Despite a freezing artic wind, in the sheltered valleys, it was pleasantly warm. We were led from Saltford to cross the river by the Bristol – Bath Railway Path and across fields and tracks east to Kelstone. We crossed the A431 and took a road which ascended north west and became a track through the woods to the west of Kelstone Roundhill. At the top, we turned north west to descend along a good track into North Stoke. We walked through this pretty village, turning east and crossing a stile with a steep climb to join the Cotswold Way. We stopped to talk to a Swiss couple on their final leg of the Cotswold Way, and passed several others on this popular route. We paused to take photos of the sculptures made of scrap metal near the golf course. We continued past Civil War flags and the Monument, before the long descent through fields to ford the stream near Hall Lane, follow the path along the reservoir and take the long, initially very steep climb, up Greenway Lane, across the A46 and into Cold Ashton. In the car park of the Village Hall we sat at a bench for lunch.

It was too cold to hang around and we continued through the village and took a path descending south across a field on the Limestone Link. We crossed the muddy stream at the bottom and followed the path to join Mill Lane to pass the end of the Monkswood Reservoir and turn west along an ascending path along the southern edge. This was a good path, new to me, which climbed gradually up to the A46. We crossed to take a steep descent down fields to Manor Farm, before a steep climb up to Goudie’s Farm. We turned south and joined a lane into Langridge. We turned west to ascend along the road to an afternoon stop at the church of St Mary Magdalene.  We turned off the road and up a field, before descending to cross the brook, followed by a long ascent to Lansdown. We crossed the road and onto Bath Race Course. We cantered alongside the race track, welcoming the flat terrain, and paused at Prospect Stile. Here we decided on re-tracing our route through Kelston and arrived back at 5 pm after a good walk of 18 miles, with nearly 3,000 feet of ascent.