Thornbury Wayfinders

I have just booked in with a personal trainer at Elite Fitness – just round the corner from my house.

“What has that to do with ‘On the buses’? ” you might well ask.

Well I have set myself the task of leading three ten mile walks on consecutive days during our “Step into Spring” Walking Festival at the end of February. And, having tried out the ten mile “Bus Walk” from Bradley Stoke last Saturday, I decided I needed a bit of focused preparation over the next two months.

I hadn’t been wise in my choice of footwear. I have been poncing about in Pure Step ‘barefoot’ shoes for the last year or three – and jolly good they are too. But it was looking a bit wet underfoot so I opted for an old pair of leather Hi-Tec shoes, which I thought would keep the water out. I had forgotten that the tread was wearing out – so they had no grip in the mud – and they were so old and full of holes that they were no better at keeping out water than the Pure Steps.

Setting out from the Leisure Centre next to the Willow Brook bus stop in Bradley Stoke, this did not seem much of a problem. The route through Savage’s Wood – part of the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve – is well set up and I would have been fine if I had stuck to the official route of the Community Forest Path alongside the Patchway Brook. But in my running days, I had always preferred to keep to the grass on the nearside of the stream. So, in the absence of grippy off road running shoes, I found myself slipping all over the place.

The route via Patchway Common and Hempton Lane to the Aztec West estate was without problems, but the trail past Pegwell Brake was unforgiving, because fallen leaves had rotted to slippery slime on top of the cinder track.

I would definitely recommend stout waterproof boots with a serious grip to anyone attempting this route in the wet.

But the views were superlative as was the classy variant of the fish-finger sandwich, which I enjoyed at a lunch stop at the Swan in Tockington.

My next “On the buses” walk – on Saturday 10th January – will take the number 60 bus to Dursley. The return journey follows a section of the Cotswold Way, a flattish route across the Ladden Vale and a climb over the Coffin Path from Falfield to Thornbury.

On 10th Jan 2026, we will meet at 9-40 am to catch the 9-50 bus to Dursley from the Rock Street North stop.