It was a grey, drizzly morning on Saturday 15th May. Nine of us were busy putting on waterproofs at Bedwyn railway station, anticipating a rather wet walk. As it turned out, the rain never got heavy and it cleared up by lunchtime, so the waterproofs weren't really put to the test.
We started by walking through Great Bedwyn, passing thatched cottages and then more modern houses as we reached the outskirt of the village. Crossing a field, we entered Chisbury Wood. Exiting the wood, we crossed a field and followed Chisbury Lane to Bedwyn Common, which is also mixed woodland.
Mixed woodland is a recurring feature of this walk. Leaving Bedwyn Common, we crossed a road and a field before entering Birch Copse and the Savernake Forest. We zig-zagged through Birch Copse, following forest tracks, crossing the course of a Roman road, and crossing Grand Avenue before finding a good spot for our picnic lunch - a collection of dismembered tree trunks to sit on.
After lunch, we joined Grand Avenue and followed it to the centre of the forest, where eight paths converge. We turned left and followed Sawpit Drive, turning off, just before it reached the A346 road. A couple more turns and a long straight leg took us to the Ailesbury Column on Three Oak Hill.
This ionic column was erected in 1789 by Thomas Bruce, Earl of Ailesbury. There is a long avenue between it and Tottenham House called Column Ride, but this on private land and is not a public footpath. We briefly followed Three Oak Hill Drive and then took a footpath that ran parallel to Column Ride to get to Tottenham Park.
Crossing Tottenham Park, we got to see the Ailsebury Column from the other end of Column Ride. Leaving Tottenham Park, we reached St Katharine's Church and War Memorial. We stopped here and had a look at this relatively large and ornate church that serves such a small parish. Ian, the leader of our walk, explained that this church had been damaged during the second world war by an explosion in a nearby ammunition store.
Leaving the church, we were back in Bedwyn Common again. Following a path through Stock Common, we joined Hatchet Lane, a track that took us to the southern tip of Great Bedwyn. Taking the road back into the village, we stopped in the centre. Those who had arrived by train (more than half of the group) decided to visit a local pub while waiting for the next train home.
Although advertised as a 10 mile walk, we'd covered about 12.5 miles, but our leader is Australian, and more used to kilometres than miles. None of us minded the extra exercise. See our route on Google Maps.
Thank you to Ian for leading this walk.
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