Hillingdon

 

October can be a gem of a month, the weather and the countryside often perfect for walking and taking advantage of the last of the longer days. So, led by Barbara a group of 10 from Hillingdon Ramblers travelled to Salisbury to explore and enjoy the final walking holiday opportunity of the year.

Day 1 - a 13 mile walk from Amesbury

 

Our first walk was a linear 13 miles starting at Amesbury. We walked up and down sections of the Pewsey/Avon path and along the Avon valley. We looked down onto the huge restored home of 'Sting' and had to clear our minds of Tantric Yoga before lunch at Lower Woodford. We continued to Dunsford Manor where they did not keep with English tradition in their fields but kept fine camels, llamas and alpacas. After admiring these fine and majestic creatures we continued up onto the ramparts of the early settlement of Old Sarum from where there were some great views. Old Sarum is the site of the earliest settlement in the area before present day Salisbury was built in the 13th Century. It was a settlement of the same era as Stonehenge and occupied by the Romans many centuries later. As new Salisbury was built, much of Old Sarum's stone was plundered and used in the new construction leaving just the ruins that we see today.

Those hoping to complete the day by catching a local bus to the pre-positioned cars were foiled as the bus was full and had a long wait for the next one. Others walked back through the footpaths over the Common and through the fading flowers and long grass of Summer.

However, we were all there for dinner at our hotel after a great start to our holiday.

 

Day 2 - a 13 mile walk from Broad Chalke

 

For the second walk we fortunately arrived at Broad Chalke Car Park before all the parents arrived, clutching their coffees, going to their children's Harvest Festival. We enjoyed the best weather this day and we started by climbing up onto the downs with far reaching views of the Nadder Valley. This was glorious walking. We went through Compton Chamberlayne then on to Dinton Village for lunch . A very handsome village which some of us had previously visited with Bob Baker. We then passed Phillip's House, an unoccupied NT property then through Favant Village to continue to the foot of the Downs and gaze at the huge Military badges carved into the chalk hillside. These were carved by soldiers garrisoned nearby and waiting to be called to fight in France in 1916 during the First World War. They are now Scheduled Ancient Monuments and recognised by the Imperial War Museum as War Memorials.

As we gazed up, we gradually realised that the steep chalk hill ahead was our route back! We made it, of course, and passed an interesting pair of constructions that we thought might be quirky Air B&Bs perched on the hill top overlooking a motorsports centre. Although meant to be locked up, we had a cheeky peep inside them and felt less guilty since we were in the company of an ex policeman! After one final stop to admire the scenery from the top, it was downhill back to our cars after 13 glorious miles.

 

Day 3 - a 12 mile walk from Winterbourne

We set out on our third walk a little anxious about the weather as Storm Babet was on its way. However it was dry when we set out from Winterbourne and not far into the walk, the Figsbury Ring, a Neolithic and Iron Age Fort, gave us historical interest and sweeping views. For some of our 12 miles we walked along sections of the Monarch's Way, Roman routes and the Clarendon Way.

Our return took us through the ruins of Clarendon Palace where free roaming llamas were not perturbed by us in our strange, colourful outfits as we walked past them. The rain was becoming persistent as we walked through the Laverstock wetlands to gratefully arrive into the suburbs of Laverstock. This was not the originally planned route by Barbara but she felt a shortened walk, excluding Salisbury, where we were staying, was best in case the weather worsened.

A superb holiday brought to us by Barbara. We had explored a whole new area with her for which we were very grateful.