15 MEMBERS of the Westbury Walkers set out on an eight-mile walk, led by Philip Lock and John Parker, on Sunday 12th February which took them from Derry Hill around the edge of Bowood Park and back through the beautifully landscaped parkland created by Capability Brown.
The walkers headed across fields to the village of Studley and from there down a quiet country lane to the valley below where they joined the disused railway track, now a walking and cycle track, which runs from Chippenham to Calne.
This wooded track took the walkers across a footbridge over the A4 through the former station of Black Dog Halt and on to water meadows on the outskirts of Calne. Here it was decided to divert the walk through a housing estate to avoid getting caught up with a 10k run for 200 runners about to start from Calne.
A pathway took them up to a track which led into farmland belonging to the Bowood Estate. Following a path uphill across the fields, far reaching views could be enjoyed across to Cherhill Down with its White Horse and the Lansdowne monument. At the top of the hill the path joined a farm driveway leading down to a private road running through the estate passing through woodland and rich agricultural land.
On arrival at a bridge the walkers turned right through a kissing gate onto a path along the edge of a pond which provided a restful lunch stop. From here the path led across a bridge into the heart of the estate alongside Bowood Lake with views of the impressive Bowood House, ancestral home of the Lansdowne family and home to a large flock of geese.
The path then headed uphill to meadowland eventually joining a roadway alongside the Bowood Golf Course. The walkers followed this private road for a short distance, then veering off into woodland and finally onto a path alongside the golf course leading to a gateway out of the estate and back to Derry Hill.
For more information email: westbury.walkers .uk@gmail.com
Report by John Parker
