The Gloucestershire Way - Day 2

After our first day of borderline starvation and boar attack we awoke surprisingly refreshed. The tent was easy to pack away and we were only half an hour from Parkend. We all breakfasted including Chuck for whom we had brought a cooked, tinned version of the raw venison he usually eats at home. When we got to Parkend there was a sign opposite the station saying that the café in the bike shop was open. After a five minute walk down the road we discovered that the sign was a packet of lies. So back the other way. The Post Office café was also closed but the shop was open at least. I got some apple cider lollies and some fudge. Amazingly the bloke serving said he’d make us a coffee anyway. Top marks that man. So we now highly recommend the Post Office café and condemn in the extreme the lying one in the bike shop.

Morning routine in the Forest of Dean.

We were still a good mile from getting back on the Gloucestershire Way. We headed directly north out of Parkend. Our destination was The Speech House hotel. We had no idea whether it was open or even any good if it was but it was on the map so off we went. The path there was surprisingly easy and open until about a mile from the end. There had been a lot of forest works here and it resembled The Somme. We trudged through ankle deep sticky mud and the path just disappeared. Thankfully I could hear the main road and headed for that. We cleaned off our boots the best we could before going in.

The inevitable coming from the sky.

The hotel was great. It had a lovely orangery, had good coffee and was dog friendly despite being rather posh looking. Everyone, staff and guests alike were chatty and interested in our adventure and obviously Chuck. I’d highly recommend this as a pit stop along the route. 

The rather lovely Speech House Hotel.

We decided our next stop would be Cinderford for lunch as it was too early to lunch in the hotel. Again it’s not on the route but there really was nothing else. The track through the woods was pleasant and there is a clearing on the top of the hill which is full of interesting moor plants. The track continues onto a bike path which is quite busy. The rain was looming and there was a distant sound of thunder so we scooted along as quickly as we could. Unfortunately in our haste I took a wrong turn. Thankfully we still got to Cinderford to stay dry.

The nicest photo of Cinderford I could get.

Cinderford is not the prettiest of towns if I’m honest. It’s also fairly devoid of good eating establishments if you have a dog. I wish I could remember the name of the café on the high street that was quite rude when I asked if I could bring in Chuck as I could then tell you to avoid it. All I need to tell you though is to go in The Fern Ticket which was great for food. It has a bar and a food servery. We had a bacon and mozzarella jacket potato each which included a trip to the salad bar. It was quite busy but then there was really nowhere else to go in Cinderford.

Plump Hill was the hardest part to navigate of day 2. The path just disappeared.

We restocked our water in Lidl next. Little did we know that this was our last chance to stock up before leaving civilization. More on this later. We got a Costa from a garage for a pick me up and then disappeared into the unknown. We were now leaving the Forest of Dean out of the north. We dropped into Plump Hill where the path was very hard to follow. Top tip, stay low. Then we crossed a valley and hit main road again. It was a steep climb from here on in and then a steep descent the other side. After giving some more cows, this time disinterested, a wide berth we came into Longhope and stopped at the Yew Tree Inn. There was a christening going on so it was quite lairy. Despite being a fairly grotty place they wouldn’t let Chuck in. So we had a quick drink and left, preferring to give our food custom to the next pub. This proved to be a very good idea.

The Farmer's Boy Inn was a sight for sore eyes.

Although we didn’t know it at the time, Longhope village shop was our last chance to stock up before Gloucester. We bought ice lollies. Blissfully unaware of our stores issue we went two miles up the road to The Farmers Boy Inn. They were very busy but were remarkably accommodating. They got us in with Chuck and found space for our bags. We were probably pretty smelly too at this point. And the food….oh the food. It was out of this world. This was full on gourmet cooking. Not just good pub food but posh restaurant food but at pub prices. No wonder it was so popular. I would highly recommend this place. We both really want to go back there.

A magical place to watch the sunset.

Our campsite for the evening was to be MayHill. It was a very long steep climb to the top and we were racing the sunset but it was worth it in every way. The view was spectacular. Across the whole of South Wales and Gloucestershire, bathed in an orange glow. It was definitely worth the climb. The top was populated by some small cows and we thought about camping elsewhere. But the cows turned out to be very friendly and the ground was lovely and soft. We were far more selective about setting up and this made for a much better night’s sleep. As we watched the light die down from inside the tent we all agreed that this had been a most wonderful day and would be remembered for a long time. But would tomorrow be as good? 

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