The Lemon Fool

This is the itinerary for a 3 night / 4 day tour (by car) that I did around part of Wessex in the Autumn of 2016.

We took maximum advantage of being National Trust members and not having visited this area very often. We are interested in history, country walking, wildlife and architecture, so Wessex was a great success. We stayed at comfortable pubs and B&Bs (typically about £90 for double room including substantial breakfasts).

** Day 1 **
(Started from M4 West of Reading)
Avebury NT (Vast prehistoric stone circle and monuments, manor, museum), walk part of the Ridgeway to see West Kennet long barrow and Silbury Hill ancient monument
Avebury Manor NT is very unusual and interesting – you can touch many of the contents, as they are a re-creation and not the original contents
STAYED at Bear Hotel Devizes (historic but not postcard pretty small town, a nice escape from big city life)

** Day 2 **
Morning walk from hotel in Devizes to see amazing Caen Hill canal flight of locks
Quick visit to Corn Exchange flea market and Shambles market (nothing special, but nice for us as Londoners to see a bit of small town life)
(We didn’t visit Wiltshire Museum or Wadworths brewery in Devizes, but they were options)
Lacock Abbey NT (Harry Potter location). Museum of photography NT and The George Inn for lunch
Great Chalfield Manor NT (Poldark location) Melksham (between Bath and Devizes). Still lived in by owner – see NT handbook for details of tours of house
Frome has interesting quirky shops & sights
STAYED at Orchardleigh House (mainly a grand venue for weddings but does B&B sometimes) NW of Frome
Evening meal in Frome at the very stylish Archduke (or could have gone to Beckington village)

** Day 3 **
Brief visit to Nunney village church and impressive ruined castle (free)
Superb Wells Cathedral + town + Bishops Palace grounds
Up to the Mendip Hills (steep climb up Ebbor Gorge & Hope Valley Wood)
(If really wet, could spend the day in Bath or even Bristol, or go to Fleet air arm museum)
STAYED at the White Hart Somerton (good food, village was a bit dull, apart from a good gallery)

** Day 4 **
Might have visited the wildlife reserves near Glastonbury (eg. Shapwick, Greylake), we didn’t due to weather at the time
Lytes Cary NT – splendid medium sized house and gardens
Montacute Hs (one of the great stately houses - Wolf Hall location) , Tintinhull Gdns nearby or Stourhead would have been
possible
Back to London via A303 past Stonehenge (not tempted to stop)

That Devizes is quite nice.

The museum is out of the ordinary, lots of artifacts and chronicles of the early barrow excavations, masses of books pertinent to local history and a very brilliant librarian full of enthusiasm.

The brewery tour costs, can't remember the price, but they ply you with booze at the end, very nice.

The lock flight, good exercise having gone up and down with brother's boat, he on the tiller and me on the gates for 3 hours. Paul

Devizes is a fine example of a small English market town. Based on just one short visit, I would say a few things about it:

(1) I described it as not "postcard pretty" - it isn't a town that is a magnet for ordinary tourists and it doesn't have a set of spectacular views that would sell as postcards (apart from the nearby Caen Hill locks).

(2) Like the majority of English towns, it has been partly disfigured by through traffic and the uniformity of modern branded shopfronts.

(3) It has, however, retained quite a large number of fine buildings. Some are prominent and in good condition (like the Bear hotel and the Corn Exchange next door). I also noted several really interesting old buildings, which were a bit tatty or not presented to full potential. The town maybe hasn't felt the full force of gentrification (with its pros and cons). It is a town for lovers of architectural detail.

(4) The town is close to two truly exceptional historic features : the prehistoric monuments including Avebury + Silbury Hill + West Kennet and the awesome Caen Hill locks. 29 locks lift the canal 237 feet in 2 miles, which explains why Paultry took 3 hours. Two world class heritage things nearby is something to be proud of.

I'd add that while Devizes DOES have national chains in it - and more so recently - it also has over 250 independent businesses in the town centre, so isn't just "generic high street".

It also has an independent cinema which also hosts a Film Club on Tuesday evenings featuring arts house cinema releases over the otherwise normal mainstream releases the rest of the week and also live broadcasts form the ENO and ROH etc, a local theatre (The Wharf), several amateur musical theatre, chamber music and opera companies. There are also several venues in town offering live music (eg The Fold @ The Lamb, Corn Exchange, Black Swan, Long Street Blues Club, The Sports Club), and has upwards of twenty pubs... mainly Wadworth but including five free houses. If timing is right local historian John Girvan's Ghost and History Walks are fun and interesting. Two x beer festivals a year, plus food, arts and street festivals.

didds

a walk in the purbecks?

square and compass pub at worth matravers - at the start or end of a walk.

truly not to be missed.

Meatyfool..

Hello Meatyfool,
funnily enough, I was just starting to plan a trip to the Southern part of Wessex in a few weeks time - and at least one walk stopping at Worth Matravers might be on the list. There's clearly a wealth of coastal and inland walking, but I need to work out a list of alternative places to visit, if the weather is really foul.

Hi,

If the weather is foul, stay in the pub! They will have two log fires on the go. Like stepping back into the 1800s!

Meatyfool..