White Horses and Woolly Bears - an unusual combination!

Or to be more precise Cherhill Down, between Calne and Malborough. Although on paper niot far from home this time, it is an awkward trip and reminds me of the old quip that "you wouldn't want to start from here!"

Oldbury Castle is an Iron Age hillfort. It's huge, covering about 25 acres and is remarkably well preserved.

 The banks and ditches are very well preserved and it is quite a steep climb up to the fort itself. After last week though this was a breeze!

And another shot. It's a popular place with dog walkers and families. Note the sun and lovely blue sky the weather forecasters promised us. No I can't see it either...

Perched on the top of the fort is the crumbling Lansdowne Monument. Bits are starting to fall from the sides and access to the stepped plinth is currently fenced off for safety reasons. It's on the National Trust's list to be repaired but they have no budget for it.

This Victorian monstrosity is 125ft high and was erected  in 1845 by the Third Marquis of Lansdowne to commemorate Sir William Petty ( Economist, Scientist and Philosopher just in case you don't recall him).

Now on to the horse which was carved into the side of the hillfort  in 1780 by the "mad doctor" -Dr Christopher Alsop.   

 Coming down in search of some lunch we spotted this chap making his way up the pathway. Despite our best efforts he was determined to contine his route up the trackway.





 I just hope he didn't get eaten. He was very conspicuous against the chalk

For lunch we thought we'd head back to the Barge at Honey Street. Last time we were here the white horse was all but invisible against the snow on the hills. Today though he stands out brilliantly.




Not such good news on the food front, the Barge decided it was too busy to want our custom so we decamped to the new tearoom just across the other side of the main road and had cake and sandwiches there instead. Time then to head home and tackle some Sunday afternoon gardening.

Pottering around Pewsey

Well this jaunt got me called sneaky and devious? Me? Never!

 Well I had sort of hoped we might make this detour on the way home, and I just might have printed out a few directions beforehand but sneaky and devious?

OK guilty as charged I  guess!

For once a site that was quick and easy to find - find the co op in Pewsey, walk around the right hand side of the supermarket and follow the path by the stream just over the bridge and you find this....

A row of Sarsen stones which are rather out of place.

 Plenty more dotted around in a nearby park.

One with a hole through it ( shame someone though the black paint was necessary though)

and yet more built into the foundations of the local church.













So where did they come from? One internet site says they are the remains of a stone circle. Other commentators say there was never a stone circle here and they are the remains of an old Saxon church on top of which was built the current one.

Well more research needed I guess and even if they were never part of a circle they certainly look as if they might have been. I guess the truth will never be known unless  some lucky find turns up the right old records should there be any.

And finally  - a snatched photograph of another ancient or not landmark...

The Westbury White Horse. An 18CE addition to the Wiltshire landscape or early. Again no documentary evidence to support an earlier date.

The recent cleaning though has left it a bright sharp white against the background of the Bratton Hill fort - almost a cartoon cut out. It looked a lot softer beforehand.

From Avebury to Devizes

For a change  a "straight line" walk rather than a circular trek.Thank you to Nigel Vile and the Bath Chronicle for suggesting this one.

It meant getting up horribly early for a Sunday and driving to Devizes to leave the car tucked away in a safe corner of a long stay car park and taking the "trans-Wiltshire express" ( better known as the number 49 bus !) to Avebury with the intention of walking the 9 miles back.

Avebury was safely gained and rapidly left with barely a glance at the circles ( I know I know but I've been there many times). I couldn't resist just one shot though as we walked down towards the church and out into the countryside.

I was rewarded though by the sight of the  two Long Stones at Avebury Trusloe. The landowner very kindly allows access to the stones  across his field so we were able to go in amongst them.   These are truly massive stones, originally there would have been more but they have been removed.

Nice vistas of Silbury Hill

Eventually we reached the highlight and main objective of our walk  - Wansdyke ( Woden's Dyke). This is a Saxon linear defensive earthwork consisting of a long ditch and bank and now dated to around 500CE. The path runs along the top of the bank giving views across the downland and provides a wildlife corridor between the intensively farmed field on either side. A major highlight for me was seeing a hare up close which is very rare now. The hare once it spotted us "hared" off into a cornfield and for several hundred yards we could see his ears popping up above the ripe corn as he bounded away.

Time for lunch and time to leave the Wansdyke path for the village of Bishop's Cannings and lunch in the garden at the Crown.


 Getting close to Devizes now and the last 2 miles were along the Kennet and Avon canal which was busy with narrow boats. The white horse by the way is fairly new - a millennium project!