Up to the Downs
This walk starts from the edge of Upton scudamore, a pretty enough village located on a ridge. To quote: “The ridge is a convex spur of Lower Chalk forming part of the main watershed of England and dividing the catchments of the Bristol Avon and, by way of the Wylye, the salisbury Avon.”
There is an italian restaurant called La Campagna, of which more later, as well as st Mary’s Church, with its fine outlook that extends from Arn hill above Warminster to Cley hill, and beyond to the woodland around Longleat and the distant Deverill Downs.
A disused section of the A350, complete with old cats’ eyes, and a farm track with views
of salisbury Plain, brings us to Old Dilton. here we find st Mary’s Church where little has changed since the 18th century. The interior is crowded with plain, bleached box pews, some built on the original medieval benches, a three-decker pulpit, family pews and two small galleries. The gallery north of the chancel was once used as a schoolroom and contains a fireplace. Although normally locked, a notice on the church wall gives details on where to find the key.
Fieldpaths, lanes and bridleways lead to the scarp slope of salisbury Plain and a steep climb up on to the fringes of one of the last true wilderness areas in southern Britain. ironically, it’s the army’s occupation of the plain that has kept it free from human development. The views are immense, particularly looking across the MOD training grounds, with frequent red flags identifying what has been described as “a forbidden landscape”. And on Upton Cow Down, there is another of Wiltshire’s trig points described in a walk in this magazine two weeks ago.
The walk follows a short section of the imber Range Path back to Upton scudamore. This is a 30-mile-long path, with mixed terrain and some challenging sections. Much of the surface is gravelled, which is not to every walker’s liking, and it also means that what is a track can be used by vehicles. its name, incidentally, comes from the fact that it follows the perimeter of the military training range on salisbury Plain, so be prepared for the occasional explosion!
hardened walkers have been known to walk the imber Range Path in one day but, for most of us, dividing the path up into three legs of ten miles each seems a much more sensible option.
At the end of the walk, it is worth driving the short distance into Upton scudamore to find La Campagna, the italian restaurant that was formerly the Bell inn. To quote from the website: “La Campagna aims to bring a vibrant, warm and welcoming experience with a unique combination of a traditional pub and an italian Brasserie.” The reviews on Tripadvisor suggest that it succeeds on all counts. The set lunch menu, served between noon and 3pm, offers two courses for £15.95 or three courses for £19.95 with a decent range of options that can be seen on the website.
■ www.la-campagna.co.uk
GETTING There
Follow the A350 south from Westbury towards Warminster for two miles before turning left on a road to Upton scudamore. in 75 yards, where this road bears right, turn left into, and park on, a cul-de-sac lane. This is a former, now disused stretch of the A350, bypassed by an upgraded road.
■ 1. Continue walking down the cul-de-sac and, at a fork in 100 yards, keep ahead on a bridleway that borders the A350. In 550 yards, cross the A350 with care, pass through a gateway opposite and follow a track that runs between two fields to join a lane just beyond Dilton Farm. Follow this lane around to the left and, on a left-hand bend just before St Mary’s Church in Old Dilton, follow a footpath on the right along to a gate. Follow the left edge of a field to the next gate before continuing along an enclosed path to reach Dilton Vale Farm.
■ 2. Pass through a gateway on the right to follow a signposted permissive path around to the right of the farm complex, before continuing to the left to reach a footbridge over the Biss Brook. Turn right and, in 20 yards, re-cross the Biss Brook to a handgate. Follow the grassy path ahead uphill to a gate, before following the right edge of the next field for 200 yards to a handgate on the right. Beyond this gate, follow an enclosed path and then a grassy track for ¼ mile to a junction with a track called Sandy Hole Lane. Follow this track for 200 yards to its junction with a lane before turning left to walk along to the A36. Cross over into Wellhead Drove and, in 175 yards by a property called The Orchard, turn right on to a bridleway.
■ 3. Follow this bridleway for ¾ mile up on to Salisbury Plain, keeping ahead at a junction on the hilltop before continuing on to its junction with the Imber Range Path by an MOD flag-post. Turn right and, in just over ½ mile by another flag-post, pass through a gateway on the left. Follow a path steeply downhill, and then uphill, to reach a gate and track. Follow this track to the right for just under ¾ mile to a junction by Halfway Farm on the edge of Upton Scudamore. Turn right back to the cul-de-sac where the walk started.