The Ridgeway British Walking Guide: Planning,

The Ridgeway begins near Avebury and runs 87 miles across the high chalk downs of Wiltshire, into the Thames Valley and on to the Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire, finishing at Ivinghoe Beacon near Aylesbury. This is the oldest road in Britain, some of it dating from prehistoric times. It’s a popular six-day walk.

· 5 town plans and 53 large-scale walking maps – at just under 1:20,000 – showing route times, places to stay, places to eat, points of interest and much more. These are not general-purpose maps but fully-edited maps drawn by walkers for walkers.

· 8 overview maps and 2 planning maps.

· Itineraries for all walkers – whether walking the route in its entirety over one to two weeks or sampling the highlights on day walks and short breaks
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· Practical information for all budgets – camping, bunkhouses, hostels, B&Bs, pubs and hotels; Avebury through to Ivinghoe Beacon – where to stay, where to eat, what to see, plus detailed street plans
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· Comprehensive public transport information – for all access points on the Ridgeway
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· Flora and fauna – four page full color flower guide, plus an illustrated section on local wildlife
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· Green hiking – understanding the local environment and minimizing our impact on it

· Downloadable GPS waypoints

Nick Hill lives in Devizes, not far from the Ridgeway which he’s walked from end to end several times. He is also often to be found on the paths around Avebury.
Nick’s fascination with more far-flung places began with a short trip to Asia; several enthralling years later he’d crossed the continent overland four times. He settled temporarily in Thailand, his four years in Bangkok punctuated by periods in Siberia, China, India and Pakistan.
As part of the Trailblazer team he is author, illustrator and cartographer, drawing many of the maps for the guides. He has also researched and updated the Trans-Siberian Handbook and South Downs Way.

This fourth edition was updated by Henry Stedman, who has been writing guidebooks for almost 20 years now. He’s the author of Trailblazer’s guides to Kilimanjaro and Coast to Coast, Hadrian’s Wall, and several other British walking guides. Daisy is Henry’s dog, though any assumption that ownership equates with control can be dismissed in this instance. An experienced walker, Daisy has already completed the Dales Way, Hadrian’s Wall Path, Coast to Coast, Offa’s Dyke and the entire South-West Coast Path with Henry. In fact, given the amount of running around she does, for every ten miles that Henry completes, Daisy does about thirty. Daisy’s ambition is to walk all 15 National Trails.

INTRODUCTION

The Ridgeway
History 10 – How difficult is the Ridgeway? 12 – How long do you need? 13 – When to go 14

PART 1: PLANNING YOUR WALK

Practical information for the walker
Route finding 17 – GPS 17 – Accommodation 18 – Food and
drink 21 – Money 23 – Information for foreign visitors 24 – Other
services 26 – Walking companies and luggage transfer 26 – Disabled
access 27 – Mountain-biking 28 – Horse riders 28 – Motor
vehicles 28 – Taking dogs along the Ridgeway 29

Budgeting 29

Itineraries
The best day and two-day walks 31 – Town and village facilities
table 32 – Which direction? 34 – Suggested itineraries 35 – Side
trips 35

What to take
Keep your luggage light 37 – How to carry it 37 – Footwear 38
Clothes 38 – Toiletries 39 – First-aid kit 39 – General items 39
Camping gear 40 – Money 40 – Maps 40 – Recommended
reading 42 – Sources of further information 42

Getting to and from the Ridgeway
Getting to Britain 44 – National transport 44 – Local transport 47
Public transport map 48 – Local bus services 50

PART 2: MINIMUM IMPACT
& OUTDOOR SAFETY

Minimum impact walking
Economic impact 52 – Environmental impact 52 – Access 55

Outdoor safety
Avoidance of hazards 57 – Weather forecasts 58 – Health 58

PART 3: THE ENVIRONMENT & NATURE

Conservation of the Ridgeway
Natural England 60 – Campaigning and conservation
organisations 62

Flora and fauna
Flowers 63 – Trees 64 – Butterflies 65 – Mammals 66 – Birds 68
PART 4: MARLBOROUGH TO AVEBURY

Marlborough
Services 73 – Transport 74 – Where to stay 74 – Where to eat and drink 75 – Marlborough to Avebury walk 77

Avebury and around
Avebury 84 – Avebury stone circle 86 – West Overton 88 – West
Kennett & East Kennett 89 – A walk around Avebury 89
Getting to the start of the Ridgeway 91

PART 5: ROUTE GUIDE AND MAPS

Using this guide
Trail maps 94

The Ridgeway route guide
Overton Hill to Foxhill 96 (Ogbourne St George 104
Liddington 108)

Foxhill to Court Hill (& Wantage) 109 (Bishopstone 111
Ashbury 114 – Woolstone 116 – Uffington 118 – Sparsholt Firs 119
Sparsholt 121 – Letcombe Regis 124 – Wantage 125)

(Wantage &) Court Hill to Goring 127 (East Ilsley 132
Compton 134 – Aldworth 137 – Streatley 138 – Goring 140)

Goring to Watlington 141 (South Stoke 142 – North Stoke 146
Wallingford 147 – Crowmarsh Gifford 150 – Nuffield 152
Watlington 158)

Watlington to Princes Risborough 160 (Lewknor 160 – Kingston
Blount 162 – Chinnor 164 – Princes Risborough 169)

Princes Risborough to Wigginton (& Tring) 171 (Wendover 174
Wigginton 179 – Tring 181)

(Tring &) Wigginton to Ivinghoe Beacon 185 (Aldbury 187 – Ivinghoe 190)

APPENDICES

A: Walking the Ridgeway with a dog 191
B: The Greater Ridgeway 193
C: Map keys 195
D: GPS waypoints 196

INDEX 199

OVERVIEW MAPS & PROFILES 209

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The Ridgeway British Walking Guide: Planning, Places To Stay, Places To Eat; Includes 53 Large-Scale Walking Maps

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials