The Downtown circular is one of my favourite local walks. It is an easy yet beautiful route along both sides of the magnificent river Avon from Downton to Charlton All Saints and back. It is especially beautiful in spring when the daffodils are in bloom, but there is interest all year round.
Recently, we decided to visit the walk and lengthen the route by also taking in Trafalgar Park and then back alongside a disused railway. So, for once when walking in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside rather than imagining the peoples from long ago who slumber under the barrows or musing on Saxon kings or crusader knights and Templars. This time my thoughts turned to the time of the late eighteenth early nineteenth centuries and the idea of what makes a true English hero or for that matter villain and would we agree today?
The walk started in Downton, and it was fairly easy to park in the car park at the back of the Co-op just off the main street known as the Borough. This is a very pretty street lined with thatched cottages and has an old market cross. The cross is believed to date back to the 13th Century, although it has been repaired and added to on a number of occasions since. Opposite the cross is the Old Post Office, a lovely picture postcard thatched building with a number of curious and humorous plaques. These used to include a notice from a gamekeeper allegedly dating from the mid 1800s stating that “Poachers would be shot on first sight and if practicable questioned afterwards.” This struck a chord with me for reasons that I will come onto later.
On from the Old Post Office, we turned down Gravel Close and past the primary school, which in appearance is still true to its Victorian beginnings with its ornate bell tower. The road continued past a few more pretty houses and the Downton Band Practice Hall before it finally petered out and we found ourselves walking along the river and then into open meadows. To the left the hill that contains Clearbury Rings came into view, its tree clad summit shielding its ancient monument. But as I walked, poachers were on my mind and this increased as the private keep out signs became more evident. Even the colony of cormorants that once lived in the trees to the left had gone, perhaps banished from the rich fisheries here, it is difficult to know, but it is certain that they would not have been welcome. So perhaps the cormorants had played the part of more recent 21st century poachers and, as such, were deemed villainous?
Soon the meadows ended, and the route led us to the right, away from Charlton All Saints and towards a series of bridges and weirs over the River Avon. This is my favourite part of the walk. From the pond like stillness of this broad stretch of the Avon to the power of the river as it flows through the weir, it truly fascinates me and I always feel that I would like to stay longer. However, aside from a small area close to the bridges, the private signs abound so there is little chance to sit by the river and watch and contemplate on the wonderful nature of the area. So, I had to content myself with momentarily watching the water, the swans and the grey wagtail’s antics from the bridge.
Moving on, we continued along the river for a short time before walking past an old mill and took in the beauty of the waterway one last time before heading up a hill and towards Trafalgar Park. Before turning left up to the park, we first took a look at Standlynch Chapel the village church that was to become the private chapel of Trafalgar House. Sadly, although there had possibly been some repointing of stonework the building seemed in a poor state. So we headed back to join the path up to Trafalgar House. A house that was given posthumously to Nelson for his brave victory of the Battle of Trafalgar.
As I walked, I contemplated on heroes and what makes a hero and in particular who are the true English heroes? At school it seemed obvious, and I could reel off many. These were Alfred the Great, Richard the Lionheart, Francis Drake, Wellington and Nelson. There is a theme to these heroes they all played an important role for the winning side of a conflict. Now that I am older, I see the hollowness in some of these heroes and perhaps feel others, such as our great scientists and social reformers have earned the title more. However, perhaps Nelson does stand the test of time as a hero even if his private life was not so conventional and some of his actions less worthy.. His bravery and skill did indeed result in a great victory of the time.
Of course with victory comes reward but in the case of Lord Nelson his defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Trafalgar also saw him perish in the process. However, his death didn’t stop his brother, who had inherited his title from lobbying for a greater reward for his much loved sibling. Apparently, the grateful nation agreed and so Standlynch Park was compulsory purchased and the Nelsons moved in, renaming it Trafalgar House in honour of Horatio Nelson’s victory. In the process of doing this they took over the pretty church of Standlynch and effectively reduced the village to a few houses. Horatio Nelson’s mistress and daughter did not benefit from any of this and, unlike his brother, they did not live a grand life after his death. The Nelson’s sold the house in 1948 and it seems that it is currently undergoing renovation. The graveyard in the chapel, which we were able to visit some years ago, is now even more neglected with little to be seen of the memorials to the Nelson family. Perhaps a fitting end to this family, who gained from other’s efforts, but the memory of the bravery of Horatio Nelson remains strong.
To be honest, I can’t imagine what it was like living in England in that period of time. I wondered how much the general population was concerned about Napoleon and what the consequences would have been without Nelson’s victories. The extreme weather conditions, lack of food and Industrialisation probably weighed more heavily on common folk’s minds. The continued enclosure of the land meaning that for villagers a lack of access to wild animals for food would have exasperated the situation. So then what do we make of the poacher? Were they heroes or villains? Were they forthright individuals who were disobeying the law in order to feed their families and maintain a "god given right" to feed off the land as their forefathers did? Or were they scoundrels who flaunted the law and wreaked havoc on the wildlife? All I know is my East of England stonemason family, finding it difficult to gain employment, paid a very heavy price for poaching. I won’t go into the details here, but depending on your point of view; one callous, foolhardy, desperate or brave act of self-defence caused three brothers to be sentenced to hang. Although later two of these had their sentence transmuted to transportation a mother effective lost three of her sons on that unfortunate day. The three brothers would later be immortalised in a folk song, a lament of the times. So perhaps they were kind of thought of as heroes? And no doubt families from Wiltshire would have similar stories. The humorous plaque on the Old Post Office now seeming more like a statement of truth.
So I mused on this and the varying fortunes of families as I walked through a wooded area to Trafalgar Park where we took in the view of Trafalgar House to the right and Clearbury Down to the left. Both watching over the Southern Wiltshire rural idyll an English view that fills the heart and soul and has always been something to fight for.
Continuing on we entered another area of woodland. This was fenced off to the right with private keep out signs again reminding us of the boundaries we cannot cross, and well, I equally had no desire to do so.
The path through the trees took us down to a road and Standlynch House. Here we turned right and walked up a steep hill before turning left at the next road. On the way we met a couple we had passed earlier walking in the opposite direction. They knowingly pointed out that it was better walking down hill rather than up. This was obviously true but then we would not have seen Trafalgar House, so it was worth the effort.
A little way along the minor road we came across a railway bridge. The bridge being the only sign of the disused Salisbury and Dorset Junction railway. This ill-fated railway ran from Salisbury to West Moors and then would have gone on to Poole. Its foundation stone was laid by a later day Lady Nelson. To be honest I wish it still ran today but sadly it seemed to have been doomed to failure right from the start something that Hidden Wiltshire’s friend, Paul Whitewick has made a video about. So, check that out if you want to know more.
It isn’t possible to walk exactly along the track but if you turn right after crossing the bridge you can pretty much follow the line of the track back to Downton, which is what we did, well sort of. The path along the side of the field to the next road was easy to follow, and we enjoyed the countryside views and watching the barley sway in the field with a few remaining poppies. At the next road we went under the bridge and then took the path immediately to the left and started to climb up the hill and over what used to be the tunnel for the railway (again Paul W. has a video on that).
It should be possible to follow the line of the railway across the field but on the day we were there the path was not visible due to the over grown oil seed rape, this was being harvested at the time. So we skirted the field and joined the path a bit farther on. Perhaps this was slightly trespassing, but I am sure it was better that we stayed away from the harvester!
Rejoining the footpath, we followed the route of the railway back to Downton, well sort of as once again it seems the footpath is now slightly to the side of the actual track and at variance with the OS map.
Finally, in Downton we stopped for some lunch at the Borough Café and had time to reflect on the lovely and interesting walk and perhaps the ideas of heroes and villains. I muse that, although we do not have an anti British federal Europe, which concerned us all those years ago, we do find ourselves (by our own volition) on the outside of a European Federation, so perhaps that is something to think about in the context of Nelson and Napoleon.
So who are your heroes and why do you think they are heroes? Do they stand the test of time?
All in all the walk was a little over five miles long and I totally recommend it or the shorter one which I will provide the link for below.
Link to the shorter walk Downton Circular
Link to Paul Whitewick’s Vlogs on the Salisbury and Dorset Junction Railway and the tunnel
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