andrew swift – oct - 1.5 pages.qxp_Layout 1 25/09/2020 14:19 Page 1
THE | WALK
Nature escapes
For October’s walk, Andrew Swift guides us from Bath to the plateau east of the Avon valley, a little-known corner of Wiltshire, with green lanes, ancient villages and, on a clear day, distant views of the high downs ringing the horizon The climb out of the Avon valley leads through the back lanes of Bathford, past abandoned quarries, to a Victorian folly on the edge of the escarpment, while the return leg follows a muddy bridleway which was once part of the Old Bath Road. You can either start the walk in Bath or – to cut five and a half miles off the distance – in Bathford. If starting in Bath, head to Sydney Gardens, go through the gate to the canal, turn left through a tunnel and carry on along the towpath for 2000m. After passing the George Inn at Bathampton, continue under a bridge and after another 150m, when you come to a gate by a house, head over to the lane on the left and carry on in the same direction (ST779665). At the end, go through a kissing gate (KG) – if the light is green – and cross the railway line. Go through a KG on the other side, head down steps and through another KG to follow a track across a field towards a pylon. High in the woods ahead, you will see a tower. This is Brown’s Folly, which you will soon be getting a much closer view of. Just past the pylon, go through a KG, follow a path up the embankment and carry on across the railway bridge. At the road, cross and turn right, following the pavement
across a footbridge. Cross the road and go up Ostlings Lane to the right of the Crown Inn (ST787669). At the top, with St Swithun’s church ahead, turn left to walk along Church Street, lined with 17th and 18th century buildings. Facing you at the end, behind a high wall, is Rock House, built around 1723. Turn right and head up to the right of the Village Shop and Café. Carry on up a footpath, cross a road and continue up Dovers Lane, which may date from Roman times. After passing Chapel Lane and the Baptist schoolroom, as the lane dwindles to a track, take time to survey the superb views behind you. The cottages hereabout were built for the men who worked in the quarries higher up. When you come to a lane, carry straight on uphill using the rough track on the left. After 300m, just past a car park, turn right through a KG to follow a footpath into the woods (ST797663). The path forks immediately, but keep straight on with the fence on your left. These woods are riddled with quarries, many of them underground. After 400m, you emerge on the edge of the escarpment with stunning views over the Limpley Stoke valley. Bear left to follow a
The avenue at Monkton Farleigh
62heBATHMagazine
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october 2020
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issue 214
FACT FILE n Distance: From Bath 11.5 miles; from Bathford 6 miles. n Level of challenge: Some rough and muddy paths, and a steep ascent and descent; five stiles. n Map: OS Explorer 155 & 156.
rough path along the escarpment and after 175m you come to Brown’s Folly, commissioned in 1848 by Wade Browne to provide work for local quarrymen laid off due to lack of orders. As you continue along the escarpment, trees hide the view but there are some spectacular excavations (if you have a dog, you may want to put it on a lead at this point). After 225m, when you come to an information board, turn left to follow a footpath between moss-covered walls leading from Somerset into Wiltshire. Go through a gate (ST795658) and carry on along a strip of greensward. Deep underground lies a labyrinth of underground quarries, covering over 100 acres. After quarrying ended in the 1930s, the tunnels were used by the War Office as a vast ammunition dump. When you come to a lane, turn right and after 50m turn left along a footpath. If it is clear, you should be able to make out, 11 miles to the south, the Westbury White Horse. The industrial buildings on your left, as you pass through a handgate, stand on the site of Sheep Drove Quarry, where a vertical shaft drops down to tunnels far below. At the end of the track, cross a stile onto a lane, and carry straight on across another stile to follow a path past a conduit which supplied water to a nearby Cluniac priory. After crossing a stile at the end (ST805657), carry on past Home Farm and bear right along a lane. At a T-junction, bear left past a lodge with an ornamental chimney. Carry on through Monkton Farleigh, past old stone cottages and a house with a shell porch and a 1736 datestone. The church, a little further on, has a 12th-century doorway and a 13th-century tower, although the rest of it was rebuilt in 1844. After another 100m, turn left, following a signpost to Kingsdown. After 300m, when you come to a bench, look up to the left to
