Walking in the Thames Valley. Steve Davison

to reach a road at a Y-junction.

      5 SU290635 Cross both roads and follow a path on the left-hand side of a stand of trees, with hedges/fences on either side. Keep to the path as it bears left into Bedwyn Brail woodland and reach a cross-tracks junction.

      Bedwyn Brail Several places in the area bear the name ‘brail’, a word used to describe an enclosed park, or wood, stocked with deer; Bedwyn Brail was once part of the great hunting forest of Savernake. The brail is the site of a home that Edward Seymour, Warden of Savernake and Lord Protector 1547–49 in the reign of Edward IV, was building at the time of his execution in 1552, and also of a former Roman villa; nothing remains of either.

      Wilton Windmill built in 1821

      Shorter walk

      Turn right along the track and keep left at the split; leave the wood and follow the left field boundary. Later walk downhill and bear right to join the canal towpath beside a bridge, where you pick up the final section of the main walk.

      To continue on the main walk, turn left along a well-defined track signposted to the windmill, ignoring any tracks off to right or left for about ¾ mile (1.2km). Go through the gate and turn half-right for about 40m to where the track splits; take the left-hand path, keeping close to the fence on the left. At the T-junction turn left along the track and then right along the road towards Wilton, passing Wilton Windmill on the left.

      Wilton Windmill, which stands on a chalk ridge at 170m (550ft), was built in 1821 and is the oldest working mill in Wiltshire, still producing stoneground wholemeal flour (on sale). Built from brick, the mill has a fantail that keeps the sails aligned with the wind, acting as an automatic rudder. The mill is open from Easter until the end of September on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays 2–5pm (01672 870202).

      Continue down to Wilton with its thatched-and-timber-framed cottages, and bear right past The Swan Inn along the road for Grafton and Burbage. Just before the left-hand bend, next to the duck pond, turn right for a few metres through the hedge gap and then left, following a track past Wilton Water to reach the canal.

      Crofton Pump House on the Kennet and Avon Canal

      Detour

      Take a detour to visit the Crofton Pump House Museum (shop selling refreshments when open). Turn left and cross the canal via the lock gates, then follow the path under the railway and up the steps to the pump house, which was designed by John Rennie, the Kennet and Avon Canal company’s chief engineer. The two Cornish beam engines, built in 1812 and 1846, are driven by steam from a hand-stoked coalfired Lancashire boiler, making them two of the oldest working steam-driven pumps in the world. They were originally used to pump water up from Wilton Water (a small lake built in 1836) to the summit of the canal. After a considerable amount of restoration work, Crofton was officially reopened by Sir John Betjeman in 1970. The museum is open at weekends from Easter to October; on Bank Holidays one of the pumps is usually ‘in steam’ (01672 870300). Retrace your steps back across the canal to rejoin the route.

      6 SU263622 Follow the towpath northeast towards Great Bedwyn for ½ miles (2.4km). On reaching Great Bedwyn Bridge, just after passing Lock 64, leave the towpath and cross the bridge over the canal (shorter walk rejoins here). Go through the gates either side of the railway line (care required) to follow a path across the field and then along the side of the churchyard wall. Go over the V-stile on the right and continue past the Church of St Mary the Virgin and the well-preserved preaching cross.

      In Saxon times Great Bedwyn was known as Bedanheaford – meaning ‘the graves head’ – and was the residence of the Saxon chief Cissa. By the time of the Domesday Book (1086) the town was known as Bedewinde and was held by the king. The Church of St Mary the Virgin (dating from 1092, though most of what is visible is from the 12th/13th centuries) is one of the largest in the area. Inside is an impressive monument to Sir John Seymour, father of Jane Seymour who married King Henry VIII in 1536. She died in 1537 shortly after the birth of their son, who later became Edward VI. The church also holds the stone figure of a knight, believed to be Sir Adam de Stokke (d. 1313), and the tomb of Sir Roger de Stokke (d. 1333), son of Sir Adam. Also in the village is Lloyd’s Stonemason’s Museum. Run by the descendants of Benjamin Lloyd, the original mason to the Kennet and Avon Canal Company, the museum traces the fascinating history of stonemasonry. The museum is open to members of the public during work hours.

      Go through the gate and along the road towards the village, passing the Stonemason’s Museum on the left. At the T-junction, with The Cross Keys pub ahead, turn right down Brook Street, passing the railway station on the left. Cross over the railway and canal to reach the car park on the right.

WALK 4

      Fosbury Hill and the Chutes

Start/Finish	Tidcombe church (SU291582); limited parking close to church
Distance	13 miles (20.9km) or 10 miles (16.1km)
Grade	3
Time	6 hours or 4½ hours
Maps	OS Explorer 131/Landrangers 174 and 185
Refreshments	Upper Chute – The Cross Keys Inn (01264 730295); Lower Chute – The Hatchet Inn (01264 730229); Vernham Dean – The George Inn (01264 737279)
Transport	None
Note	This walk can be shortened by following the Chute Causeway shortly after Point 2, missing out the Chute hamlets.

      This roller-coaster walk through the wooded downs on the Wiltshire–Hampshire border starts at the hamlet of Tidcombe and follows the delightful valley of Hippenscombe Bottom before climbing to pass through three of the Chute hamlets: Upper Chute, Lower Chute and Chute Cadley. The route then climbs again through the parkland of Conholt Park before descending to Vernham Dean, from where a final climb leads to the Iron Age hillfort at Fosbury. Then it’s a fairly level walk over the downs before crossing the Chute Causeway and heading back to Tidcombe, with its charming manor house and Norman church.

      Spend a few minutes looking round St Michael’s Church in Tidcombe. The church mostly dates from the 14th century with a major restoration in 1882. There may have been an earlier church here, as the font is believed to be Saxon. From the churchyard there are good views of 18th-century red-brick Tidcombe Manor. The village was known as Titicome in the Domesday Book, derived from the Anglo-Saxon cumb, meaning ‘valley’, and Titta, a person’s name.

      1 SU291582 From the church walk up the road, bearing right at the junction and continue up the track. Close to the top turn left, following a track over the fields, to reach a road – Chute Causeway.

      The Chute Causeway follows part of a former Roman road from Winchester (Venta Bulgarum) to Cunetio, now known as Mildenhall. Superstition claims that the road is haunted by the ghostly figure of a vicar of Chute. During the plague, the vicar is said to have persuaded his sick parishioners to go to a camp on the causeway, where they would be cared for. However, he never came back and left them to die. His plan failed anyway: he too died from the disease and was forced to wander along the road in penance for eternity.

      Turn right for 300m and, at the start of the trees and scrub on the left, bear left along a bridleway beside Scot’s Poor Plantation, keeping close to the fence. Continue straight on through a gate and follow the track along Hippenscombe Bottom to reach Hippenscombe Farm.

      2 SU311561 Just past the farm turn right uphill along a bridleway – called Breach Lane – passing Cleves Copse on the left, to reach the Chute Causeway again.

      Shorter walk

      Turn left and follow the road to the junction – rejoin the route description halfway through Point 3 at SU322552.

      To continue on the main route, cross over and continue along the bridleway (track). At the far corner of the small wood turn right, with trees to the left. Keep ahead, ignoring Breach Lane off to the left, cross over Drummer Lane and at the road turn