Box to Bradford-on-Avon April 19th 2009

"At hawthorn-time in Wiltshire travelling
In search of something chance would never bring,"

"Lob" by Edward Thomas.


Off we go. Paul, Phil, Dave, Gill and Tony plus new girl Angela. The canine fraternity represented by Roly (£13 raised so far) and Mitzi. Seven miles to travel along the MacMillan Way from Saltbox Farm below Box to Bradford-on-Avon, where Dave went to three different schools but we won't mention that again. A beautiful summery Sunday in Spring.

The first part of the walk took us along the By Brook. We noticed the round things hanging from the telegraph wires put there, according to Phil, to warn off low flying ducks and geese etc. We also saw some little baby ducks - cute! After that we (possibly) followed the wrong path - but it didn't matter and we were soon heading uphil towards the village of Box.

We crossed the A4 in the village and carried on climbing towards the hamlet of Henley. Some great views of Box with the valley behind and Colerne church on the hill in the distance. I then proceeded to get worked up about a horrible looking modern mansion that had been built on the valley top opposite but soon calmed down and the walk resumed.

On reaching the top we continued across the fields towards South Wraxall walking for about 30 yards along a Roman Road. Before we reached the village we spotted a number of information sheets fixed to several trees informing us that we were in an area where police dogs were running wild as part of their training. If approached by one of these creatures the advice was to stand perfectly still and wait until the police dog handler arrived. Great!

Having reached South Wraxall village safely we took a sqint at South Wraxall Manor which had some medieval bits. Beyond the village we passed a golf course and arrived at the fringes of Bradford-on-Avon after passing a fine old mansion that used to be a school - apparently. Once in the town itself we began the descent to the river and only stopped when we reached the Canal Tavern. Much fizzy pop and some alcohol was quaffed and a lot of silly banter took place, the result of which was a solemn undertaking by one of our number to live on chips and cider for a month to ascertain what the effects might be. The results will be revealed next blog.

Bird of the walk - Swallow.
Tree of the walk (after much debate and pressure placed on Paul) - Hawthorn. Just as well really as Edward Thomas doesn't mention lilac trees in any of his poems.

Goodnight walkers everywhere.