Wiltshire Wirllwind tour

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Day 2…

I

After the first thunderstorm and torrential rain in about a month I packed up my wet tent knowing that I’ll be unpacking it later this hot July Saturday. Then consulted my ordinance survey map. I discovered a footpath running right behind the camp site to Shrewton this is where I spotted another thing of historical interest.

The blind house, or lock-up, is said to have been built c.1700. It is by the river bridge in Maddington Street and probably used mainly to house prisoners overnight when they were on their way from the Assize Courts in Devizes to Fisherton Gaol. The blind house was damaged by a tank during the Second World War and rebuilt afterwards, while in the 1980s it was moved back from the road edge to prevent further damage by lorries.

It was here that I met a man walking 5 dogs who told me all about the area and about the Gibbet where they hung highwaymen and left them hanging as a warning to others whom might like to take up the Career. This was slightly off my route, so I gave it a miss but took notice of the other places of interest that he mentioned. Looking back I wish I hadn’t. The route took me off the A360 which pleased me as there was a lack of pavement and walking along busy roads isn’t my favourite pass time, the thought of spending the last days on this planet decomposing in a hedge with a rucksack strapped to my back and the local wildlife nibbling at me isn’t top of my list of things to do.

Getting out my trusty map I followed the green line hoping it wasn’t a train line (Only kidding I know what the green line means.) and headed to a church that I never found. I then headed to a Neolithic settlement and later a henge enclosure. It’s a short walk north from Woodhenge roughly 10 minutes with blistering feet.

A little history about Durrington wall. Between 2004 and 2006, excavations on the site by a team led by the University of Sheffield revealed seven houses. It has been suggested that the settlement may have originally had up to 1000 houses and perhaps 4,000 people, if the entire enclosed area was used. The period of settlement was about 500 years, starting sometime between c.2800 and 2100 BC.

It may have been the largest village in northern Europe for a brief period. At 500 metres (1,600 ft) in diameter, the henge is the largest in Britain and recent evidence suggests that it was a complementary monument to Stonehenge. But to tell you the truth; with the untrained eye all I could see was a sloping bank of soil. Even with all the reading up I did on this, I really wanted to understand what I was looking at on this trip; not just wonder aimlessly from one historic site to another even if it was all rushed.

The next thing to do was the long walk back to the car which was about eight miles. I could run this easily but after walking ten miles and with blistering feet this was going to be a walk of endurance.

After a hot walk back a long busy road without any pavement I arrived back at the camp site in Orcheston. Luckily I had packed the tent up so all I needed to do was rehydrate with a cider, build my energy up with a Snicker bar and have a shower. Once I thanked the owners of the campsite for kindly letting me leave my car here all day. (That saved me paying for parking.) I set off too Savernake forests and my next campsite on this jaunt.

The journey to Savernake forest would take me past Pewsey white horse the sixth on my trip. This I hadn’t planned on doing today so it was a bonus for me.

The new horse is on Pewsey Hill about a mile south of Pewsey, to the east of the minor road that leads from the A345 the road that I was travelling along, on the edge of Pewsey to the village of Everleigh. It is a little above and a little to the left of the site of the old horse.

In 1937, George Marples, an authority on hill carvings, happened to be in the area researching the old white horse at just the time that a committee had been formed to find a suitable way of commemorating the Coronation of George VI. The idea of a new white horse was mooted, and Mr Marples was approached for suggestions. He produced three drawings, and one of these was approved by the committee.

Being only too aware of the difficulty in establishing the dates of origin of some white horses, each of his designs included the year 1937 above the horse. Mr Marples devised a triangulation method for the marking out of the horse, and in late April 1937 it was cut by volunteers from Pewsey Fire Brigade. The horse was cut to Mr Marples' design, with the date above it, but though the horse itself is well-maintained today, the date has disappeared. The maintenance of this horse is done by the Pewsey 6X Club.

III

This was turning into a long day and I was beginning to feel tired and still had about an hour drive to the campsite,

On arrival the reception was closed and I though I would end up sleeping in the car in a layby, but I phoned the number given on the door and they said just pitch the tent and they’ll find me. After my second meal of noodles, pasta and a couple of apples plus a beer I decided to go to bed. This was around 8.30, what else could I do. I was in the middle of the woods miles from a pub and not a lot to do apart from walk round the woods, dodging kids on bikes, and I’d done enough walking for one day so off to bed I went.

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