Martinsell Hill first came to my attention in November 2018, when a fabulous picture of a dusk sky from the top was posted on twitter by Visit Wiltshire : (click here to view tweet ) It is near the village of Oare in the Pewsey Vale, and rises steeply to a horseshoe shaped plateau where many paths and trails seem to converge. The White Horse trail and the Mid Wilts Way are the most prominent. Like many hills in this area it is steep sided, chalk grassland with strong evidenc

The name of this Wiltshire Wildlife reserve is puzzling, as there is no mill here although there may well have been one in the distant past. But it is worth visiting in the summer months as it is a perfect example of an alder carr. Carrs are waterlogged woodlands - a mix between a swamp and a wooded fen, and in this instance, the water is fed from springs and the River Avon which flows through it. While it can be wet underfoot, the woodland can be easily traversed by walking