[1] From the car park entrance on Back Lane walk west past the primary school. Turn right into Barnmeadow Road and follow this road until it ends at a T junction with Orchard Road. Turn left and walk along Orchard Road until you reach Knottes Close on the right. Turn right into Knottes Close to find the start of a footpath between the first and second groups of houses on the left.
Go through a kissing gate into a grassy field and walk across the field, through a gate in a wire fence, to a stile beside a gate in the far hedge. The stile gives access to a farm lane. Go straight across to find a stile into the next field. Walk up the slope, with a wire fence on your left, to reach a field gate. Continue up slope, keeping parallel to the fence on your left, and aim for a footpath waymarker in the middle of the field. Time to look back at the view over Winchcombe and the Sudeley valley. Beyond the waymarker you cross a stile beside a gate and carry on to the top right corner of the field where you go through a kissing gate. The next section of path is used by three long distance routes, the Gloucestershire, Wychavon and Winchcombe ways. You will follow the Gloucestershire way as far as Dixton. Keep close to the hedge on your right and continue uphill until you reach a metal gate. You have completed your first climb of the walk and can start to enjoy views north along the Cotswold edge.
[2] Turn right along a track. You shortly reach a pair of gates side by side. Go through the right hand gate and then follow the hedge on your left to reach a signpost. To the right you have a view of the northern Cotswolds running up to Meon Hill. Scanning leftwards you see Alderton Hill and Bredon Hill. Follow the sign for Far Stanley. This takes you through a gate and onto a grassy strip running along the north side of Langley Hill, with woodland on your left. The path should be easy to follow, with frequent waymarkers. Continue on the Gloucestershire Way past other footpaths on the right and the left. You pass through two gates and eventually reach a point where the ground ahead slopes downhill. Here you join a track coming from the south side of Langley Hill. Ahead you see the wooded slopes of Dixton Hill, with its larger neighbour Woolstone Hill behind. The Malverns should appear on the sky line to the left.
[3] Follow the track down the slope. As you approach a fence line look for a gate on your left with a bridleway signpost beside it. Go through the gate and turn right, on the Gloucestershire Way towards Far Stanley. Aim to the right of a barn at the far side of the next field. Here you find the start of a hollow way which you follow downhill. There are high hedges on both sides and a few muddy sections along the path. Go through a gate at the far end of the hollow way. Turn left alongside the hedge to reach a farm road, where you turn right and go through a stable yard. The farm road runs into a tarmac lane which you follow until it ends at a T junction at Far Stanley.
[4] Turn left and walk along the road until the next bend. Take care as this can be a busy road. Go through a gate on the right and follow a farm track uphill.
(A) Looking east you can compare the view with that in the first of the Dixton paintings, the Harvesters. See the Additional Information below.
After you go through a gate the track becomes better defined and eventually leads to a tarmac road. Continue through the hamlet of Dixton, passing Dixton Manor on your left.
(B) You now have a view similar to that in the second Dixton painting. Dixton Manor is an early Renaissance manor-house and must have been the original home of the paintings. Over the entrance is the date 1555 and the name John Higford. The house has seen many alterations over the centuries. It is thought that Dixton was a more substantial village in the medieval period. The chapel of All Saints once stood to the north of the manor house. It was still in use in 1790 and was apparently demolished early in the 19th century,
At a T junction take the road on the left and follow this road into a small valley. Just after crossing a bridge turn onto a footpath on the right. Head diagonally left across the grassy field. The far hedge follows the line of a small stream. Follow this to the left into a corner where you cross a footbridge. Head directly out into the next field. The path is usually evident on the ground although you cannot see the far side of the field because of a rise in the ground. Once you top the rise you will see a tarmac road ahead and you soon spot a metal gate in the left hedge leading onto the road. Aim for this gate and go through.
[5] Cross the road with care and walk up Granna Lane. The railway line here was once part of the Great Western line from Birmingham to Cheltenham via Stratford upon Avon. It opened in 1906 and saw some famous trains such as The Cornishman. Local passenger services ceased in 1960 although the line lingered on until 1976 for goods traffic. It is now operated as a heritage railway with steam trains running most days during the summer. If the gate to Gotherington halt is unlocked it is worth going up the path to take a closer look at the beautifully restored station. (It will only be unlocked when trains are running.) Go under the railway bridge and immediately turn right onto a footpath. In front of the signboard pointing the way to Gotherington Halt turn left and go over a stile. The right of way heads diagonally across the meadow to the far corner, but you may find it easier to follow a path around the edge, keeping a hedge on your right. Cross a stile into the next field and walk diagonally left to a gateway at the right hand end of the far hedge. Join a farm track with a hedge on your left and shortly turn left at a track junction and go through a gate with a bridleway waymark.
Walk up hill along a well defined farm track. At the time of writing this appears to end at a pile of rubble, but in fact the track continues, although less clear, and soon joins another track coming from the right. You have embarked on quite a steep climb so take the time to look back at the views. After going through a gate you follow the track round to the right. Soon the track runs along the left of a hedgerow and then peters out. Keep on parallel to the hedge. The track soon reappears and leads to a gate beside a couple of silos. This is a good spot to take a last look to the north. On a clear day you can see the Clee Hills and Hay Bluff on either side of the Malverns. Go through the gate and, as the track swings left, turn onto a path going straight up to a gate into woodland. There is a footpath waymark beside the gate and a well used path leading on through the wood.
[6] Follow the path through Gotherington Wood and out onto open grassland.
(C) To your left are the banks of the iron age hill fort that covers 120 acres on the top of Nottingham Hill. Material of Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman date has been found within the hill fort.
Go over a stile and through Bushcombe Wood. At the far end of the wood go through a kissing gate onto Bushcombe Common. At this point you have a view south over Cheltenham and the Severn Valley.The common is Access Land so you are free to find your own route, but it is simplest to turn left onto the well defined farm track that runs through. This leads eventually to a gate with a stile beside it. Immediately past the gate there is another gate with a stile on the left. Go over and walk up slope on a path beside a stone wall. At a path junction turn right and head in a steady direction over rather uneven ground. The irregularities in the ground result from former small scale quarrying. Disregard a path leading downhill to the right but keep straight ahead to a gate alongside a stone wall. The path beyond the gate climbs up into a strip of woodland, still Access Land, where there are multiple possible tracks. Keep straight on, close to the top of a slope of your right. Disregard a broad track heading off to the left. Take care on this section as there is a steep drop next to the path. You emerge from the woodland close to the top of Bushcombe Lane, where this minor road is joined by a bridleway.
[7] Walk down to the junction and look for a footpath waymarker on the left pointing along the edge of an arable field, with a stone wall on the left. Follow the path round the edge of this field, turning right at the first corner. Go over a stile in the wall on your left and walk diagonally right over a grassy field to a gate in the right hand fence. Go straight down to a gap in a stone wall beside a tarmac lane. Cross the lane, go through some metal gates and walk diagonally left down a grassy slope to a stile in a short section of post and rail fencing. Continue to a stile in the bottom left corner of the next field. In the valley ahead you should see a gateway onto a minor road. Walk to this gate through more grassy fields, crossing another stile on the way.
[8] Go straight ahead onto the minor road, Langley Road, which climbs gently up the far side of the valley. To your right you see the northern slopes of Cleeve Hill. Walk along the quiet lane for two kilometres back into Winchcombe. After passing through the outskirts you reach a road junction with a small traffic island. The shortest route back to the start is left along Back Lane but in order to see more of the historic centre of Winchcombe you should turn right along Malthouse Lane. Take care as this is a narrow road with no pavement. When you reach the main road, Gloucester Street, turn left.
(D) You will already have seen the 28 metre high tower of St Peter's Church in the distance. This Perpendicular style church was completed in 1468. Amongst many features worthy of closer inspection are the 40 grotesque carvings high up on the exterior walls. The quality of this building is a reminder of how wealthy the Cotswolds became in the medieval period.
Continue along Gloucester Street and straight on into Abbey Terrace with the war memorial on your right. The next turning on the left is Cowl Lane. Walk down this lane for 150 metres to find the car park on your left.