Other Walks | Great Chalk Way

The Great Chalk Way

The Great Chalk Way

The Great Chalk Way (GCW) is a family of established walking and riding routes linking the Dorset and Norfolk Coasts across central southern England following an ancient trading route along chalk ridges. It forms a coast to coast route of getting on for 400 miles. The six trails that comprise the GCW are -

Wessex Ridgeway
Cranborne Droves Way
Sarsen Way
The Ridgeway
Icknield Way
Peddars Way

The GCW starts at Lyme Regis in Dorset and finishes at Holme-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. It's also referred to as the 'Great Ridgeway' and the 'Icknield Way'. It was officially launched by the Friends of the Ridgeway in conjunction with the Icknield Way Association as the 'Great Chalk Way' in October 2024, although the idea of it was first mooted back in 2007. Taken as one trail it is England's 5th longest trail.

The Friends of the Ridgeway is a voluntary organisation set up in 1983 with a primary aim to preserve and maintain the special nature of The Ridgeway National Trail, mainly in response to its abuse west of the Thames by off-road vehicles. In 2009 the Friends of the Ridgeway’s constitution was changed to apply its principal objective to any extension of the ancient Ridgeway trackways along the chalk downs of southern England. As a result, the Friends of the Ridgeway was determined to create a coast to coast trail from the Dorset Coast to The Wash. It was decided to name the new trail the Great Chalk Way.

As each component trail already had its own distinctive waymarker, there was no need to create one for the route as a whole. However, to promote the GCW and advertise its existence to the walking public, it was agreed that information boards should be placed at the start and finish of each component trail, showing the route of the GCW and giving pictorial and factual information about it.

Sadly, the Friends of the Ridgeway was not able to get permission from Norfolk Council to install one at Holme-next-the-Sea. Similarly, at Win Green the National Trust would not allow a board. As of September 2025 there are 6 GCW information boards along the route I took as my photos below show (there is another one at Wardour Castle on that part of the Wessex Ridgeway I didn't walk). I find it particularly upsetting that there isn't one at Holme-next-the-Sea because if you've walked getting on for 400 miles along England's 5th longest trail, there is nothing there to suggest what you've actually achieved; maybe one day, even if the board has to be erected at Hunstanton which is normally regarded as the final destination, being the nearest transportation hub?

As a personal challenge for 2025 I plan to walk the entire trail, setting off from Lyme Regis at the end of April 2025. Living in Northamptonshire and staying overnight in pubs and hotels, I'll probably do a week at a time before coming home for a few days. All being well I'll complete my challenge before the end of summer. I'm not daunted by the distance to walk but what concerns me a little is the area covered by the Wessex Ridgeway in particular, which is quite remote in places. I really enjoy sorting out logistics for all the trails I've walked and the GCW has been no different. I just hope all my buses run!

Looking at the very high-level map of the trail you’ll see that the Wessex Ridgeway (in light blue) meets The Ridgeway (in dark blue) near the World Heritage Site of Avebury in Wiltshire. However, there is an alternative route that peels off to the right at Win Green, continues to Salisbury on the Cranborne Droves Way (in yellow) and then continues towards Avebury on the Sarsen Way (in orange). It’s clear just by looking at the map that this alternative route is shorter than just continuing on the Wessex Ridgeway; it also looks more interesting to me as it takes in the city of Salisbury as well as passing close to Stonehenge. For these reasons I have decided to walk the alternative route via Salisbury. However, for the sake of completeness I expect at some point in the future I'll walk the Wessex Ridgeway from Win Green to Overton Hill; in fact I've already pencilled it in for 2026!

The Trails

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63 miles

Lyme Regis to Win Green

Wessex Ridgeway

87 miles

Overton Hill to Ivinghoe Beacon

Ridgeway National Trail

16.5 miles

Win Green to Salisbury

Cranborne Droves Way

110 miles

Ivinghoe Beacon to Knettishall Heath

Icknield Way

34.5 miles

Salisbury to Overton Hill

Sarsen Way

46 miles

Knettishall Heath to Holme-next-the-Sea

Peddars Way

Facts & Figures

I completed the GCW in 27 stages between the end of April 2025 and early September 2025 with June and July spent walking another trail
Official distance - source OS Maps - 362 miles
Total ascent - 28244 feet
Highest point - 910 feet
Longest stage - 23 miles - Peddars Way - Castle Acre to Hunstanton via Holme-next-the-Sea
During the course of the walk I passed through 11 counties - Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk
Hillforts passed - at least 13!
Barrows passed - loads!
Rain - not one drop!
Total expenditure including hotels, food, buses, trains, car parks and petrol - about £3000. Sounds a lot but just think of it as a 27 day UK holiday in glorious weather and I think it was great value for money
Cooked breakfasts - at least 17 I'm ashamed to admit - but I was on holiday!
Enjoyment - priceless!