The 2017 Annual General Meeting was held at King Stanley Village Hall on the 4th August 2017 and many topics were raised about the general direction of the charity. The Chairman proposed that the main activity over the next twelve months would be to publicise the CWA and to engender increased support from users of the Cotswold Way and the many organisations that benefit from its use. In closing the meeting the Chairman thanked his fellow trustees for their work and support in establishing the CWA over the past year. 

To see the full minutes of the meeting click here

CWA has published the first Cotswold Way Association newsletter. We thought it about time we gave you, our members and supporters, an idea of what we’ve been up to and what’s planned for the future.

The Cotswold Way Association has been established as a registered charity for nearly a year. It’s taken longer than expected to put the pieces together, but the organisation is now fully operational. At its heart is our interactive website, www.cotswoldwayassociation.org.uk. Special thanks for getting it off the ground are due to Rob Talbot from Winchcombe Welcomes Walkers and Ronald Gijsel of Webees. Thanks also to the Ramblers Holidays Charitable Trust who generously met the design and start-up costs.  

If you are walking through Tormarton Village do not get confused by this sign!  The house is fairly new and when it was being built the Cotswold Way ran in front of the house.  The owner decided to call the house ‘Cotswold Way’. Later, the route was change by a short distance but the owner decided to keep the name.

Recently I completed the southbound walk with around twenty other walkers that made up the 2016-17 group. Although as a Cotswold Voluntary Warden I was familiar with the southern section of the route I was keen to complete the whole of the Cotswold Way and explore, with our knowledgeable wardens, unfamiliar sections of the Cotswold Way.

Set out below in the link are some of my memories from our journey south from Chipping Campden.

Our first project in July 2016 consisted of replacing a stile with a friendly kissing gate above Hailes near Winchcombe. After a long climb up the track from Hailes Abbey towards Farmcote one did not relish climbing over a reasonably high stile.

The Ramblers Holidays Charitable Trust supports environmental conservation projects in the UK. The Cotswold Way Association is pleased the Trust have chosen to support the work of the association. In the UK, the Charitable Trust support the Ramblers and other smaller outdoors charities. The Trust also offers direct financial support to walking groups in order to aid  sustainable tourism ethos.

The CWA is ready to implement the many reports of remedial work required to maintain our trails. Working with the Cotswold Way Wardens and Ramblers work parties the funds we raise will go directly upon maintaining and improving access to the countryside.