Backup Only

This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Saturday, 14 August 2021

Saturday Walk - Tisbury Circular via the Donheads and Wardour Castles Old and New: West Wiltshire Downs in all their glory

Length: 23.3 km (14.5 mi) [longer or shorter options available, see below]
Ascent/Descent: 561 m; Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours
Toughness: 7 out of 10
 
09.20 Exeter St. Davids & Bath Spa train from Waterloo (Clapham J. 09.27, Woking 09.46), arrives Tisbury 11.06 
[You have to be in the front part of the train, as it splits at Salisbury, and in Tisbury you have to be in the front three cars of that front part of the train due to a short platform]. 
Returns are at xx.01 (basically), last train 22.02 [trolley services are back!]
 
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.
I shall endeavour to investigate a possible extension of the route at its SW end, from Windwhistle Corner via Higher Wycombe Park and Round Hill. 
 
Lunch: The Forester Inn in Donhead St. Andrews (7.0 km/4.3 mi, food to 14.00, table booked for 13.00), it has been awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand for many years running now. 
Tea: Plenty of 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

2 comments:

Thomas G said...

cheap Advance tickets are still available, if you can commit to a defined return train

Thomas G said...

n=9 in w=grey-quickly-turning-sunny-and-very-fine weather.
A pretty uneventful walk today, with the group staying close-ish together to lunch, which comes after 1/3 of the distance. 4 had (a rather brilliant) lunch at The Forester, 1 even having 3 courses and a coffee, so the non-lunchers moved on. 2 walked an improvised shortcut mid-afternoon, all others the full route. 5 (including teh shortcutters) were on the 18.01, the others presumably on the following train.
The Black Swans were there again, on the ponds just after Donhead St. Mary, and plenty of photos were taken of them. Lots of butterflies were out and about and some irridescent blue stick-dragonflies (if they were dragonflies at all?). And there was quite a bit of mud in the woods, but never un-skirtable.
All in, a very fine day in very fine company.