Author Topic: Solstice trail 12 miles from Woodhenge- Steeple Langford, Wiltshire. April 18th.  (Read 2341 times)

alewife

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6251
Sorry no pics for this one as my batteries were flat!  
   
Mr A, myself and a few others had a great 12 mile walk today starting from Woodhenge in Wilts and following the Solstice trail, past Stonehenge, crossing the A303 and down to Berwick St James, ending up at Steeple Langford. Most of the walk was on farm type tracks, with just a short stretches on roads.  
   
The sun shone for the whole day and this Salisbury Plain route has very little shade so a hat and some factor 50 was useful.   
   
We spotted a female Red Kite, which a local lady explained was one of a pair, and there was some hope that they would nest as they have done so in the area in recent years. We also saw a naughty flock of Guineafowl, which seemed to be miles from anywhere they might live and were hoovering up the crops in the field. We also saw (and smelt) a large number of dead and decaying rabbits strewn along the path, which had presumably been poisoned, unless they had all taken part in some bizarre bunny suicide pact. We passed a large free range pig farm (Pigfest?) with some of the tiniest piglets enjoying the sunshine.(Yes, of course, it prompted conversations about crackling and apple sauce - what do you expect? ;D )  
   
The pretty village of Berwick St James sits between two shallow clear fast flowing rivers; the watermeadows and stunning gardens make it a very pleasant and restful place to walk. There was a nice little farm shop open selling locally made ice-cream (so we just had to stop and buy one).  
   
We finished the walk by Langford Lakes at Steeple Langford, which is a former gravel pit and has now been turned into a large Reserve, (with educational leanings) and so we were able to watch mallards, coots and swans from the numerous viewing platforms and hides.  
  The Solstice trail runs from near Wylye in Wiltshire, across Salisbury Plain and into Somerset where it continues on to Glastonbury. It is a total of approx 62 miles and we hope to walk the whole route in 4 sections.
Alewife


...beware of the bull!

dibble

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5594
Alewife, thanks for sharing.  It sounds like it was a warm day!  It sounds like a lovely walk with all the wildlife ( apart from the rabbits ) and yummy to the thought of ice cream.  The Solstice trail sounds lovely!
 
And, looking forward to meeting you soon.
“A star falls from the sky and into your hands. Then it seeps through your veins and swims inside your blood and becomes every part of you." JN.Harris

Gelert

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 45
That sounds like an interesting walk alewife.  I wonder if mixematosis <sp> was the cause of all the deceased bunnies.  I would like to do this myself in the future with my dog.  It sounds that it would be ok for him.  Were there many areas where sheep would be a problem for us?  He seems ok with sheep but I would never trust him completely.

ramblingpete

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4084
I don't think the bunnies were poisoned as we saw a huge amount of dead ones (lots of live ones as well) while walking the Herriot Way - too many to have died from poison, and in all areas.

Maybe it was the snow staying on the ground for a couple of months?

Get that camera sorted - very frustrating for the rest of us O0

joester

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5076
solvitur ambulando

alewife

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6251
Must have been a suicide pact then...
 

 
 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Alewife


...beware of the bull!

 

Terms of Use     Privacy Policy