Marlborough Downs

I haven't had time to add to the blog since April then I wasn't sure whether to continue with it but we've bumped into a few cachers recently that said how much they enjoy reading it so I decided to try and add to it when I can, so here it is:

We love caching in Wiltshire and have enjoyed many great walks in this area, today we decided to head down to an area south of Swindon, the Marlborough Downs.  Many of the longer walks now we have to leave our dogs at home, it's a shame but they are getting on a bit now and find the longer walks just too much.  So today it's just just me, Mark and our daughter 'Pegz' who was keen to come along with us as she's in training for the Tour de Trigs walk later in the year, which is a tough 30 mile (50 for over 18s) non-stop, cross country walking competition.

Marlborough Downs Trail

37 caches on an 8 mile walk with superb views over the Marlborough Downs.

The trail starts at Barbury Castle where there is a large car park and toilets.  The trail then heads out on a well marked chalk path towards Ogbourne St  Andrew, great views all along the path passing alongside Four Mile Clump.  The footpath then passes through Ogbourne St George and up Smeathe's Ridge.  Part of the route along Smeathe's Ridge takes you through a large field with cows in, we were a little wary to start with but we didn't have our dogs with us so we weren't too concerned, when we approached near to them they didn't take any notice of us at all so we continued past.

Cattle on Smeathe's Ridge

We were very lucky with the weather, it was very windy to start with but once we got going the sun came out and it was a lovely sunny day with a breeze to keep us cool.

We didn't have our dogs with us on this walk but we'd say it was completely dog friendly with no dog-proof stiles along the route.

We were soon back at the car park after walking for approx. 4 hours.  All the caches were easy to find with good hints and a nice variety of sizes and containers.

All in all a fab walk that we'd highly recommend.

Check out Every Trail

The second walk of the day took us to East Kennet to do a short series on a 2½ mile walk.   Starting at EK1: Silbury Glimpse, we had to collect bonus information from each cache which was based on Ley Line waypoints.  Along the route we passed a field of wheat with a gathering of people with cameras, they seemed to be checking out the crop circles.

East Kennet

Another very enjoyable walk which took us 1 hour and 25 mins to complete.