D'Arcy Dalton Way

D'Arcy Dalton Way Wormleighton near Banbury to Waylands Smithy near Swindon
106km/66 miles
Signed

Created to mark the Oxford Fieldpath Society's Diamond Jubilee in 1986 to connect Oxforshire's major long distance paths with the Wessex Downs, and named after a notable defender of the county's path network. Includes the Cotswolds, Redland Hills, Thames Valley, Vale of the White Horse and Wessex Downs.

Public Transport

Bus services to Wormleighton are infrequent: the easiest option is to go to Banbury, with frequent trains and buses, and walk to Wormleighton along the Oxford Canal towpath (14.5km/9 miles). Waylands Smithy is a short walk from Ashbury which has regular buses to Swindon, (though there may be no Sunday service in the winter) for regular trains to London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff and Swansea. Shipton station, just off the route along the Oxfordshire Way near Bruern, has very infrequent services to Oxford, Hereford and Worcester. There are bus services to some of the villages along the route, and a useful network of buses in the Cotswolds section: see Cotswolds AONB page. For further bus and rail information see West Midlands and National enquiry lines

Publications

The D'Arcy Dalton Way across the Oxfordshire Cotswolds and Thames Valley by Nick Moon, ISBN 1 871199 34 4. Book Castle £6.99
Detailed guide with maps, co-published with Oxford Fieldpaths Society

Contacts

Oxford Fieldpaths Society David Godfrey, General Secretary, 23 Hawkswell House, Hawkswell Gardens, Oxford OX2 7EX
www.ofs.org.uk

Regions

Local authorities

Connecting routes

Cotswold Link (see Macmillan Way)
Cross-Cotswold Pathway (see Macmillan Way)
Donnington Way
From the Wye to the Thames (see Wye Valley Walk)
Macmillan Way
Oxford Canal Walk
Oxfordshire Way (E2)
Ridgeway
Thames Path

Parks and countryside

Cotswolds AONB

Maps

Explorer OL45, 170, 191, 206
Landranger 151, 163, 164, 174

Route is shown on maps.
More about maps

Visitor information

Accommodation