Many years ago, I would often find myself of a weekend at Paddington Station waiting for a train to whisk me off to some location to the west of The Smoke. An escape from the hustle and grime of the city to the quietness of the West Country. A chance to rejuvenate in the rich, honeyed, tranquil and soporific air and enjoy the company of friends. On some occasions the line would take me towards Taunton, and a stopping point on the way was the pretty village of Pewsey. I remember the village fascinated me with its white horse, local Hillforts, old cottages and a sense of history that was almost palpable. I thought that one day I would visit this little place and that notion had stayed with me, but even though the pull to the west finally got the better of me and I did eventually move to Wiltshire, I still found myself passing through or by Pewsey rather than stopping. However, I am pleased to say I did finally visit this lovely village on a mid September afternoon right in the middle of the festivities of the Pewsey Carnival and I can say that although I found a few surprises I thought the village was lovely and a great place to start a walk around part of the beautiful Pewsey Vale.
For this trip we parked the car in the car park near the recreation ground and walking down hill towards the village we soon found ourselves in its centre. This is where we noticed that we were not alone, indeed the whole of Hogwarts seemed to have lined the riverside and were watching us intently as we passed by, the famous castle perched on the bridge in the background. They looked fantastic in the afternoon sunlight but looked even more spooky later in the evening when the purple lighting reflected off them. Not wishing to linger in case he who should not be named noticed us, we moved quickly away.
On from the wizards we came to the centre of the village which is the end (or maybe the start?) of the Pewsey and Avon Trail. Here we found the statue of King Alfred and the first of my surprises. Apparently, the statue was only erected in 1913 in order to commemorate the coronation of King George V. So it’s there to commemorate a different king stating that George V would grandly follow in Alfred’s footsteps.
The second surprise was that the Pewsey Carnival, although the oldest in Wiltshire had not been going since Alfred’s time. It was established in 1898 based on a legend that King Alfred had granted the village the right to an annual feast after his victory in battle. So again the history of the place that I had felt so keenly when passing through seemed less tangible now I was actually in the village. That said, there is evidence of a nearby 6th century settlement and several of the houses date back to Tudor times including the magnificent Court House, which was one of the houses that we passed on the Pewsey Avon Trail.
On past the Court House, we visited the church of St John the Baptist. Built from flint and sarsen stone it is a lovely building dating in part from the late 12th century with later additions and changes. It has a lovely interior with beautiful stained glass windows and lots of interesting details. For our visit a large plastic filled whale adorned a table and a small alcove appeared to be acting as a shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham. Obviously, this is an active church for all in the community. Another curiosity was the memorials attached to the walls. These were predominately to the Hooper family. A family evidently of high esteem in the village. Their memorials begin with, “There lies the remains of” and yet we don’t have a clue where “there” is. It is possible that other memorials state this and I haven’t noticed it before but I found it quite a curiosity.
On from the church we continued on the Pewsey Avon Trail and out into more open countryside heading towards Sharcott and Manningford Abbots. Here we met more walkers than we have encountered for quite some time when out walking. Seventeen in total but they all thanked us nicely as we stood waiting for them to pass in a long procession.
As with the Pewsey Avon Trail at Salisbury, we found that we were following the course of the river but it was hidden from us in trees on private land. However, the views of the fertile vale and hills beyond were lovely, and the quiet roads through the villages delightful with their thatched cottages and just the hint of the arrival of autumn in the trees. Just before Manningford Abbots we crossed the Avon and noticed a very old sign prohibiting the deposition of rubbish, etc. in the river, apparently by order of the Avon and Stour Catchment Board which according to the archive existed until 1950. So definitely from an earlier time.
Walking on a little way we noticed a crackling noise which we realised was coming from the overhead power cables. Apparently, this is a phenomenon that can occur in wet conditions or after long dry spells. I was not sure what conditions had triggered the crackling this time, but I was glad to move away from them.
Moving on from the pylons, we entered a field and headed towards the church. A curious small building which seemed to hide from view. To our left a half hidden thatched cottage sat nestled in beautiful trees. Perhaps it was the charged air from the electricity cables or something more elemental from the nearby river and tributaries but I developed a sensation of slight unease as though I was being watched from the hidden vantage points. I couldn’t put my finger on the reason for this sensation as the location was apparently beautiful and peaceful. Perhaps it was the returning palpable feeling of history that I had experienced years ago at Pewsey station? Maybe so, as it is quite possible that Alfred and his brothers had walked on and perhaps owned this land.
Continuing on, the church came into view, and the strange feeling heighten. However, a particular multiple grave intrigued me as its memorial was almost glowing in the sunlight. It was the grave of the New family the wife bearing the unusual name of Huldah. Initially, I thought this name could be a different spelling of Hilda, but in fact Huldah was the name of a biblical prophetess of considerable power and knowledge. It is thought her words and guidance authorised part of the core scripture for Judaism and Christianity. So, remarkably for these religions, it seems God in this instance chose to speak through a woman. I suspect that Huldah New also exhibited the traits from her namesake. Perhaps she acted as our protector in the church yard because we decided to enter the church. However, we found that the door was locked, and for once I was not disappointed.
With nothing else to do, we continued on the Pewsey Avon Trail through the church yard, across a meadow and into a beautiful but slightly wild wooded area. Here there were several footbridges across the many rivulets that form the Avon in this location. In taking this route, we left the Pewsey Avon Trail behind and instead found ourselves on the White Horse Trail.
Now the trail was showing more signs of autumn as beautiful rowan bushes with their red berries lined the way up to the hamlet of Manningford Bruce. Entering the village and turning up the wonderfully named Dragon Lane we continued along the well signposted White Horse Trail, past more thatched cottages before noticing a lady standing painting in her garden. She complained playfully that her subject was not keeping still, and looking across we realised that she was painting a Master Thatcher at work on the opposite house roof. We shared the joke before moving on wondering what the completed painting would look like.
Again there was a certain wild nature to the path, but instead of rowans, tall pine trees now lined the way and with bracken forming parts of the undergrowth you could be forgiven for thinking you were somewhere in Scotland. At the end of the avenue of trees, we encountered the railway line, the route I knew from Paddington to Taunton. Thankfully all was clear and we were able to safely cross.
Beyond the railway line, the trail took us to Swanborough Tump. For those who don’t know, a tump is another word for a small hill and as you walk along the trail you could be forgiven for thinking that Picked Hill that lies directly ahead would be the tump in question, but in fact it is a small area lying off to the left at a spot where the White Horse Trail meets the Pewsey to Woodborough road. Swanborough Tump is thought to have been the location of a post Iron Age barrow or man made mound. It was used as a meeting place for the Swanborough Area. It is also believed to have been the location where Alfred met his brother Aethelred before they went to battle against the Danes. Here it is thought that both men agreed that if one should die the other would ensure their children would inherit the land that belonged to them, a kind of early day will. Today there is a sarsen stone and a modern day monument marking the location.
Moving on we crossed the road and continued along the White Horse Trail to the Kennet and Avon Canal. We crossed over the waterway on the ornate Lady’s Bridge and then leaving the long distance path we turned right to head back towards Pewsey. It is said the the bridge was built with its ornate features to please the demands of Lady Susannah Wroughton of Wilcot Manor whose land the canal passed through. She also demanded a lake and so the canal was widened to form what is known as Wilcot Wide Water, a feature that is believed to be unique on the English canal system. It is thought to be liked by anglers both human and otherwise.
By now our legs were tiring but the scenes along the canal side were beautiful in the late afternoon sun with Picked Hill appearing as an almost perfect dome to our left and the still waters of the canal beautifully reflecting the trees and bridges to our right, the vegetation along the canal side indicating a slight tiredness of the summer’s growth.
As we walked along the tow path, we encountered a number of narrow boats and a rather unusual orange boat called “Boat no 3” a somewhat unique waterside residence.
At Wilcot we decided to stay on the tow path and continue along past Stowell Park and under its suspension bridge. The bridge is one of the few designed by the Wiltshire born James Dredge. Sadly, it is now looking a little rusty, worn and out of commission.
Beyond the bridge we noticed a dense wood on the far side of the canal adding a slight mystery to the area. As we walked, we observed that a number of the narrow boats appeared to be abandoned, but I expect they were just awaiting the owners return. A little further along the canal we crossed over a road bridge and completed our walk to Pewsey wharf on the opposite bank enjoying the proximity of the trees to the tow path.
At the Wharf our hopes of having a pitstop at The Waterfront were dashed as it wasn’t open on Monday evenings. With this disappointment in mind, we decided that we would not continue further along the tow path and pick up the White Horse Trail to head into Pewsey but instead walked directly into the village and stopped for a beverage at the Royal Oak before heading back to the car taking in one last look at the statue of King Alfred as it was being lit by the purple festival lights.
More about the Pewsey Carnival and Festival can be found at this link https://pewsey-carnival.org.uk/
I’m not familiar with that particular walk but I have done The Great Stones Way nearby - but the railway connection with my family caught my attention: my paternal family are Amesbury based and one of my uncles moved to London as a young man. He lived a 5 minute walk from Paddington station and used to make an annual ‘pilgrimage’ back to Amesbury, his brother my dad, picking him up from Pewsey every year - this went on for some 50 years or so! Thanks for the memories.