traffic.

[By chance our club run did almost exactly the Winchcombe - Bishops Cleeve segment about 3 weeks ago]

Rob

[andrew_s]

Follow Sustrans route from station to Wymans Lane (I think that's where it stops)
Turn left over level crossing (E-W)
Turn right and right again and under railway (W-E)
Follow to traffic lights on A435 and straight on

The Sustrans route from the station stops a couple of streets short of Swindon Lane (Wyman's Lane is what you join at the T-junction after the level crossing), so you've got to go left (NW) to join Windyridge Rd, then right to Swindon Lane and left to the level crossing.
Hyde Lane (railway bridge to A435 lights) can be a bit of a fast rat run if you hit it at the wrong time of day.

If following the Sustrans path, don't try to leave it at or just after the Prince of Wales stadium - the roads don't connect through to the NW. Make sure you've passed the golf course on the right, going at least 250m past the road crossing immediately after the stadium.

When planning routes, it's worth looking at http://cycle.travel/map
Click on start, click on end, click & drag to move a route.
It likes quiet roads and cycle tracks, but it more or less ignores hills.
It comes up with @robgul's route if you start at the station, end in the middle of Winchcombe, and drag the route off the top of Cleeve Hill to somewhere on the Gotherington to Gretton road.

[Rob Archer]

Thanks guys. They were pretty much the routes I'd looked at. Good to know the local perspective! I like the idea of paying homage to Tom Rolt. He's one of my heroes. It looks a wonderful area for cycling. Looking forward to exploring a new part of the country.

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