Stage 28 - Wessex Ridgeway - Ludwell to Hindon - May 23rd 2026
- John Tippetts
- Apr 11, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Official Stage Statistics
Route distance – 10.40 miles
Duration - 4 hours 28 mins
Total ascent – 1377 feet
Total descent – 1366 feet
Highest point – 707 feet
Logistics
Drive to Salisbury Central Car Park and park car
Bus 29 to Ludwell from Salibury Blue Boar Row (Stop N)
Walk to Hindon
Bus 25 to Salisbury from Hindon The Square
Pick up car and drive to Premier Inn Salisbury South
My Walk
I've numbered this stage 28 of the Great Chalk Way. The first 27 stages cover my walks in 2025 from Lyme Regis to Holme-next-the-Sea via Salisbury. In 2025, I left the Wessex Ridgeway (WR) at Win Green and reached The Ridgeway at Overton Down by way of the Cranborne Droves Way and Sarsen Way.
Stages 28 to 34 will cover the alternative way of reaching Overton Down by continuing along the Wessex Ridgeway from Win Green via Warminster. I refer to these stages as walking the 'Wessex Ridgeway - Wiltshire' section.
When I completed the Dorset section at Win Green last year, I still had to walk a little further along the WR down to the A30 at Ludwell in order to catch a bus to Shaftesbury. Therefore, Ludwell was to be the start of the Wiltshire section for me.
For various reasons I didn’t walk the Wiltshire section of the WR stages in order, so whilst I’ve called Ludwell to Hindon stage 28, in practice it was the final stage I walked in order to complete the full Wessex Ridgeway.
This stage would begin at Ludwell with a gentle walk across fields mainly, with views across to the ridge between Win Green & Salisbury. After reaching Donhead St Andrews the path would enter Wardour, a 200 acre ancient woodland owned by The Wardour Estate but leased to the Forestry Commission. Wardour Park would bring the highlight of the day – Old Wardour Castle, a 14th century ruined castle. Beyond the old castle, I’d pass New Wardour Castle, built in the late 18th century.
After crossing the London to Exeter railway, a steep climb would eventually bring me to the village of Newtown which would give me fabulous views back to Wardour and beyond. I would then descend alongside the Pythouse Estate with great views of rolling countryside. A final climb alongside and through woodland would open up to farmland and a gentle descent into Hindon.
My day began with a drive to Salisbury where I parked in the Central car park. I'm a big fan of Salisbury. One of the reasons why I like it so much is that it makes a great hub for much of this half of the Wessex Ridgeway, due mainly to its transport links and in particular, buses. I’m very impressed with the number of bus routes in and around Salisbury, provided by the main operator Salisbury Reds – part of the Go-Ahead Group.
I caught the 29 bus to Ludwell and by 11:30 I was back outside the Grove Arms pub. When I was last here in May 2025 at the end of Stage 6, the pub had been closed for a few months. Today however it was back open for business with new owners, who took over in July 2025. It's a gorgeous building both inside and out. A good news story!
The Wessex Ridgeway continued just to the left of the pub with a gentle climb along a footpath that quickly opened up onto fields before narrowing again into a path enclosed either side by trees. After a few descents and ascents, the trail reached Donhead St Andrews and the entrance to Wardour ancient woodland.
I’d read that a GCW information board had been erected in the woods and discovered it by the side of a fingerpost pointing towards both Old Wardour Castle and New Wardour Castle. Needless to say, I had to have my selfie with the board to compete my collection! This one was sponsored by Cranborne Chase National Landscape
The shape of the woods and route of the WR meant that my time in the woods was very short (about ¼ mile) and on the other side of a gate, I emerged into a field of cows within an 850 acre area of land called Wardour Park. The park contains 17 listed buildings including both Wardour castles. The park is an example of an 18th century picturesque designed landscape.
In the distance, mostly covered by trees, I caught my first glimpse of New Wardour Castle. The cows weren’t bothered by me and at the bottom of the field I passed through a gate and continued alongside an attractive lake, known as Pale Park Pond. This is just one of a number of artificial lakes created within the parkland.
A little further on and just to the right of the path, I came across the ruins of the gates to the grounds of Old Wardour Castle.
A few minutes later I reached Old Wardour Castle itself. It was such a nice day that I thought I’d explore the castle and grounds - manged by English Heritage. I was also hoping to top up my water bottle as I was sure English Heritage must have mains water on site since they were selling tea and coffee. Not to be – I was told they don’t have mains water and couldn’t vouch for the safety of the water from their taps. I had to settle on buying bottled water. I only hope their tea and coffee was made using bottled water!
The castle was built at the end of the 14th century by Baron John Lovell. Its design was inspired by hexagonal castles that were all the rage in Europe at the time. During the 17th century English Civil War it was badly damaged by Parliamentarians who eventually captured and occupied it. However, subsequent to this, the then owners (the Arundell family) got their castle back by blowing up one side of the castle, only to later have it confiscated once again at the end of the war, before finally getting it back in 1660! Today, the Arundell family still owns the site and most of the surrounding parkland but the castle is maintained by English Heritage.
The whole story including how Wardour Park came into being can be read here – English Heritage - Old Wardour Castle
After leaving Old Wardour Castle I continued along the WR and after about ⅔ mile I arrived at New Wardour Castle. The Arundell family had the house built in the late 18th century at the same time as creating Wardour Park. Old Wardour Castle was included as a landscaped feature of the park. The famous landscape gardener, Capability Brown had a hand in the design.
Following the death of the last Baron Arundell of Wardour in 1944, the house was very briefly a Leonard Cheshire Foundation home, before becoming home to Cranborne Chase School in 1961 for 30 years.
In 1992 the house and grounds were sold for less than £1 million and converted into 10 private apartments. However, the apartments aren’t exactly what normal people would conjure up in their minds. The principal apartment has 8 reception rooms!! A more modest 3 reception, 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom apartment is currently on sale (June 2026) for £1.85 million - Ground Floor Apartment New Wardour Castle
The grounds of the castle have so many footpaths and rights of way and I couldn't find the right one to exit them. Eventually I got lucky as a van came through the electic gate and I was able to sneak out before it shut again. Back on the WR, the path descended slowly across a number of fields, crossed the River Nadder and then a bridge over the London to Exeter railway.
A steady climb for another mile across fields brought me into the village of Newtown. There were plenty of great views back to Wardour.
After Newtown, the next couple of miles involved a descent both across and alongside fields, followed by an ascent into woodland at Fonthill Gifford.
Beyond the woodland, the path dropped steadily in between fields of grazing cattle, to the finish in High Street Hindon.
I did this walk over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend 2026. People might remember that this was an insanely hot weekend with temperature records being broken all over the UK. Consequently, I was rather hot by the time I reached Hindon. My bus back to Salisbury was due at 17:42 and it was now 17:15 – just time to have a pint at 1 of the 2 pubs in the village. I chose the Lamb as its beer garden was right next to the bus stop. I could quite happily have spent a lot longer there.
My bus turned up on time and it was a new minibus with air conditioning that actually worked. The driver certainly didn’t hang about and I enjoyed the bus ride back to Salisbury. After my tea at Wetherspoons in the city centre I drove to the Salisbury South Premier Inn where I was staying that night.
I’d really enjoyed today’s walk. As mentioned above, whilst this was the first of the Wiltshire WR stages beyond Win Green towards Marlborough, it was in fact the final stage I actually walked to complete the full Wessex Ridgeway. I therefore felt doubly satisfied at the end of today’s walk!
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