The Ridgeway: Overton Hill to Ogbourne St George

Getting to the start of The Ridgeway was a bit of a mission, first a train from Paddington to Swindon, then a bus to Avebury and finally a walk from Avebury to Overton Hill which is where the official start of the walk is. It seems perverse not to start the walk at Avebury as it has a Neolithic stone circle and other ancient monuments and pretty much everyone who walks The Ridgeway has to go there. I had some time to wait before getting the bus so I headed into Swindon shopping centre to buy some nuts, getting knocked out of the way in Tesco’s by a man desperate to buy some cider.

Arriving at Avebury I chatted briefly to a women who was visiting the stones and set of to the start of the walk, heading past parts of Avebury Henge and Silbury Hill, a large man made hill before finally reaching Overton Hill, a walk of about 3 miles. There was not much marking the start of the walk apart from the first signs for The Ridgeway and a car park, though there were a group of tumuli at the start. Overton Hill is not steep but it seems to go on for a long time, being a gentle slope, it was here I first experienced the winds that were common on the Ridgeway, the day was cold and I wrapped up warm, wearing gloves and a hat. The route headed off in a northerly direction on various bridleways, though I didn’t see may horse though there were a few dogs walkers and cyclists about. The ridge fell away to the West with good views over various Downs, eventually reaching Winterbourne Down where there was a car park and a white horse carved into the hill, something I failed to realise and I just walked on past it.

A few kilometres later Barbury Castle came into view, this is an Iron Age hill fort that the Ridgeway passes directly though, heading up through it. There were a couple of interesting information boards detailing the history of the site which was first built around 2500 years ago. A friendly man with some dogs stopped to chat with me for a bit before heading off and I was soon on the ridge at Smeathe’s Ridge. The wind was very sharp here, I wanted to stop and eat something but it was too cold so I ate as I walked. The ridge fell away steeply to the right and more gently to the left, though on both sides there were a number of horse gallops, it seems that this part of the ridge is popular with breeders and trainers of racing horses.

I gradually descended towards the village of Ogbourne St George and once off the ridge I sat down for a rest and checked when the next bus. Disappointingly for me the next one was in 3 hours, so I decided to make use of the time and continue along the loop that the Ridgeway makes round the southern end of the village. This would kill time and save walking on the next stage, though it was took less than an hour to do the loop, which passed through the pretty village of Southend, which seemed to be totally composed of thatched cottages. The sun had decided to come out now that I was largely finished for the day and I headed off the ridge to the village, ending up at The Inn with the Well. The outside did not look inspiring but there were no other options so I headed inside, taking my boots off and placing them with a couple of other pairs already there. Heading to the bar I to find a friendly bartender and 2 walkers sitting in armchairs drinking tea, I found out later that they’d given up alcohol for Lent. I got a drink and set about finding a taxi, otherwise it was a 2 hour wait for the bus, after a number of calls I managed to find a taxi and 10 minute later I was on the way back to Swindon. I’d been totally wrong about the pub, it was a really friendly place and I wished I’d had the sense to book a room there.