On Sunday afternoon May 22nd, many of the 16 participants of this walking holiday travelled to Marlborough in Wiltshire. We were there for 4 days of walking led by Barbara McDonald. The weather forecast was suggesting we might have 3 days of showery conditions. In the end we were blessed by mostly dry and comfortably warm weather and only the Wednesday morning was drizzly.

Day 1

We started The Ridgeway National Path with our main focus on Avebury and it’s immediate surrounding area. This area is famous for its Neolithic henges, stone circles and earthworks dating back 1000s of years. We were given ample time to soak up the history and enjoy the National Trust grounds while in Avebury for our lunch stop. This was a circular walk, arriving back at the car park after a climb back up to The Ridgeway. 

At the West Kennet Long Barrow

Day 2

Our second day was a beautiful sunny day and rewarded us with lovely views as we walked from the hotel along the top of a steep escarpment to arrive in the pretty village of Ramsbury for lunch. We visited the remains of RAF Ramsbury airfield site on the way, famous for its role in D-Day. After a leisurely lunch we walked on a round trip to visit the beautiful and quintessential English village of Aldbourne with its church, pubs and duck pond.

Overlooking Ramsbury Manor on our way out in the morning	Aldbourne church
Ramsbury Manor	The delightful village of Aldbourne

Day 3

The weather was a bit damp but not our spirits as we explored Barbary Castle and onwards along The Ridgeway. We visited the village of Rockley and after lunch walked through a fascinating landscape of Greywether Stones. These are naturally occurring boulders half embedded into the grassy slopes and forming a beautiful sight. Cattle and sheep grazed among these stones. Our walk ended passing through Marlborough High Street by which time the sun had come out again.

Walking round Barbary Castle	Descent to the hamlet of Rockley
Passing through the extensive Grey Wethers stones	Cattle amongst the Grey Wethers stones

Day 4

Our final day. Before we set off, we all thanked Barbara for her excellent leadership and organisation including the car shuttling involved to allow these days to work so well. We started on a hill top some way west of Marlborough and were rewarded with magnificent views for the whole morning as we walked along the top of a steep escarpment looking south. Visibility was good so we could see for miles. We dropped down a steep slope to a small village called Oare and eventually made our way back into Marlborough whilst walking up to the Marlborough White Horse, carved into the grass slope overlooking Marlborough and its public school.

In the course of the week we had walked around 56 miles and all agreed that it had been a very enjoyable holiday!

Magnificent views to be seen to the south as we walked along this section of the Mid Wilts Way.	A snack stop with quite a view
Admiring the view	Part of the Marlborough White Horse as we neared the end of the last walk.

And finally - holiday organiser and walks leader Barbara enjoys a well deserved glass of wine in the Marlborough evening sunshine