Part 3: Salisbury Plain
Tilshead to Chirton Unless you want to pop into the pub or grab a vending machine coffee or other supplies from the petrol station, you actually skirt round the edge of Tilshead. More barrows and earthworks dot the landscape as you head north up a wide-open valley along the Imber Range Perimeter Path just east of the tree-lined A360. Again, this section can get really gloopy after prolonged bad weather, but while you could shift across onto the road to get more speed, be aware that it is the north-south link across the Plain and likely to be busy.
butterflies. If you pause and look straight ahead before you drop down though, you can see Alton Barnes White Horse on the hillside to the north. We’ve stopped this section here as it’s an obvious geographical break, but also because West Lavington, Market Lavington and Urchfont have good shops and facilities for refuelling or an overnight stop before the climb up and over to Avebury.
Whichever way you get there, you’ll be glad you’re onto a faster footing as you turn onto old military roads at Gore Cross Farm and climb up White Horse Trail onto the spine of the Wessex Ridgeway. From here, the track is gravelly tank road but you’ve got fantastic views over the Vale of Pewsey to the north with West Lavington and Market Lavington villages at your feet and Devizes in the distance. Look right and the Plain scrolls away over the Black Heath artillery ranges and impact bunker sites towards Stonehenge where you started this section. Keep your eyes peeled for the singletrack off the ridge and then hang on as it fires you down a deeply rutted chute towards Chirton. Take particular care in summer as it’s likely to be heavily overgrown and the wildflower banks mean the trail is often frequented by sunbathing 45
