Milton Lilbourne and Easton Royal

St Peter's church

We have ventured further afield today to explore Pusey Hill in Wiltshire starting from the village of Milton Lilbourne. We parked near the church (14th century with Victorian restoration) and headed south, soon taking a right turn into Clay Lane. This turned out, to our surprise, to be an absolute quagmire, although there was a desire path on the right hand side of the main track.

We continued along a field edge and turned left towards the hill. As we got closer we were struck by the poppies and cornflowers in the nearby field.

This was our first view of the hill.

We wound our way up a sunken path - this is the view looking back.

To our delight, the chalk hillside was home to loads of Adonis Blue butterflies and even a Marsh Fritillary (despite the name they are often found on chalk hills). There were also lots of six spot Burnet Moths, including this mating pair.

We continued along the ridge to see this lovely valley off to the south with its strip lynchets.

We did go slightly wrong after this, taking a left turn earlier than we should have and missing the Giants' Grave, a stone age long barrow. However, we found our way down to Easton Royal by following a parallel track to the one we were intended to follow, so our error wasn't too disastrous. The village is very welcoming, with a lovely group of thatched cottages being the first thing you see.

Just beyond the cottages is the church which dates from 1591, with Victorian alterations and additions.

We headed west towards Milton Lilbourne and, as we got closer, headed along this lovely avenue of chestnut trees.

At the end, after farm buildings and paddocks, we passed King Hall, a grand Victorian house.

To complete our visit, we headed along the main street to see the Manor House, a fine early Georgian house (Pevsner).

New flowers of the day

Fox and cubs

Field Scabious

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Distance: 6.25 miles

From: 100 walks in Wiltshire

Maps: Explorer 157 (Marlborough & Savernake Forest) and Explorer 130 (Salisbury & Stonehenge).

Rating: five stars.