MEMBERS of Westbury Walkers met at the start of the drove road at Allington which runs over the canal to All Cannings for an eight-mile walk led by Mike Pearce last month.
At the start of this track there were four massive reinforced concrete structures replicating two standing stones and one lintel from Stonehenge and a large concrete wedge shape. A local farmer, Tim Daw, attempted to see how they were erected but didn’t manage to achieve his aim.
The group started with a ten-minute walk into Manor Farm, Allington where they were met by Mr and Mrs Oram who gave them an amazing and very informative 45-minute tour of their fully robotic dairy farm.
The walkers then departed and walked north-west on the Hare path heading towards Bishops Cannings, meeting a herd of possibly 250 goats on the bridlepath (no kidding!).
A coffee stop was taken on Sarsons Stones at Easton Farm watching a horse training in the Manege. They then proceeded north for about one-mile up Roughridge Hill to join the Wansdyke Path. This section can be walked from Morgans Hill in the west to Marlborough in the east.
They then turned right and walked for about two-miles to a lunch stop at a crossroad of the Wansdyke and the bridleway to Allington and Beckhampton. The views were fantastic with Silbury Hill, Lansdowne Monument and the White Horse on Roundway Hill Devizes, the only one of the Wiltshire horses to face right, clearly visible. On a really clear day one can see Wales from this point.
After lunch the group continued along the Wansdyke for quarter of a mile before dropping down from the ridge back towards Cliffords Hill (the Iron Age fort of Rybury) meeting the road at Cannings Cross Farm believed to be the furthest extent of Viking raids, and the site of the real Moonrakers Pond.
From here were more splendid views of the fine Wiltshire countryside including the Alton Barnes White Horse.
Following the path on towards All Cannings until meeting the canal the walkers turn right onto the drove road they started from, with a detour to visit the Long Barrow (Columbarium) built by local farmer Tim Daw in 2014 which has internal chambers with niches for cremated remains to be kept in urns.
It was then just a five minutes’ walk back to the car park after a wonderful walk and dairy tour.
Report by Mike Pearce
For more information about the Westbury Walkers please email paddy@westbury.walkers.uk@gmail.com
