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    The Ridgeway National Trail: Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon described in both directions
    The Ridgeway National Trail: Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon described in both directions
    The Ridgeway National Trail: Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon described in both directions
    Ebook379 pages2 hours

    The Ridgeway National Trail: Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon described in both directions

    By Steve Davison

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    About this ebook

    A guidebook to walking the Ridgeway National Trail between Avebury in Wiltshire and Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. Covering 139km (87 miles), this mostly low-level route is suitable for all abilities and takes 6 to 9 days to hike.

    The route is described in both directions and in 12 stages, ranging from 8 to 16 km (5–10 miles) in length. Detours and diversions are included to historic and archaeological sites close to the Trail.

    • Contains step-by-step description of the route alongside 1:50,000 OS maps
    • Includes a separate map booklet containing OS 1:25,000 mapping and route line
    • Handy route summary table and trek planner help you plan your itinerary
    • Packed with historical information, as well as detail maps showing nearby historic and archaeological sites
    • Details of refreshments, accommodation and public transport given for each route stage
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCicerone Press
    Release dateJan 10, 2024
    ISBN9781783624140
    The Ridgeway National Trail: Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon described in both directions
    Author

    Steve Davison

    Steve Davison is a writer and photographer who has written a number of books, including eight guidebooks published by Cicerone. He has also written articles for a range of outdoor magazines and other publications. A keen hill walker for most of his life, with interests in nature, geology and the countryside, Steve is a qualified Mountain Leader and has also previously worked as a part time outdoor education instructor. He has been a member of the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild for a number of years. Find out more about him at www.steve-davison.co.uk.

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      Book preview

      The Ridgeway National Trail - Steve Davison

      ROUTE SUMMARY TABLE

      The Ridgeway follows the broad grassy outline of Smeathe’s Ridge down towards Ogbourne St George (W–E Stage 1; E–W Stage 12)

      INTRODUCTION

      Walking the Ridgeway National Trail takes you on a journey through a landscape steeped in history, following old trackways that have been used since prehistoric times past the remains of Neolithic burial mounds and Iron Age hill forts with commanding views. On the way there are plenty of distractions just off the route, from picturesque towns and villages with thatched cottages and cosy pubs, to historic churches and interesting museums.

      The Ridgeway has been here for thousands of years, so take your time and enjoy the journey. Rest a while and listen: high above the skylarks sing, far off a church bell rings, the wind rustles through the trees, sweeping views stretch out over the rounded chalk hills with wide open skies. Imagine the travellers that have been this way before, where were they going and why. Whether you do one continuous walk, or prefer to spread the pleasure over weeks or years, you’ll never forget your journey along the Ridgeway.

      As for describing the Ridgeway, maybe that is best left to local naturalist Richard Jefferies in his book Wildlife in a Southern County (1879):

      A broad green track runs for many a long, long mile across the downs, now following the ridges, now winding past at the foot of a grassy slope, then stretching away through a cornfield and fallow. It is distinct from the wagon-tracks which cross it here and there, for these are local only, and, if traced up, land the wayfarer presently in a maze of fields, or end abruptly in the rickyard of a lone farmhouse. It is distinct from the hard roads of modern construction which also at wide intervals cross its course, dusty and glaringly white in the sunshine…it runs like a green ribbon…

      Plants and wildlife

      The Ridgeway meanders through a patchwork of open chalk grassland, broadleaved woodland and farmland. Below the downs, chalk streams flow from the spring-line, which forms along the boundary between the upper porous chalk and a lower impervious layer of clay, which results in water that has seeped through the porous layer being forced to the surface. Chalk streams support a diversity of plant and animal life: some of these streams, known as winterbournes, are seasonal and only appear during the wetter winter months. The richly wooded character of the Chiltern Hills distinguishes them from other, commonly more open, chalk landscapes such as the Marlborough and Berkshire Downs. Many of these woodlands are known as ancient woodlands, having been continuously wooded since at least 1600. These areas tend to support a greater number of species and their character often closely reflects the underlying soil conditions, producing a wide range of woodland types and wildlife habitats.

      (clockwise from top left): British Bluebell (hyacinthoides non-scripta); Cowslip (primula veris); Clustered Bellflower (campanula glomerata); Common Spotted Orchid (dactylorhiza fuchsii)

      You should have plenty of opportunities for catching glimpses of local wildlife, from foxes to roe and fallow deer or the much smaller muntjac: you may even catch sight of the elusive badger as dusk approaches, or an edible dormouse around Tring Park. Alongside the River Thames you may see the vivid turquoise-blue and orange flash of a kingfisher as it darts along the river, while the ever-present ducks and mute swans will keep you company.

      Red Kite (milvus milvus) above Lewknor

      In the ancient broadleaved beech and oak woodlands you may hear the drumming knock of the great spotted woodpecker declaring its territory, or the raucous call of a jay, while in late spring and early summer many of the woods are carpeted with vivid bluebells. The open chalk grasslands support a myriad of butterflies, plants including gentians and orchids, as well as traditional farmland birds such as the colourful pheasant and yellowhammer or flocks of redwing and fieldfare feeding on autumn berries. High above you might see the majestic silhouette of a buzzard or hear the high-pitched whistling call – ‘weeoo-wee-weewee’ – of a red kite: buzzards have broader wings and a rounded tail, red kites have a distinctive forked tail and chestnut-red plumage. Red kites were successfully re-introduced between 1989 and 1994 and their numbers have steadily increased: you’d be unlucky not to see one, especially along the eastern half of the Ridgeway.

      Small Heath Butterfly (coenonympha pamphilus)

      Geology

      The geology of the Ridgeway and surrounding area tells the story of the seas that once covered southern England and the sediments that were laid down between 105 and 65 million years ago. It is perhaps easiest to think of the geological structure as a multi-layered ‘cake’. At the base are the oldest rocks – the Gault Clays and Upper Greensand – which date from the Lower Cretaceous (145–99 million years ago). Next is a thick (220m) layer of Upper Cretaceous chalk (99–65 million years ago), mainly composed of the tiny fossil skeletons of a type of algae called coccoliths. Finally at the top are the more recent layers, such as the Reading Beds, London Clay and Bagshot Sands.

      During the Palaeogene period (65–23 million years ago) the collision of the European and African continental plates – an event that formed the Alps – caused the ‘cake’ to ripple, with a gentle tilt to the southeast. More recently, erosive forces have cut through the layers to reveal the underlying geology.

      The exposed upper edge of the chalk layer forms a prominent ridge with a steep north-facing scarp slope along the edge of the Marlborough and Berkshire Downs to the River Thames at Goring, and then continues along the Chilterns. To the north lie the wide, flat plains of the Vale of White Horse and the Vale of Aylesbury. This layer of chalk passes south under the Kennet Valley and reappears to form the North Hampshire Downs, as well as the Purbeck Hills in Dorset and the North and South Downs, which include the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent.

      The Manger below Whitehorse Hill – a great example of a coombe or dry valley (W–E Stage 3; E–W Stage 10)

      Associated with the chalk are irregular silica concretions, known as flints, which also occur in profusion in the jumbled deposits of weathered chalk known as ‘clay-with-flints’. Being a very hard-wearing rock, flint has been widely used as a building material and is a characteristic of the region: when struck, flint breaks with a shell-shaped fracture, leaving very sharp edges, and Stone Age man used flints to make hand axes and arrowheads.

      A natural process of patchy and irregular hardening within the sandy beds produces boulders of tough sandstone, which appear on the surface when the softer sands are eroded. These are the famous sarsens, known locally as Grey Wethers – from a distance they are said to resemble sheep (a ‘wether’ is a castrated ram). Sarsens were used in the construction of the stone circle at Avebury and the Neolithic long barrows at West Kennet and Wayland’s Smithy, and can be seen lying in the fields at Fyfield Down National Nature Reserve and around Ashdown House.

      More recently, glaciation has played its part, despite the fact that the ice sheet never extended south of the line of the River Thames. The deep, sinuous dry valleys, or coombes, that can be seen along the chalk scarp, such as The Manger at Whitehorse Hill and Incombe Hole near Ivinghoe Beacon, were carved by rivers during the last Ice Age when the usually porous ground was frozen. Another dramatic feature was the creation of the Goring Gap and the diversion of the Thames southwards to flow past Reading: originally the river flowed through the Vale of St Albans, past Watford and Hertford. The gap was created when a large glacial lake, which formed over the Oxford area, eroded a line of weakness in the chalk.

      History

      The Ridgeway, often called ‘Britain's oldest road’, offers a fascinating history stretching back thousands of years.

      The earliest inhabitants of the area were nomadic hunter-gatherers, who travelled through the wooded landscape over 10,000 years ago, shortly after the end of the last ice age. However, by the Neolithic period (4200–2200BC) a farming lifestyle was developing, permanent camps were being constructed, and areas of land cleared for crops and animals. These Neolithic ancestors left behind a number of impressive sites including Avebury henge, Silbury Hill, and long barrows (or burial mounds) such as Wayland’s Smithy and one at Whiteleaf Hill.

      This was also the time of the prehistoric ‘highway’ that allowed people to move through the heavily wooded countryside on a route stretching from Dorset and Wiltshire to Norfolk. Some of these ancient trackways, which were later used by invading Saxons, and later still by drovers driving animals to market, now form the Ridgeway National Trail.

      The Bronze Age (2200–750BC) saw further developments at Avebury, as well as the building of numerous characteristic round barrows (tumuli). It was during this period, some 3000 years ago, that the stylised galloping outline of the Uffington White Horse was carved into the chalk. Later, during the Iron Age (750BC–AD43), defensive hill forts such as Liddington Castle and Barbury Castle were built; Ivinghoe Beacon was also crowned with an Iron Age fort, though the remains are less easy to see.

      The Romans left little or no visible evidence along the route, although the remains of a Roman temple were found at Lowbury Hill; they preferred the areas below the chalk ridges where a number villa sites have been identified.

      The demise of the Roman Empire in Britain around AD410 heralded Saxon invasions and some have suggested that Barbury Castle was the site of the Battle of Beranburgh (Beran Byrig) in AD556 when the Saxons, led by Cynric and his son Ceawlin, defeated the Britons.

      During the ninth century Danes were invading parts of England, and in AD871 Alfred the Great, who was born at Wantage, defeated the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown in Berkshire (‘Ashdown’ was the ancient name for the whole expanse of the Berkshire Downs). He later became King of Wessex and Overlord of England, funded church schools, brought in a code of laws and developed his capital at Winchester, where he is buried.

      The Norman period, following the Battle of Hastings in 1066, was the time of the Domesday Book, motte and bailey castles, and monasteries and churches characterised by Romanesque rounded arches over windows and doorways. Many of the churches close to the Ridgeway have their roots in the Norman period.

      Sundial on the side of the Church of St Mary the Virgin in North Stoke (W–E Stage 6; E–W Stage 7)

      Prosperity and growth in the late 12th and the 13th centuries led to the gradual expansion of towns and villages. In the Chilterns, the abundant supply of wood helped the furniture industry to flourish and there were at one time many local bodgers making chair legs and spindles, using nothing more sophisticated than a simple pole lathe and a chisel. In the 18th and 19th centuries, transport improved with the opening of canals, quickly followed by the arrival of the railways. More recently, major transport connections, such as the opening of the M4 and M40, have impacted on the Ridgeway and allowed towns and villages to continue to grow.

      However, all is not lost: the Ridgeway National Trail lies within two designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB): the North Wessex Downs and The Chilterns, and this, along with the efforts of the Friends of the Ridgeway, the Chiltern Society and the newly formed Ridgeway Partnership, should help to preserve this special area for future generations.

      Scenery

      The Ridgeway, which takes a meandering south-west to north-east route along the crest of a chalk ridge, consists of two main parts.

      The western half, from Avebury to the little village of Streatley, travels along the northern edge of the North Wessex Downs AONB – an undulating, and for Southern England, fairly remote area of chalk downland – passing a number of impressive prehistoric sites including the Uffington White Horse, Wayland’s Smithy and several Iron Age hill forts. From the high points there are wide open vistas stretching out across the surrounding downland, with the flat expanse of the Vale of White Horse to the north. This is a landscape of sheep grazing, dotted with the occasional horse gallop; the springy turf that covers the chalk hills is ideal for horse training.

      After dipping down to cross the River Thames, the eastern half travels through the Chilterns AONB, a much more intimate, wooded landscape overlying the chalk hills, along the way there are some great viewpoints such as Whiteleaf Hill and Coombe Hill, looking out over the Vale of Aylesbury. As it travels through the Chilterns, the Ridgeway passes much closer to towns and villages, passing through

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