Introduction to the Ridgeway
The Ridgeway National Trail runs for about 85 miles from Overton Hill (near Avebury, Wiltshire) to Ivinghoe Beacon (near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire). It passes over rolling, open down-land to the west of the River Thames, and through secluded valleys and woods in The Chilterns to the east, following the same route used since prehistoric times by travellers, herdsmen and soldiers.
In the Summer of 2006 Hil and Richard decided to walk the Ridgeway from start to finish. Richard's parents live in Aylesbury, so it made sense to walk from Overton and finish at Ivinghoe Beacon.
We decided to book our holiday with Freedom Holidays. They managed all the baggage for us, and booked our accommodation near the path. All we had to do in the morning was walk to the next B&B, our main baggage was transported for us. The only thing we had to carry was a day-sack.
The walk took us 6 days, and though the weather was not great, we had a fantastic time, and would recommend the walk to anyone.
Getting to Overton Hill
We caught the train from Hove to Swindon on Saturday morning. We managed to get 1½ hours spare in Reading, so enjoyed a couple of pints in the sun outside the station. Time enough for Richard to reflect on his Reading days.
From Swindon we got the bus to Avebury. We spent a while looking around the stones. There were a few interesting people there, dressed up after a day's festivities, enjoying a drink at the Red Lion PH (apparently one of Britain's most haunted). We phoned the B&B from the pub for a lift to our evening's accommodation.
The Old Forge B&B was excellent. Our room was in the roof space with sky lights, and the entire end gable was a huge window as well.
In the evening we walked (the long way… ok we got a bit lost!) to the Bell PH for some food; Richard - Chicken Tarragon. Hil - Fisherman's Platter. We had a bottle of wine with our food. It rained on the walk back, but we had our coats with us so we were OK.
Day 1: Sunday 30 July. Overton Hill to Bishopstone (18 miles)
We had a superb breakfast. The B&B owners were very friendly and interested in what we were doing. We set off from there at 9:30.
It rained quite hard in the night. The forecast was for a sunny morning, so we had our sun hats on with our rain coats in the day-sack. Today was our longest walk; what a way to start - 18 miles! Also, we had forgotten to take account of the fact the B&B is not on The Ridgeway itself. It was a half hour walk from there to The Sanctuary and the start of the path.
The weather was fine. It was cooler with a bit of a breeze, and cloud obscured the sun for most of the day. That sounds a bit grim, but in fact we were plenty warm enough, indeed, it could be considered perfect walking weather.
We arrived at Ogbourne St. George for lunch having walked 11 miles (9 miles of The Ridgeway). We found the pub 'The Inn With The Well' by 14:20, and they stopped serving food at 14:30. Richard - Ham Ploughman's, Hil - Mackerel Salad Roll. We had a pint of beer to go with it, and a pint of lemonade, and a re-fill of the water bottle.
So on we walked. We were aware we had a fair distance to cover today, so we did keep up a reasonable pace, and did not let ourselves get distracted by things to see on the path. This was a shame as several ancient monuments and hill forts went unexplored.
We crossed the busy M4 to Fox Hill and then up to Bishopstone. We left The Ridgeway and walked down the hill through the valley near Bishopstone Folly.
Sunday night's B&B at Prebendal Farm. We arrived at 6:30pm. Our host was very friendly and invited us to sit down for a drink of water before going up to the room. Our room, once again, was superb, and huge.
There were 2 pubs in the village. We do not know how there is demand for this. We tried the Royal Oak, but they did not serve food that evening, so we went to the True Heart PH instead. Richard - Jacket potato with chicken & mushroom, Hil - Jacket potato with tuna mayonnaise. We did order extra coleslaw, but we really did not need it. We were a little full after the meal, and the prospect of a full English breakfast the next morning did not much appeal.
Day 2: Monday 31 July. Bishopstone to Letcombe Regis (9 miles).
Another cooked breakfast this morning (so the previous evening's idea of not having full English didn't last), with 2 very chatty older ladies. We took up the offer of a packed lunch from here. This was very necessary as the path did not go near anywhere where we could eat all day.
We left the B&B at 10:00am. Once again it was sunny. From Bishopstone we went up the bridle-path and joined the Ridgeway where we had left it about 1 kilometre west of Ridgeway Farm.
We did spend some time trying to find a crop circle in the field opposite Wayland's Smithy. We had no luck so amused ourselves around the burial chamber instead. As today's walk was considerably shorter than yesterday's we were happy to explore things by the path.
As we walked away we passed a few crop circle junkies searching the area. From the Smithy we went up the hill to Uffington Castle. We did look around the castle, and could see the crop circle in the field we had been looking in. It was very windy at the top, so we did not stop there long.
Once we dropped down after Whitehorse Hill the wind was less noticeable, and we were butterfly spotting again.
Then it rained. It continued to rain for quite some time, and it was hard. We had our lunch standing up under a dripping tree. Our coats were fine, but the water ran down our legs and in to our boots. Summer is great in Britain.
Once it stopped raining, we did stop for a mid-afternoon snack in the sun, drying our clothes.
We were at the B&B (The Old Vicarage, Letcombe Regis) by 4:30. There was no shower here, so we both had a bath. The local pub (about 20 metres away) did not serve food on Monday, so our host took us and Tim (another Ridgeway walker) in to Wantage. We ate at The Lamb PH, a lovely old pub with modern parts and a good menu selection.
Tim (a musician from London) was good company for the evening, and the food was good as well. We chose to stay light with our menu choices tonight; we are trying desperately not to eat too much, and we were both hunting vegetables and flavour! Richard - rice & chilli, Hil - rice & vegetable curry.
After a quick look around the square, we got a taxi back to the B&B by 9:00pm. It was a bit windy, but the taxi driver reckoned the weather was going to be OK the next day. We decided we would listen to the forecast anyway.
Day 3: Tuesday 1 August. Letcombe Regis to Goring (16 miles)
We left the B&B at 9:00, a much better start time. We walked up the hill through Segsbury Castle to The Ridgeway (about 1½ miles). It was very windy today, and it felt quite a bit cooler, but at least it was dry. Our boots were still a little wet from the previous day's rain.
We felt we were beginning to get the hang of it now, and the walking is getting easier. We aim to walk about 2 hours before stopping for a break, and continue doing that throughout the day. At 11:00 we sat down on the grass, took our boots off and laid them out to dry in the sun.
At 1:00pm it was time to eat the packed lunch we had been supplied by the B&B. By this time, according to the map, we had passed two water points. We were relying on them to refill our bottle and we looked for both, but could find neither. We did find a water point (not marked on the map) where we had lunch [Compton Down 507824], but it had been disconnected. We were lucky it was not too hot today. We did intend to sit down for a while here, but the wind made it too cool to be still for long, and it was more comfortable walking than sitting.
There were less butterflies today, but we saw more birds, notably many swallows flying low over the wheat.
We got to Goring at about 4:00pm, and bought ourselves some water from one of the village shops. This is the first time we have walked through a village as part of the walk. We then had a pint at The Miller of Mansfield hotel before going to find our B&B. Melrose B&B was the smallest room we have had yet, but more than adequate for us.
In the evening we walked to the Catherine Wheel PH and met friends Dave and Sara for dinner. This was an excellent real ale pub with bizarre toilet arrangements (they were hidden). Richard - Mike's Mum's Chicken with boiled potatoes. Hil - Red Snapper with fish cake and chips. We had a few pints and were back in the B&B by 10:00pm. Richard laid on the bed and was instantly asleep (dressed and on the bed rather than in it).
Day 4: Wednesday 2 August. Goring to Watlington (14 miles)
Rose cooked us a huge breakfast including eggs from her own hens in the garden. The packed lunch she provided was the best yet as well, with tomatoes from the garden.
We were walking by 9:00. We followed the river Thames for a while, which made a refreshing change. There were loads of water birds including heron, Bewick Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Canada Geese (loads), ducks. We also saw some Red Kites.
Our guide was quite old (1989) and did not mention the Wallingford bypass where we turned away from the river. The path was well signed, so it was not a problem. We followed Grim's Ditch for a while, and began to climb the Chilterns.
We found a water point [660872]. This was not marked, and we didn't really need it, but drank from it and refilled the bottles anyway as it was there.
We stopped to eat our packed lunch just south of Nuffield. We are definitely eating well this week! From there, through the golf course, and as we had made such good time, we stopped for a pint at the Crown PH.
The way becomes more hilly as we enter the Chilterns. There are a lot more trees as well; beech, ash, elder. We also saw a lot more Red Kites. We counted 8 in the sky at one point.
We arrived at the Carriers PH in Watlington at 4:30 and had a pint before phoning the B&B for a lift to The Cornerstones B&B in Chalgrove.
The B&B room was a bit cramped for the two of us, so we showered and left for the village soon after arriving. The B&B could not supply packed lunches either, so we decided to buy some rolls and things from the village shop to make our own.
We then went to The Red Lion PH for our evening meal. Richard - lamb, potato & vegetables. Hil - roast vegetable salad and coffee. We had a fair amount of wine that evening, it definitely helps!
We were looking forward to Richard's mum joining us the next day. She intended to walk with us as far as Princes Risborough at least. We intended to get as far as Wendover Station and then get the train back to Aylesbury. That would leave us quite a short walk for our final day.
Day 5: Thursday 3 August. Watlington to Wendover (17 miles)
Richard's parents collected us from the B&B at 9:00, and delivered us to our start point at Watlington. The two of us and Mum were walking by 9:30, while Dad took the car home.
It was quite a different walk as Mum enthusiastically pointed out every flower along the way. The scenery is now changing as we entered the beech forests that are so prevalent in this area. We are now noticeably closer to civilisation all the time. We could see the pits at Chinnor, and passed close to many gardens and through some golf courses.
The weather was a bit grim today. It was windy and damp, and a bit cold. We would not have wanted to walk without our coats.
As we passed to the south of Princes Risborough, Mum decided she would walk all the way to Wendover with us, so we kept on walking up the hill towards White Leaf Cross.
This section of the walk was really interesting. There was a lot of ups and downs as we went from White Leaf Cross to Chequers and then up to the monument on top of Coombe Hill in a very short space of time. We saw many huge snails. We looked them up in a book that evening and thought they may have been Chalk Hill snails.
As we climbed Coombe Hill there were a lot of butterflies; they were the same shape and size as Chalk Hill blues, but not the same colour. During the afternoon it brightened up considerably, and we felt able to take our coats off. The view from the monument was excellent.
From Coombe Hill we went down Baccombe Hill and were met by Dad by the road. We were then driven back to Aylesbury for our evening meal. The weather was good enough for a barbecue by then, so we had beef steak (tuna steak for Hil) with loads of vegetables from the garden.
The next day's forecast was a lot better, so we fell asleep hoping!
Day 6: Friday 4 August. Wendover to Ivinghoe Beacon (12 miles)
We were dropped off at Wendover so we could resume our walk where we left off the previous day. We were walking down Wendover High Street by 9:30. There must have been half a dozen places to stay there, but I think we had a better deal at Aylesbury! As we walked we could see many nice houses and gardens.
The wooded path was very shaded. We did meet someone walking the other way with his dog. He was camping, and hoped to do the path in 4 days at 20 miles per day (he started at Wiggington, so had missed the initial 5 miles or so). We wished each other well before going our separate ways.
The path had been moved since the guide was written, and now passed through Tring park. It was well sign posted here, and was probably a more pleasant walk than the one outlined in our guide.
We had lunch by the Grand Union Canal in Tring, and then were hoping for a drink in the hotel near the station, but it has been converted to flats. We kept walking.
There were a lot of ups and downs in the last bit, and we got to the trig point on Ivinhoe Beacon at 2:30pm.The arrival was a bit of an anti-climax somehow. There was no sign to say "The Ridgeway ends here" as there was at Overton. We felt a sign would be a useful thing to have here. Only we knew we had done it.
Mum & Dad arrived there about 10 minutes later with strawberries and champagne for us all. An excellent way to end the walk.
Returning Home
We stayed in Aylesbury for a couple of nights and then went home on the train via London on Sunday morning. We could see the Chilterns and the monument on Coombe Hill from the train. It was quite pleasing to see it from such a different perspective amongst all the people on the carriage, knowing we had walked it only a few days ago.
We stopped in Victoria for lunch at a pub just near the station. For a healthy holiday, we seem to have spent a great deal of our time eating. It will be interesting weighing ourselves once we are home. There is a passage written on the pub window: "Food is an important part of a balanced diet" Fran Lebowitz.
The Ridgeway walk was 85 miles. We actually walked 93 miles, which includes walking to and from B&Bs and so on. According to Hil's pedometer we took 193,000 steps during the walk. This is an estimate as she lost it on Day 5. We borrowed Mum's on Day 6.
We were altogether pleased by the planning and booking arranged for us by Freedom Holidays for this our first long distance walk.
Things to remember
Do not rely on the water points being present or working according to the map.
Use packed lunch wherever possible. It's far easier to stop when you are ready to eat. Some B&Bs do not provide this service (the only one that could not provide this for us was Corner Stones, Chalgrove), so carry a sharp knife / etc to make your own!
We needed to carry rain coats every day, and they were necessary, if not against the rain then the wind. Then again, this was summer, so we did use some sun protection as well. Parts of the path are quite exposed, especially in the west.