===============================================================
Length: 26.0 km (16.2 mi) [shorter walk possible, see below]
Ascent/Descent:
738m;
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 ½ hours
Toughness: 10 out of 10
Take
the 09.20 Exeter St. David’s and Bristol Temple Meads train from Waterloo (Clapham J.
09.27, Woking 09.46), arrives Tisbury at 11.06.
You have to be in the Exeter part of the train (and in the front three coaches of that).
You have to be in the Exeter part of the train (and in the front three coaches of that).
Return
trains:
17.01, 18.01, 18.27, 19.03, 20.01, 21.01 and 22.02.
This
walk heads south from the Vale of Wardour through the southerly parts of the
West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is spectacular
walking country with some breath-taking views. The full walk reaches the
hilltop boundary with the Cranborne Chase AONB (with views all the way to the
coast, around Bournemouth and Poole). You’ll find picturesque villages and
atmospheric pubs in the beautiful undulating countryside, as well as a wooded
Iron Age hill fort site and plenty of dry chalky U-shaped downland valleys. The
middle part of the walk especially leads through – or around the rim of –
several very pretty coombes.
The
walk starts with a gentle ascent out of Tisbury across fields but features a
few short and sharp ascents later on as well as three more prominent ascents,
spread out through the day, before descending back into Tisbury, a remarkably
unspoilt village.
Note: this walk is written
up in both directions, with both versions available in separate pdf’s. Be sure
to print the clockwise version if you want to walk with the group.
A
Shortcut after lunch, limiting the effort to 8/10, is described.
Bus
number 29 (Shaftesbury to Salisbury) stops outside the lunch pub in Ebbesbourne
Wake and in Alvediston (approx. every 90 mins); it gets you to Salisbury Bus
Station (a 10 minutes’ walk from the train station) in just short of an hour.
Lunch: The Horseshoe Inn, Ebbesbourne
Wake (9.7 km/6.1 mi) into the walk. Open 12.00-15.00. Food served
12.00-14.00;
The Crown Inn, Alvediston, (16.3 km/10.1 mi) into the walk. Re-opened in 2018 after long closure, as a tea room initially but might have opened as a pub again (the www is not very conclusive).
The Crown Inn, Alvediston, (16.3 km/10.1 mi) into the walk. Re-opened in 2018 after long closure, as a tea room initially but might have opened as a pub again (the www is not very conclusive).
Tea
en route:
The Royal Oak, Swallowcliffe.
(21.5 km/13.4 mi) into the full walk and 16.5 km (10.3 mi) into the short walk.
Open all day every day. This usually makes for a wonderful tea stop, before the last
serious ascent of the walk. But
as of July 5 it has not re-opened yet after the Covid-lockdown!
Tea
in Tisbury: Tisbury Fish & Chips, Beatons Tearooms and Bookshop, The Beckford Bottle
Shop, Genius Coffea, The
Benett, The Boot Inn (for all these: see the pdf for details).
2 comments:
Trainline currently says the train gets in at 11.23, with a Salisbury change (20 minutes).
So it does. Same on the rtn, and with a train only every 2 hours. Will have to choose a different walk, sad as it is.
Post a Comment