Fact file...

Fact File Distance – 5 miles. Time – 3 hours. Start – Barge Inn at Seend (GR 932613 or postcode SN12 6QB.) Map – OS Explorer 156 Chippenham & Bradford on Avon. Terrain – Undulating; one climb from the K&A Canal to Seend. Contact - via vilewalks on Facebook or email nigelvile@gmail.com

Directions Getting there: Follow the A361 east from Trowbridge towards Devizes. In 4 miles, just before reaching Seend, take a left turn signposted to the Barge Inn. The Barge is on the left in ¾ mile. 1. Leave the pub car-park, turn left, cross the K&A and turn left down to the canal. Turn left, pass under bridge 153 and follow the towpath to bridge 152 and a road. Cross the road and follow the towpath for ½ mile to bridge 150. Cross this bridge and walk across a field to a gate opposite before climbing uphill to the next gate. Follow the right edge of the field ahead to a gate in its right-hand corner, beyond which follow a section of enclosed path along to a road. Follow the path opposite through to the A361. Turn right and, having passed the entrance to Seend Lodge, cross the road to a footpath opposite beyond a tree with a seat. 2. Follow this path for 150 yards, climb some steps on the right and follow an enclosed path to a gate. Walk ahead across a hilltop field to reach Seend Church. Follow the path around to the far side of the church before following a lane down to the A361. Turn right and, in 50 yards, left into Rusty Lane signposted to the Village Halls. At the bottom of Rusty Lane, beyond Seend Community Centre, follow a track for 25 yards to a junction and turn left. Follow a track across the hilltop and then left along to School Lane. Turn right along to a junction, turn right – passing the covered Seend Reservoir – and continue to the next junction where the main road bears right to Melksham. 3. Follow the minor road ahead, Pelch Lane, signposted to Seend Cleeve. In 350 yards, at a junction by a small green with the entrance to Ferrum House on the right, keep on the road that bears left and continue to a junction in 300 yards by a property number 82 on the right. 4. Turn left and, in 150 yards, just before Rew Farm, turn right into Park Lane. At the next junction, follow the bridleway ahead beyond a gate for 300 yards to a gate and open fields. Cross the first field to a gate and bridge over Semington Brook, before crossing a second field to a gate in the opposite field boundary. Cross the following field to a gate in its far left corner, join a lane and turn right. In 200 yards, having passed a bungalow, turn right onto a driveway leading to Seend Park Farm. 5. Turn right in front of the farmhouse to follow a track up to the K&A Canal. Follow the towpath to the right for 1 mile back to the Barge at Seend. Just before bridge 153, turn left to a track, turn right up to the road and right back to the pub.