{"id":"69847964533dbb4b73118aba","title":"Walk 127 Avebury And The Ridgeway","path":"walks/scrapbook/by-year/2014/volume-10-oct-to-dec-2014/walk-127-avebury-and-the-ridgeway","contentMarkdown":"# 🥾 Walk 127 - Avebury and the Ridgeway\n\nSunday 12th October started off misty and remained overcast for the day, but that didn't stop fifteen people turning up for this joint walk with the Berkshire Walkers 20s & 30s group, in and around Avebury in Wiltshire.\n\nWe set off along The Ridgeway, an 87 mile National Trail that starts at Overton Hill, where we were parked, and eventually ends at Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. We did the first two miles before diverting to the east and into Fyfield Down nature reserve.\n\n![Starting our walk along The Ridgeway at Overton.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume10/images/the_ridgeway_overton.jpg)\n\nA curved route through the nature reserve took us along sections of the Wessex Ridgeway and the White Horse Trail before returning us to The Ridgeway, about a mile north of where we'd left it.\n\nNext we descended Monkton Down, heading south-west through farmland and onto the Wessex Ridgeway again, which we followed for about half a mile into the village of Avebury. We stopped for our picnic lunch on the outskirts of the village, by the outer ring of standing stones.\n\n![Making our way through Fyfield Down national nature reserve.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume10/images/fyfield_down.jpg)\n\nOnce we'd finished our lunch we walked into the centre of the village. A few of us stopped for a pint at the Red Lion pub while the rest went to the National Trust Café for coffee, tea and cake.\n\nRefreshed, we took a tour round the standing stones before leaving the village on the White Horse Trail, heading south, following the River Kennet. This took us close to Silbury Hill and over the A4 (the same road that goes through Reading) where we took a detour up to West Kennet Long Barrow.\n\n![Descending Monkton Down, heading toward the Wessex Ridgeway and Avebury.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume10/images/monkton_down.jpg)\n\nAfter a quick look at the information board, some of us went inside the barrow for a look around. It consists of several chambers off a central isle, with just enough room to stand up, if you're not too tall. The view from on top of the barrow was also quite impressive.\n\nWe re-joined the White Horse Trail, roughly following the River Kennet eastwards. We passed nearby West Kennet Farm and East Kennet village, along some particularly muddy paths, before heading north to The Sanctuary.\n\n![A view of Silbury Hill from West Kennet. The A4 road can be seen passing in front.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume10/images/silbury_hill.jpg)\n\nThis is a site where once was a large wooden henge, made of two concentric rings of pillars, their tops bridged by wooden cross-pieces. Nothing original remains, but there are markers to indicate where the pillars had been, and an information board with an artists impression of how it might have looked. After a quick look, we crossed the A4 to the Overton Hill car park where we had started the walk. See our route on Bing Maps.\n\nThis 11 mile walk was a slightly shortened version of the 14½ mile walk that Sue led for us here in June. This version missed out the detour to the white horse hill figure carved into the side of Hackpen Hill. (See our scrapbook entry for that walk.)\n\n![Looking at the entrance to West Kennet Long Barrow.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume10/images/west_kennet_long_barrow.jpg)\n\n## 📸 Back to Volume 10\n\nReturn to volume index","contentHtml":"<h1>🥾 Walk 127 - Avebury and the Ridgeway</h1>\n<p>Sunday 12th October started off misty and remained overcast for the day, but that didn&#39;t stop fifteen people turning up for this joint walk with the Berkshire Walkers 20s &amp; 30s group, in and around Avebury in Wiltshire.</p>\n<p>We set off along The Ridgeway, an 87 mile National Trail that starts at Overton Hill, where we were parked, and eventually ends at Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. We did the first two miles before diverting to the east and into Fyfield Down nature reserve.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume10/images/the_ridgeway_overton.jpg\" alt=\"Starting our walk along The Ridgeway at Overton.\"></p>\n<p>A curved route through the nature reserve took us along sections of the Wessex Ridgeway and the White Horse Trail before returning us to The Ridgeway, about a mile north of where we&#39;d left it.</p>\n<p>Next we descended Monkton Down, heading south-west through farmland and onto the Wessex Ridgeway again, which we followed for about half a mile into the village of Avebury. We stopped for our picnic lunch on the outskirts of the village, by the outer ring of standing stones.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume10/images/fyfield_down.jpg\" alt=\"Making our way through Fyfield Down national nature reserve.\"></p>\n<p>Once we&#39;d finished our lunch we walked into the centre of the village. A few of us stopped for a pint at the Red Lion pub while the rest went to the National Trust Café for coffee, tea and cake.</p>\n<p>Refreshed, we took a tour round the standing stones before leaving the village on the White Horse Trail, heading south, following the River Kennet. This took us close to Silbury Hill and over the A4 (the same road that goes through Reading) where we took a detour up to West Kennet Long Barrow.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume10/images/monkton_down.jpg\" alt=\"Descending Monkton Down, heading toward the Wessex Ridgeway and Avebury.\"></p>\n<p>After a quick look at the information board, some of us went inside the barrow for a look around. It consists of several chambers off a central isle, with just enough room to stand up, if you&#39;re not too tall. The view from on top of the barrow was also quite impressive.</p>\n<p>We re-joined the White Horse Trail, roughly following the River Kennet eastwards. We passed nearby West Kennet Farm and East Kennet village, along some particularly muddy paths, before heading north to The Sanctuary.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume10/images/silbury_hill.jpg\" alt=\"A view of Silbury Hill from West Kennet. The A4 road can be seen passing in front.\"></p>\n<p>This is a site where once was a large wooden henge, made of two concentric rings of pillars, their tops bridged by wooden cross-pieces. Nothing original remains, but there are markers to indicate where the pillars had been, and an information board with an artists impression of how it might have looked. After a quick look, we crossed the A4 to the Overton Hill car park where we had started the walk. See our route on Bing Maps.</p>\n<p>This 11 mile walk was a slightly shortened version of the 14½ mile walk that Sue led for us here in June. This version missed out the detour to the white horse hill figure carved into the side of Hackpen Hill. (See our scrapbook entry for that walk.)</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume10/images/west_kennet_long_barrow.jpg\" alt=\"Looking at the entrance to West Kennet Long Barrow.\"></p>\n<h2>📸 Back to Volume 10</h2>\n<p>Return to volume index</p>\n"}