Prospect Stile and the Racecourse
Cross the golf course and racecourse to an Iron Age hill-fort and Cotswold Way viewpoint.
A
Charlcombe walk
posted on 29/12/21 by Walks from the Door. Last update : 25/08/22
Description
(S/E) From the front door of the Charlcombe Inn, turn left along the road. When the fence on your left ends, take a footpath on the left through a hooped metal gate. Bear right across an area of rough grassland and cross the car park in front of the golf clubhouse. Beyond the clubhouse, follow the line of trees ahead of you.
(1) Cross the racecourse access road and continue in the same direction, now with a wall on your right and the golf course and racecourse to your left.
(2) At a signposted junction of paths at the end of a wood, turn left across the fairway, along a track followed by the Cotswold Way. Follow the track past Pipley Barn on the left and then around the edge of the golf course past a sign for Pipley Wood. Beyond a gate follow the track as it starts to descend, then shortly afterwards, at a Cotswold Way post, leave it on a path to the left that climbs slightly to another gate.
(3) Follow the path ahead, below the trees. At the next waymark post, turn sharp left, uphill. Go through a kissing gate to the right of a field gate and follow the path ahead, across the field. Cross the bank and ditch of the hill-fort then turn right with the earthwork on your right.
Follow the field edge round to the left to a gate into the racecourse. Keep along the right-hand edge to the topograph at Prospect Stile.
(4) Having admired the view, turn left and head straight towards the grandstand, swinging right as you approach the course itself until you rejoin the trees.
(5) Duck under the rails and cross the course, aiming well to the right of the communications mast, then head along a line of metal railings and cross the course again. Bear right along a wall at the far edge of the course with trees behind it.
(6) Follow the wall past the rear of the Charlcombe Inn’s garden then, when the wall ends, turn left to a kissing gate back into the pub car park. (S/E)
Waypoints
- S/E : km 0 - alt. 227 m - Charlcombe Inn
- 1 : km 0.71 - alt. 232 m - Golf course and racecourse
- 2 : km 1.14 - alt. 234 m - Pipley Barn
- 3 : km 1.55 - alt. 231 m - Racecourse
- 4 : km 3.52 - alt. 225 m - Prospect Stile
- 5 : km 4.15 - alt. 232 m - Metal railings
- 6 : km 4.93 - alt. 228 m - Charlcombe Inn’s garden
- S/E : km 5.12 - alt. 227 m - Charlcombe Inn
Useful Information
Paths across the racecourse may be unavailable during race meetings, and the exact line of the footpath across the course is not clearly defined.
Pdf Link : http://walksfromthedoor.co.uk/i/walks/So...
The Charlcombe Inn
Lansdown, Bath, Somerset BA1 9BT
tel +44 (0)1225 421995
website www.charlcombeinn.co.uk
email contact@charlcombeinn.co.uk
Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.
During the walk or to do/see around
The Charlcombe Inn is a classic countryside free house, with a comfortable interior, large garden overlooking Bath Racecourse, ten fabulous en-suite letting rooms and ample parking.
The menu offers a good range of pub classics plus some more exciting dishes, cooked fresh and wherever possible, using locally sourced ingredients.
Open daily from 9am (12 Sundays), we now serve our main menu from 12.00 all day every day. We also offer morning coffee and afternoon tea. This is a popular spot for walkers and, naturally, well-behaved dogs are welcome.
St Martin’s Church, North Stoke, has an idyllic position next to a trickling stream and waterfall. Its tower dates probably from the 12th century and Roman bricks have been reused in the fabric of the walls.
Sometimes described as the UK’s first war memorial, Sir Bevill Grenville’s Monument, erected in 1720, commemorates the death of the Royalist commander at the Battle of Lansdowne in 1643.
The Avon Valley Railway runs from Oldland Common to the Avon via Bitton, a distance of three miles. Both steam and diesel locomotives are run at weekends
Bath Racecourse is Britain’s highest flat-racing course. Racing was first recorded in Bath in 1728 but the first major meet was held in 1811. Notable races includes the Lansdown Fillies’ Stake (April) and the Beckford Stakes (October)
The Cotswold Way long-distance footpath runs for 100 miles from Chipping Campden to Bath.
The River Avon flows for 75 miles from South Gloucestershire to Avonmouth, but its source is only 19 miles from its mouth as the crow files.
