Stokke & Chisbury Wood. 3 miles.
Date: : Sunday 20th October 2024
Time: 10.00 am – 11.45 am
Location: The Chains, Great Bedwyn (the island opposite The Londis, High St, Great Bedwyn SN8 3NU)
The walk started in Bedwyn centre on a rainy Sunday morning. A named storm was forecast to skirt the area with heavy rain and wind so understandably walker numbers were down. Nevertheless 6 brave souls assembled at the start in the rain.
Our route began up Forest Hill and, along the grass path on top of the bank, until we reached the footpaths through the fields near Stokke. This grass path was restored early last year by Bedwyn Footpaths Group with a grant from North Wessex Downs National Landscape. The surface has recovered well and has been cleared and strimmed twice this year by our volunteer teams, once in spring and again in autumn. After going through the fields at Stokke, through the gates that replaced stiles with funds from the same grant scheme, we crossed over the road to Bewley Farm.
Our walk along the private driveway of Bewley Farm was by kind permission local farmer, George Stone. On reaching Chisbury Wood our route meandered on some of the lesser used tracks through the woodland. It was a very blustery walk, but weather conditions were not quite as bad as expected, and we could enjoy the early signs of autumn. On arriving back at the village we treated ourselves to a welcome coffee at Wendy’s café.
Please note that the grass path on the Forest Hill bank is narrow and high above the traffic, and that the driveway to Bewley Farm is not a public right of way.
For more details of this walk, please contact