My walks along the Ridgeway National Trail, one of the links in a prehistoric route often called the Greater Ridgeway. The Great Chalk Way is a modern day reimagination of the Greater Ridgeway. The path extends for 87 miles from Overton Hill in Wiltshire to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. It passes many historic sites, including Barbury, Liddington, Uffington and Segsbury Castles (hill forts), Wayland's Smithy (long barrow) and Uffington White Horse. It also crosses the Thames at Goring The Ridgeway The Ridgeway The Ridgeway National Trail passes through a surprisingly remote part of southern central England. It starts (or finishes) at Overton Hill within the Avebury World Heritage Site, close to Avebury henge and stone circles. It follows the ancient Ridgeway in a north-easterly direction to Streatley in Berkshire where it crosses the River Thames into Goring. It then follows footpaths and parts of the ancient Icknield Way through the Chiltern Hills to finish at Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. It is 87 miles (140 km) long. Popularly known as ‘Britain’s oldest road’, the Ridgeway still follows the same route over the high ground used since prehistoric times by travellers, herdsmen and soldiers. Today it is popular with walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders. The section which passes through the North Wessex Downs is a broad track and often quite a distance from villages or towns; travel along its length and you experience wide, open views of rolling chalk downland and find many archaeological monuments close to the trail including Stone Age long barrows, Bronze Age round barrows, Iron Age forts and the Uffington White Horse cut into the chalk downland. Beyond the crossing of the Thames at Goring, the trail continues into the Chiltern Hills. The footpaths become narrower and the trail passes through much more woodland. This second part of the trail is also less remote with more facilities. The Ridgeway was opened as a National Trail in 1973. Being a National Trail, The Ridgeway is waymarked with fingerposts that feature the National Trail acorn. Unlike most other National Trail fingerposts, which are made from oak, these are made from a black, recycled plastic manufactured by a company named Plaswood. Again, as a National Trail, there are many fingerposts all the way along the trail that leave users in no doubt as to which way they should go. Like the other National Trails I've walked in the past, I've never felt the need to carry a map. In 2023 I completed the trail in 7 stages. In 2025 whilst I could have pushed myself a little bit harder and walked it in fewer stages, I chose just to enjoy the trail and ended up doing 7 walks again. I walked The Ridgeway north east to south west in February 2023 so I knew exactly what to expect and was quite excited to walk it again in the other direction. I chose NE to SW in 2023 because of the prize of Avebury World Heritage Site that would greet me at the finish. That’s not to say that there’s nothing to like about finishing at Ivinghoe Beacon because it’s a fantastic feeling to complete the final relatively steep climb to the summit and take in the 360° degree panoramic views. These are the stages I did in 2025 – Overton Hill to Ogbourne St George Ogbourne St George to Ashbury Ashbury to Letcombe Regis Letcombe Regis to Goring-on-Thames Goring-on-Thames to Mongewell Mongewell to Princes Risborough Princes Risborough to Ivinghoe Beacon The stage numbers to the end of the Peddars Way aren't the stage numbers of the individual trail but of the entire Great Chalk Way; hence Overton Hill to Ogbourne St George is stage 11 not stage 1 and my final walk from Castle Acre to Hunstanton will be stage 27. Also, apologies if some of my stories unwittingly make assumptions that the reader has been with me since I set off in April from the start of the Great Chalk Way in Lyme Regis. Stage 11 - The Ridgeway - Overton Hill to Ogbourne St George - May 18th 2025 An early climb. Views galore. Another white horse. Another hillfort. Gallops. A late descent off the ridge Stage 12 - The Ridgeway - Ogbourne St George to Ashbury - May 19th 2025 Yet another hillfort. Fooling German pilots. A fine coombe with lynchets. An early finish Stage 13 - The Ridgeway - Ashbury to Letcombe Bassett - May 20th 2025 2 more hillforts. A 5000 year old long barrow. A 3000 year old chalk horse. Outstanding views Stage 14 - The Ridgeway - Letcombe Regis to Goring-on-Thames - May 30th 2025 An easy 14 miles. Mainly downhill. Tunnelling under the A34. Company. Crossing my beloved River Thames Stage 15 - The Ridgeway - Goring-on-Thames to Mongewell - May 31st 2025 A short walk that packs a lot. Riverside walking. Beautiful villages. Gorgeous railway bridge. Rock legend's former private estate now a golf club & spa. Stage 16 - The Ridgeway - Mongewell to Princes Risborough - June 9th 2025 Anything but grim. Plenty of ups and downs. Stumped by a smiling octopus Stage 17 - The Ridgeway - Princes Risborough to Ivinghoe Beacon - August 6th 2025 More ups than downs. 3 peaks. Keir’s country gaff and local. HS2 carnage

The Sarsen Way was officially created in 2020 by the Friends of the Ridgeway. This 49 mile path was developed to link two major ancient sites in Wiltshire – Stonehenge and Avebury. It incorporates parts of other paths including the Ridgeway, the White Horse Trail and the Pewsey Avon Trail. The path begins at Salisbury Cathedral and ends at Coate Water Country Park in Swindon. It is 1 of the 6 constituent trails comprising the Great Chalk Way AKA the Greater Ridgeway Sarsen Way The Sarsen Way was officially created in 2020 by the Friends of the Ridgeway. At 49 miles (79 km) this long-distance path was developed to link two major ancient sites in Wiltshire – Stonehenge and Avebury. It incorporates parts of other paths including the Ridgeway, the White Horse Trail and in particular, the Pewsey Avon Trail; there’s a lot of ‘code sharing’ going on here as with airline flights! Both the Sarsen Way and the Cranborne Droves Way were also developed in order to provide a more authentic upland route along chalk ridges than the northern section of the Wessex Ridgeway could offer, to and through Salisbury towards Avebury. The path begins at Salisbury Cathedral and ends at Coate Water Country Park in Swindon. From Salisbury the path follows the River Avon valley, touches the edge of Salisbury Plain, meets and follows the Kennet and Avon Canal for a while and crosses the Vale of Pewsey before reaching the Ridgeway at Overton Hill. From there it follows the Ridgeway to Barbury Castle before the final 8 miles to Coate Water Country Park. Whilst the Sarsen Way doesn’t actually pass Stonehenge or Avebury, there are short, optional loops to visit these UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These loops add about 4 miles in total to the length of the path. Along the path itself there is more evidence of ancient history including Old Sarum, Casterley Camp, Adam’s Grave and Wansdyke. The route of the Sarsen Way is mainly across open, rolling downland under wide skies. Some of the northern part lies within the North Wessex Downs AONB. Most of the AONB is farmland. Over half of this area is cropped and some is grazed, the rest is mostly woodland and set aside land. The Sarsen Way name is derived from the large sarsen stones that are found in circles at both World Heritage sites. The path is waymarked with its name and 3 sarsen stones on brown circular discs. As mentioned above, the Sarsen Way ‘code shares’ with a number of other trails. For the purposes of these blogs, I decided to treat the Sarsen Way as starting at Salisbury Cathedral and ending at Avebury, where the Ridgeway takes over – a distance of about 36 miles. With respect to logistics for the Sarsen Way, these were very easy because of the excellent bus services along the route between Salisbury and Avebury. I decided to break the 36 miles up into 3 stages – Salisbury to Amesbury Amesbury to Upavon Upavon to Avebury The stage numbers to the end of the Peddars Way aren't the stage numbers of the individual trail but of the entire Great Chalk Way; hence Salisbury to Amesbury is stage 8 not stage 1 and my final walk from Castle Acre to Hunstanton will be stage 27. Also, apologies if some of my stories unwittingly make assumptions that the reader has been with me since I set off in April from the start of the Great Chalk Way in Lyme Regis. Stage 8 - Sarsen Way - Salisbury to Amesbury - May 8th 2025 Old Sarum. River Avon Stage 9 - Sarsen Way - Amesbury to Upavon - May 16th 2025 River Avon. Salisbury Plain. Stonehenge Stage 10 - Sarsen Way - Upavon to Overton Hill - May 17th 2025 The stage that has everything - river, canal, cygnets, quaint villages, climbs, gorgeous landscapes, a chalk horse and history by the bucketload!

Why I created this website about my walks along the Thames Path National Trail and why I subsequently expanded it to include other Long Distance Trails such as the Great Chalk Way About I began this website as a blog to document and share the walks I did to complete the Thames Path National Trail during 2020. At the time I didn’t have any plans to expand it beyond this. However, I enjoyed the trail so much that I did it again in 2021, then 2022 and before I knew it, I’d walked it each year up to 2025. It has now become an annual tradition of mine and I’m proud to call myself a Thames Path nerd. In 2025 I expanded what was a site dedicated solely to the Thames Path, to include the 6 trails that together make the Great Chalk Way (GCW). The GCW is a family of established walking and riding routes linking the Dorset and Norfolk Coasts across central southern England following the ancient trading route along the chalk ridge, forming a coast to coast route of more than 360 miles. In 2025, in between walking the Thames Path, I started and completed the GCW from Lyme Regis to Holme-next-the-Sea. The landscape of the GCW couldn't be further removed from that of the Thames Path, making for a fabulous year of walking. In time I’ll add further long distance trails that I have completed, including the Cotswold Way and the North Downs Way.

Official Stage Statistics Route distance – 11.54 miles Total ascent – 857 feet Total descent - 441 feet Highest point – 815 feet Fly-through of this stage Logistics Walk to Swindon Bus Station & catch X5 bus at 08:40 to Upavon arriving 09:51 Walk to Avebury Catch bus 49 back to Swindon Bus Station from Red Lion at 13 & 48 mins past the hour Walk to Premier Swindon Town Centre and stay overnight    NB – Since August 2025 Swindon Bus Station has thankfully closed as buses now leave/arrive from the new public transport hub in Fleming Way         My Walk Today’s walk would begin by following the River Avon for about 3½ miles as far as Manningford Abbots. Here the Sarsen Way would briefly join company with the White Horse Trail (WHT) and finally part company with the Pewsey Avon Trail (PAT), with the PAT veering off to the right towards Pewsey. Beyond Manningford Abbots I’d follow the Kennet and Avon Canal for about 2 miles before turning right at Alton Barnes. A steep climb would take me to Walker’s Hill, the Alton Barnes White Horse and provide so many ‘Wow!’ moments. This is where the WHT parted company in its quest to find more white horses! Following a final climb to the point at which the path crossed the Wansdyke, the last couple of miles would be a steady descent to the A4 at Overton Hill where the Sarsen Way would meet The Ridgeway. Overton Hill is part of the Avebury section of the UNESCO Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site; as such, you can’t not stop here to take in some or all of the fascinating historic sites. In any case, the bus back to Swindon leaves from the pub at Avebury so you can’t help but marvel at the stones and ditch which surround the pub whilst waiting for a bus. To my mind, Avebury is so much more interesting than Stonehenge and everything is free to National Trust and English Heritage members, including car parking. Non-members pay for car parking, entrance to the museum and Avebury Manor Garden but everything else is free. So, my day started with the short walk from my Premier Inn to Swindon bus station to catch the X5 bus back to Upavon. The bus took over an hour but sitting on the top deck I wasn’t bothered as I could admire the countryside. Picking up from where I’d left off yesterday at The Ship in Upavon, the path crossed the River Avon and then more of less tracked its course into the village of North Newnton where its defibrillator and library were hard to miss outside the Woodbridge Inn pub! The path continued past a trout farm and across a couple of fields, all of which are on the Manningford Bohune Estate. There are 3 ‘Manningfords’ – Bohune, Bruce and Abbots which in 1934 became the single civil parish of Manningford. None of them is very large so it was difficult to know which village I was walking in at any one time! Anyway, at the end of a field I reached a gate which saw the parting of the ways. The Pewsey Avon Trail took a right towards Pewsey and the Sarsen Way and its new friend the White Horse Trail took a left, emerging eventually in Manningford Bruce. St James Church North Newnton St James Church North Newnton right by the Avon Manningford Trout Farm Beautiful setting for one of Manningford Trout Fishery's lakes It's goodbye to the Pewsey & Avon Trail at last After walking through the village of thatched roof cottages I crossed over the railway tracks carrying the GWR mainline between London and Penzance. At the end of the next field I came across a couple of stones that mark the location of Swanborough Tump. A tump is defined as a British Hill with more than 30 metres of prominence. Swanborough Tump dates from the Bronze Age but over thousands of years of being ground down it can no longer be easily seen - Swanborough Tump . It was chosen in A.D. 871 as the meeting place for King Aethelred and his brother, the future King Alfred the Great on their way to fight the Danes. They promised each other that if one of them should die then the dead man's children would inherit land belonging to their father King Aethelwulf. A plaque on one of the stone monuments commemorates this event.   Manningford Bruce Crossing the GWR main line Stones commemorating Swanborough Tump The Sarsen Way continued down a rather grand driveway to Cocklebury Farm – a working farm that has diversified into also running a holiday lets business. Beyond the farm buildings I crossed Ladies Bridge, a very ornate bridge over the Kennet and Avon Canal. For the next couple of miles I walked along the towpath, crossing back over at Woodbrough Fields Bridge. To my right was Picked Hill and its neighbour Woodborough Hill. With my first sightings of cygnets this year, what a brilliant walk this was turning into. Driveway to Cocklebury Farm Ladies Bridge over the Avon & Kennet Canal Picked Hill (right) & Woodborough Hill (left) I left the canal and crossed over one more time at Bridge 124 – Honeystreet Bridge. On one side was Honeystreet Wharf, now a private residence. On the other side was Honeystreet Mill, which offers a café, The India Shop (furniture warehouse showroom), a farm shop and a holiday boat company. There was certainly a lot going on here. I chose not to stop here and with my first sight of the Alton Barnes White Horse and the highest hills in Wiltshire, I carried on. Honeystreet Bridge where the path leaves the canal Alton Barnes White Horse comes into view The path continued into Alton Barnes where I was directed to follow a fantastic cobbled stone path towards All Saints’ Church in Alton Priors. Before reaching the church, I turned off this cobbled stone path towards the imposing hills named Walker’s Hill and Knap Hill. No idea who this lady was but she certainly looked the part! I love this old turnstile & cobbled stone path leading to the church Over Easter 2026 I revisited the area and continued to the church which was built in the 12 th  century but was declared redundant in 1972. I didn’t know at the time of my visit that underneath each of the 2 trapdoors in the church there is a sarsen stone. It is claimed by some that these stones are part of a stone circle on which the church was built. In the churchyard is a yew tree that has been estimated to be more than 1,700 years old i.e. older than the church itself, possibly indicative of an earlier sacred site.     All Saints’ Church in Alton Priors This looks like 2 trees but is definitely only 1! Anyway, back to my walk in May 2025, the Sarsen Way began a steep climb up Walker’s Hill. At the summit of Walker’s Hill and overlooking the Vale of Pewsey was a Neolithic long barrow known as Adam’s Grave. Whoever Adam was, he couldn’t have chosen a finer location. According to folklore the barrow is the grave of a giant, which explains the dimensions of it – 70 metres long and 7 metres high! Walker's Hill Adam's Grave. Presumably the ditches either side provided the building material Adam's Grave At this point I decided to briefly go off-piste and head higher and closer to Milk Hill, the highest point in Wiltshire. From there I got even better views of Adam’s Grave and the surrounding area; so many ‘Wow!’s. Milk Hill is 966 feet high. I didn’t walk all the way round to it but the OS map tells me I got to 944 feet. The Alton Barnes White Horse is located on the southern slope of Milk Hill. He’s approximately 180 feet high and 160 feet long and was cut in 1812 under the commission of local farmer Robert Pile. He can be seen for miles around. At the time of my walk he was looking in mighty fine condition. The Alton Barns White Horse Walkers Hill, Adam's Grave, Knap Hill & the Vale of Pewsey. What views! More of Knap Hill, Golden Ball Hill & the Vale of Pewsey - just gorgeous! You get a better idea of the height of Adam's Grave Having got all the photos and videos I wanted, I returned to the Sarsen Way which took me down Walker’s Hill to a road. On the other side of the road was Knap Hill and a car park. Knap Hill is another steep hill that has a neolithic causewayed camp (an enclosure marked out by ditches and banks, with a number of causeways crossing the ditches) at the top. As there was so much more I wanted to see today, I decided not to climb the hill, which in any case wasn’t on the Sarsen Way. Knap Hill However, over Easter 2026, I returned to the area and climbed to the top of Knap Hill for more ‘Wow!’ moments. Unfortunately it was way too windy to get my little drone up in the sky to fully appreciate the earthworks here; a little frustrating, so I’ll just have to return another time soon and also continue along Golden Ball Hill. The climb to the top of Knap Hill - April 2026 You can see just a little of the ditch but really need a drone's view to fully appreciate Looking across to Walker's Hill from the top of Knap Hill - April 2026 Golden Ball Hill Back to my May 2025 walk - continuing beyond Walkers Hill, the Sarsen Way initially climbed towards the Wansdyke (an early medieval defensive ditch and embankment – think of it as a kind of Hadrian’s Wall). From there, the path descended slowly towards East Kennett. The views were spectacular all the way along here. Before reaching East Kennett was East Kennet Long Barrow. There is no public access and it’s not located on the Sarsen Way anyway, so I gave this a miss. East Kennett is a small village just ½ mile from the A4 and Overton Hill. By the way, I’m confused by the spelling of Kennet/t! Road signs and OS maps spell it with 2 ‘t’s, whereas English Heritage & National Trust choose to use just 1 ‘t’. Who’s right – goodness only knows! Descending towards East Kennett Just before the A4 is The Sanctuary, originally a complex arrangement of 6 circles of timber posts and standing stones begun in about 2500 BC. The Sanctuary is at one end of the West Kennet Avenue - 2 parallel rows of standing stones that stretch over 1½ miles linking the site to the henge and stone circles at Avebury. Nobody is 100% sure what the purpose of The Sanctuary was. When archaeologists excavated the site in 1930 they found many objects such as flint tools, animal bones and pottery fragments, suggesting that Neolithic people were placing offerings in and around the standing posts. Other excavations discovered the body of a teenage boy from the early Bronze Age, about 200 years after the Sanctuary was constructed; he’d been buried against the base of one of the stones. As the monument was destroyed in the 18 th century by a local farmer digging up the stones and posts, today they have been replaced with concrete blocks painted blue on top for stones and red on top for wooden posts. Fortunately, detailed drawings of the monument existed from before it was destroyed!   Site of The Sanctuary After crossing the A4 at The Sanctuary I arrived at the official start of The Ridgeway National Trail at Overton Hill. Whilst the Sarsen Way ‘code shares’ with The Ridgeway as far as Barbury Castle near Swindon, for the purposes of my blogs I finished the Sarsen Way here and my next walk would be along The Ridgway. 114 miles completed officially As mentioned at the start, there is so much more to see whilst you’re at Overton Hill – West Kennet Long Barrow, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Avenue and Avebury itself being the most spectacular. I also mentioned that you catch buses at the Red Lion pub in Avebury. The 49 bus travels between Swindon, Devizes and Trowbridge all day until late in the evening. A – The Sanctuary B – Overton Hill – start (or finish) of The Ridgeway National Trail C – West Kennet Long Barrow - one of the largest, accessible Neolithic chambered tombs in Britain D – Silbury Hill - the largest artificial mound in Europe E – West Kennet Avenue - An avenue, originally of around 100 pairs of prehistoric standing stones F – Avebury - the largest stone circle in Britain G – Windmill Hill - one of the first sites excavated to provide evidence of the life of early farming communities in southern Britain I won’t bore readers with any more history of the sites, so here’s a link to the English Heritage site which tells you everything you need to know about Avebury - Avebury UNESCO World Heritage Site Here are some photos from the other Avebury sites. Windmill Hill is getting on for about a 2 mile walk from the centre of Avebury. West Kennet Long Barrow West Kennet Long Barrow West Kennet Long Barrow West Kennet Long Barrow West Kennet Long Barrow - November 2025 Silbury Hill West Kennet Avenue West Kennet Avenue Avebury. The village & pub are in the centre Avebury Avebury Avebury The Red Lion Avebury where buses stop The view from the pub! Windmill Hill Windmill Hill Windmill Hill

Official Stage Statistics Route distance – 9.85 miles Total ascent – 639 feet Total descent - 689 feet Highest point – 887 feet Fly-through of this stage Logistics Walk to Swindon Bus Station Catch bus 49 from Swindon Bus Station to Red Lion Avebury. Journey time 34 mins Walk to Ogbourne St George Liddiard's Green Catch bus 80 to Swindon Bus Station. Journey time 35 mins Walk to Premier Swindon Town Centre and stay overnight NB – Since August 2025 Swindon Bus Station has thankfully closed as buses now leave/arrive from the new public transport hub in Fleming Way         My Walk This first stage of The Ridgeway to Ogbourne St George is really just a half day walk but so many blogs and guides you look at suggest stopping here. The village has a good bus service with the number 80 bus and if you’re prepared to walk to the bypass there is also the hourly X5 service that runs between Swindon, Marlborough and Salisbury. Today’s walk would involve a 3½ mile steady climb along a wide chalk track up to Hackpen Hill, the highest point of this stage. From there, the path would continue for a couple of miles along the ridge to Barbury Castle, a very impressive Iron Age hillfort. The rest of the stage as far as the outskirts of Ogbourne St George is one of my favourites, as you’re walking along Smeathe’s Ridge, a wide, grass covered ridge with the most amazing views. Local racehorse trainers use one side of this as gallops.  My day began at the Swindon Premier Inn and my 3 rd consecutive full English breakfast! Buses are generally quite rare on a Sunday but the 49 service runs an hourly service and stops at the Red Lion in Avebury. It was little bit overcast but already the clouds were starting to break up. Overcast Avebury The day before I’d walked to Avebury from Overton Hill, so rather than walking back to the Overton Hill car park to begin the stage, I didn’t feel guilty about starting from Avebury today to meet up with The Ridgeway. Having visited Avebury and most of the Avebury World Heritage Site the previous day, I wrote at length about the sites and monuments in my Stage 10 blog 'Sarsen Way - Upavon to Avebury'. The path from Avebury to its crossing point with The Ridgeway is actually along the Wessex Ridgeway, on its way to its end point in Marlborough. Like much of the first few miles, the path was what I call a ‘standard’ chalk track with vehicle tyre tracks which I’m sure in winter become deeply rutted and a central track for walkers & cyclists. Looking back towards Avebury. Clouds clearing This is where the Wessex Ridgeway crosses The Ridgeway Continuing the climb up to Hackpen Hill Anyway, by now it was turning into yet another gorgeous day, with fabulous 360° views. From Hackpen Hill you can see for miles. It’s also well known for its chalk horse, another of Wiltshire’s 8 such horses. This one was carved in 1838 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria. You can walk down from the top of the hill to the horse, as the field it’s in isn’t that steep. Ironically the field itself is home to a number of real life wild horses! View from Hackpen Hill Having a good scratch against the kissing gate! The Hackpen Hill White Horse Continuing past Hackpen Hill along the chalk track I arrived at the foot of Barbury Hill where The Ridgeway left the track and continued up a path to the top of the outer rampart of Barbury Castle. Barbury Castle is an Iron Age hillfort built around 700 BC. It has 2 ramparts (3 in places) and ditches to keep invaders out. At 860 feet above sea level it has a commanding position of the landscapes all around, so seems like it was a good decision to build the fort here. The Ridgeway passes east-west across the middle of the fort via entrances which over the years have been widened, most latterly by American troops in the 1940s who used the fort for training purposes. They widened the entrances to get their trucks into the interior! The fort is located in Barbury Castle Country Park, a 150 acre public space managed by Swindon Borough Council.    Barbury Castle Hillfort The ramparts are quite high! Barbury Castle Hillfort - November 2025 In the car park of the country park, The Ridgeway and the Sarsen Way parted company, with the Sarsen Way heading towards Swindon. The Ridgeway continued down a single track road for about 200 yards past a horse trainer’s yard (Neil King – Ridgeway Racing), before taking a left through a wooden gate onto Smeathe’s Ridge. I’ve done this particular stage a couple of times before and each time I reach this gate it’s just a ‘Wow!’ moment with the spectacular views ahead of me. The Ridgeway National Trail (I assume) have erected a unique and striking metal fingerpost here with the letters of the word ‘RIDGEWAY’ cut out as if it’s a stencil. I really like this unique fingerpost The views along this wide, grass covered ridge are just spectacular. To the left were gallops running along the ridge. To the right and in a hollow at the base of the ridge were more gallops and the training yard of Alan King (coincidently not a relative of Neil King). Coupled with the spring flowers and views that went on forever, this was a gorgeous ridge to walk along. Obviously, I’m sure that in the middle of winter with thick fog it would be a different kettle of fish! It was hardly surprising to come across 2 racehorse training yards here, as it’s close to Lambourn, the 2 nd largest horse training centre after Newmarket. Lambourn has been dubbed the ‘Valley of the Racehorse’ as the road signs leading into the village proudly tell you. At the end of the ridge, the path narrowed and eventually I came to a fingerpost pointing to Ogbourne St George which is where I was going to leave The Ridgeway and end this stage. I walked into the village and found my bus stop. I had to wait about 20 minutes for the number 80 bus to arrive which was no big deal. Back in Swindon I walked back to my ‘home’ at the Premier Inn.

Official Stage Statistics Route distance – 8.10 miles Total ascent – 567 feet Total descent – 539 feet Highest point – 846 feet Fly-through of this stage Logistics Walk to Swindon Bus Station Catch bus 47 to Ashbury Hill Walk to Letcombe Regis & leave Ridgeway Walk to Wantage Catch X36 bus to Didcot Parkway - journey time 42 mins Catch train to Swindon - £9.55 - journey time 15 mins Pick up car from Whalebridge Car Park and drive home NB – Since August 2025 Swindon Bus Station has thankfully closed as buses now leave/arrive from the new public transport hub in Fleming Way         My Walk This was yet another easy walk and once again the end point was determined by the availability of public transport. In this instance, I was aiming to leave The Ridgeway at the closest spot to Wantage - the rub being that this would require me to walk a further 3 miles to catch a bus! Carrying on to Wantage actually became part of the walk. This really didn’t bother me since it was downhill all the way from The Ridgeway to Wantage. Today’s walk would take me past 2 Iron Age hillforts, the oldest chalk horse in Britain and a 5000 year old long barrow. All of this and great views along the way. My residence at the Swindon Town Centre Premier Inn finally came to an end! £234 for 5 nights was a bit of a bargain I thought. After one last cooked breakfast, I loaded my luggage into my car at the Whalebridge Car Park, walked to the bus station and caught the 47 bus to the top of Ashbury Hill where it intersects with The Ridgeway. In less than a mile along the path I arrived at Wayland’s Smithy – an early Neolithic chambered long barrow, completed around 3430 BC. Various excavations over the year and restorations have resulted in how the site looks today. It is very impressive in a lovely setting surrounded by trees. Modern day Pagans still use the site for ritual purposes.   Wayland's Smithy The entrance to the barrow Looking towards the front of the barrow from the rear Wayland's Smithy - April 2026 After another 1½ miles of gentle climbing I reached Uffington Castle at the top of White Horse Hill, the highest point in Oxfordshire at 856 feet. Uffington Castle is another Iron Age hillfort built around 700 BC. It covers about 8 acres. Heading towards White Horse Hill Uffington Castle - November 2025 Ditch & rampart Views from White Horse Hill are spectacular Also on the slopes of the hill is the Uffington White Horse, a 360 foot long chalk horse that is probably about 3000 years old and the oldest such carving in Britain. Unlike most other chalk horses, the design of this one is very minimalistic! Regular cleaning or ‘scouring’ of the horse is required and this is carried out by volunteers, organised by the National Trust. Because of the angle of the slope the horse is carved into, it isn’t easy to view the horse head on. The best way to view it is from the air. Even from the roads below it's not easy to see the whole horse The White Horse - October 2023 Below the horse in the valley is Dragon Hill, a striking natural chalk hill with an artificial flattened top. According to legend, this is where St George slew the dragon! A bare patch of chalk on top of the hill where no grass will grow is allegedly where the dragon’s blood spilled.   Dragon Hill The valley over which the White Horse looks is called The Manger. The Manger is a strangely shaped valley, which is thought to have been formed by the melting of ice in the last Ice Age. Folklore suggests that the Manger is the supernatural feeding place for the White Horse which would travel from its vantage point on the crest of the hill on moonlit nights! The views from the top of White Horse Hill are absolutely stunning (well – on a sunny day anyway). Beyond Whitehorse Hill the path continued as a byway which thankfully was dry and not rutted. With the lovely views it made for very pleasant walking. I was in the vicinity of a racehorse trainer’s yard and a number of horses were training on the gallops. The next feature of note was Hackpen Hill – not to be confused with the Hackpen Hill in Wiltshire that I’d passed a couple of days ago. This is Hackpen Hill near Sparsholt Firs in Oxfordshire. In the valley between The Ridgeway and the top of the hill is a striking natural feature called Crowhole Bottom but is also known as the Devil’s Punchbowl.  The top of the hill has 2 clumps of beech trees which from a distance resemble 2 caterpillars! Hackpen Hill The Devil's Punchbowl Another mile and I reached Segsbury Camp (AKA Segsbury Castle). The Ridgeway continued straight on but I chose to leave the trail here. Segsbury Camp is yet another Iron Age hillfort. This one is a bit of a whopper, covering about 30 acres. At about 700 feet above sea level, it’s not as high as some of the others I’d passed. The north of the camp has fantastic views of the Vale of the White Horse. It is so large that it has a byway running roughly north to south across it. It is this byway that I’d follow down into Letcombe Regis and then on into Wantage. Due to its sheer size, you can’t see the full extent of the fort – you can only see it properly from the air. The walk from the fort into Letcombe Regis is brilliant as it’s downhill all the way and it’s a pretty steep hill. Lower down it becomes a single track road open to all traffic. I didn’t especially enjoy walking up the hill when I walked The Ridgeway in the opposite direction a couple of years ago! The route into Wantage is well signposted with fingerposts made of the same material as the regular Ridgeway ones. I reached the market place in Wantage at about 2 o’clock. I was a bit peckish so treated myself to a Greggs sausage roll whilst waiting for the bus to Didcot Parkway. At Didcot I caught a train back to Swindon and from there I picked up my car and drove home. This is where I leave The Ridgeway today Letcombe Regis Letcombe Regis Letcombe Regis Another mile to go St Peter's & St Paul's Church in the centre of Wantage With 142 miles completed, this was the end of my third batch of walks along the Great Chalk Way. From now until I reached Holme-next-the-Sea I wouldn’t need to stay away from home for longer than I night at a time and for a number of stages, day trips from home would become practical. Also, apart from 1 more short walk, the remaining stages would be much longer than my first 3 Ridgeway walks. Happy days!