Rosieville

There are currently signs pointing to "Rosie" as you approach Miserden, and the road through the village has been covered with gravel. Not only that indicates filming in progress: the Carpenter's Arms is currently "The Woolpack" and strange posters adorn the noticeboard under the tree. Yes, the BBC are doing a remake of Laurie Lee's "Cider with Rosie" and clearly despaired of securing any peace for the project in its true location, nearby Slad.

On foot, and Benn

"Foot and Benn Disease" is said to have been the illness Labour suffered from in the 'Eighties. Michael Foot was often seen in Cheltenham during the literature festival - I bumped into him, shopping on one occasion. And in 2011, beside Imperial Gardens, Tony Benn was just too late to say that I could not take this photograph.

Benn's death aged 88 - hardly a shock - removes from the scene one of the great characters of late 20th Century political life in Britain, like him or loathe him. I was mainly in the latter camp, except in respect of his stand on the Iraq War. How you long for people in politics today to have the same courage of their convictions!

I set off to walk from Brockworth to Slad yesterday morning, but was so exhausted climbing Cooper's Hill that I decided Sheepscombe would be far enough. In contrast to the 99% dry-under-foot walk on Wednesday, it was heavy and uncertain going as I made my way up through fog from the Cross Hands. Even high up in the Beechwoods National Nature Reserve the paths were muddy, another hazard being the trees that had fallen recently.

Arrival at the Butcher's Arms was delayed by my retracing my steps in a vain effort to recover a lost lens cap. I suppose it must have rolled away off the track through Lord's Wood.

The Roadmender

Dialogue with teams of present day road repairers is not easy on account of the noise their machines make. So you bustle past, to get out of their way. Not so on Folly Lane above Slad yesterday. Surprisingly, it's unadopted, so here was a riparian owner with his DIY kit - two wheelbarrows, a spade, a rake and a bag of the black stuff. And time for a chat.

The three of us had parked near the Woolpack and climbed up the path on the South edge of Worgan's Wood. From the East side of the Painswick Valley, we looked over to Whiteshill and Pitchcombe before turning onto the Painswick Old Road at Brownshill Court (its once fine entrance looking very neglected). Wick Street was entirely new to me, a delightful hamlet with a fine early 17th Century manor house - not attracting a lot of sun in the Winter though I guess.

It was a warm day for some steep climbing, and a pint of Old Spot at Laurie Lee's local went down beautifully. Hannah, recently installed as mine hostess, offers a sensible, slightly minimalist pub lunch: the best soup I've tasted for a while! Our cup overflowed when we saw Kathy Lee in the other bar.

Elcombe

On Wednesday, we walked with friends above the Slad Valley, starting and ending at the tucked-away hamlet of Elcombe. The landscape had a Tolkein-like feel to it, woods and fields being shrouded in mist: all very different from our last visit in sunny April a couple of years ago.

We passed artist-blacksmith Alan Evans' cottage en route, admiring his innovative stainless steel swing gates as we passed by. The once-controversial grille over the entrance to Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum is his work.

Walking down Swift's Hill, the view (on a clear day) is stupendous, but I wouldn't want to live on the side of so steep a valley.

Cotswold stealth

Walking around the Slad Valley this afternoon, the company agreed that you could smell the money. It's a far cry from the Slad of ninety years ago, as described by Laurie Lee in Cider with Rosie! That money is plentifully lavished on house, horse and (in this case) a car with something of the look of a stealth bomber. I wondered what the catsuit - sorry, carsuit - alone had cost with its dinky pockets for the wing mirrors.