Saturday 29 August 2020

Upavon

 

                                                        St Mary the Virgin, Upavon

We started our walk from Upavon at the parish church. The original wooden Saxon church was replaced by a late Norman church (circa 1175), but what you see now is largely the result of 15th and 19th Century restorations.

The village, which we didn't really explore fully, has some nice thatched cottages.

On the edge of the town was a rather unusual cottage, brick built and quite tall, but surmounted by a thatched roof.


We headed west to cross the River Avon ...

... and then climb quite steeply through woodland to suddenly emerge in open countryside.

 


We walked along the edge of a well-tended golf course: this was one side of the simple triangular route. Meeting a crossing track, we turned left for the second leg. This offered wonderful wide open vistas.

A bit further on we had a glimpse of the White Horse near Alton Barnes. It was first carved in the chalk in 1785 and re-cut a hundred and fifty two years later to mark the coronation of George VI.

Soon after this the track began to descend and no closer picture of the White Horse was possible. We turned left onto the third stage of the triangular walk, a grassy track. It was pleasant enough, but not as rewarding as the earlier sections. 

The final amusement was watching a mixed flock of geese successfully block the traffic while they searched for food.

Conditions: bright and sunny.

Distance: 4.25 miles.

From: Wiltshire: from Salisbury to the Kennet (Jarrold).

Map:  Explorer 130 (Salisbury & Stonehenge).

Rating: four stars.

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