The Vale of Wardour in the Wiltshire Downs AONB. Wardour Park, Nadder Head, a neolithic hill fort, Barkers hill, Old Wardour Castle.
Length: 23.3 km (14.5 mi) [much shorter option
available, see below]
Ascent/Descent: 561m
Net Walking Time: ca.
6 hours
Toughness: 7 out of 10
09.20 Yeovil Junction train from Waterloo (Clapham
J. 09.27, Woking 09.47), arrives Tisbury 11.06
[In Tisbury you have to be in the front three cars of the train
due to a short platform].
Returns are at xx.01 (or a few minutes later).
Last train to London: 22.03; last
train to Salisbury: 00.08.
This walk explores the Upper Nadder Valley (also known as the Vale of
Wardour) in the south westerly parts of the West Wiltshire Downs Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is spectacular walking country with some
breathtaking views. It heads west from Tisbury along the valley and through
Wardour Park with its large mansion. After lunch at a gastro pub in Donhead St.
Andrew, some serious ascents take you all the way to the Nadder Head in another
large country estate. Looping back the route passes a Neolithic hill fort site
on a ridge right on the boundary with Dorset, with occasional views through
trees to surrounding steep downs.
An exhilarating descent and an equally exhilarating route through the wooded Barkers Hill lead back down to the Nadder. The return route then leads right past the romantically ruined 14th century Old Wardour Castle and through High Wood back into Tisbury, a remarkably unspoilt village.
A shorter version of the walk, rated 4/10, and allowing enough time to visit Old Wardour Castle (English Heritage), exists in a separate file.
Lunch: The Forester Inn
in Donhead St. Andrews (7.0 km/4.3 mi) is closed and awaiting a
community buy-out, so this will be a Picnic Lunch.
Tea: Several options in Tisbury, see the pdf or the webpage for details.
For summary, map, height profile, walk
directions, photos and gpx/kml files click here.t=swc.252
3 comments:
N=12 off the train at Tisbury, including 3 that had arrived In Salisbury the day before.
The weather was not quite the continuous drizzle that the forecast suggested but more like very low mist that very occasionally produced some mizzle/drizzle/spittle. I can think of two 10 to 15 minutes periods.
There was of course no sunshine or blue skies, but no rain either. Mud was present, mostly skirtable, but at times not.
Loads of blossoming flowers and plants, all manner of yellow ones (gorse, daffs, celandines, primroses), anemones, and various blue and purple ones.
A good year for bluebells this will be, there were more than I have ever seen on this route before. Give it a couple of weeks or so...
It was eerie/atmospheric, walking through the mist clad valleys, never getting any far views, but still a very nice day out. Group cohesion was pretty good all day. One branched off immediately to walk the short version, presumably also visiting Old Wardour Castle? The other 11 had their lunch break in the porch of the church in Donhead St Mary. The 2 black swans in one of the ponds in that village are now 4 black swans, later we also saw 4 Guinea fowl, plus a couple of pheasants that have managed to survive the shooting season. Sheep galore, and one field with lambs as well. We all liked the route with its undulations and quiet valleys and woods.
Got back to Tisbury around 17.30 so had a drink at The Bennett Arms, where a show of hands revealed an appetite for dinner in T at The Boot Inn. They were gladly accepting a booking for 10 (1 had gone to Salisbury to link up with a late arrival).
21.01 train, with 2 staying on the train to London and 8 checking in to their accommodation in Salisbury.
Great day out.
Correction: the 'Londoners' left on the 20.01
Addendum: loads of wild garlic, again more than I have seen before on this route, and very mildly fragrant already
Addendum 2: Lambs. One field with lambs, by the trigpoint at the highest point of the walk.
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