Looking for inspiration my walking buddy and neighbour Stu mentioned a walk he’d seen in Country Walking Magazine. The starting point was the village of Giddeahall, a place neither of us had heard of. Having studied the map we knew exactly where it was but neither of us could remember seeing a village, despite having driven past many times. We recalled seeing a pub at the side of the A420 west of Chippenham but nothing else. Intrigued we set off on a bright, fresh September m

I’ve long wanted to do a walk in this area as it’s somewhere I used to cycle a lot. Our bike club would often ride up the long climb through Gare Hill and a hush would descend on the group, not just because we were struggling for breath, but because it always felt slightly eerie – there never seemed to be any birdsong. The countryside here is quite different to much of the rest of Wiltshire. No big open skies but deep valleys and forest.

But the real jewel at Littlecote is the extraordinary mosaic. It was extensively and carefully restored at great cost and covered by a roof to protect it from the worst of the weather. For me though, the wonderful thing is that this important scheduled monument is open to all and at no cost. Isn’t this how it should be for many more of our ancient monuments?

The first leg of this walk takes in the canal towpath and then turns north to return to Wootton Rivers via the Savernake Forest, somewhere I have long intended to explore but somehow never have. As ever my route took in a church.

This is the second in my series of walks along and around the Kennet & Avon Canal, and another of our occasional cross border raids – this time into Berkshire.

I love ambling along canal towpaths. Whilst I also love walking in the hills it’s nice to do a less challenging walk from time to time and of course canal towpaths are completely flat. And as a photographer canals are the perfect place to find a blaze of colour and intriguing vignettes. I also find the industrial history fascinating and it was a pleasant surprise to find some railway history on this route too. But the icing on the cake was to discover an even older historical

The glory of the Plain is that in areas that are not red flagged the walker is free to roam anywhere other than woodland

Wilton is the lost capital of Wessex Beloved by kings, its welcoming atmosphere hides its incredible history and true essence.

First of all, if mid-January isn’t too late to say it, a Happy New Year to all our followers. And welcome to our first blog of 2025 after a

Dedicated followers of Hidden Wiltshire will know that we love a good church

The village of Seend provokes thoughts on the past and musings on the esoteric and other worlds. A place to look for pirates and storks.

Remembering the hero Horatio Nelson on a lovely circular walk along the River Avon near Downton.

This is another route right on the extremes of the county. It is mostly in Wiltshire apart from a short section in Somerset.

Long term followers of Hidden Wiltshire will know how much we like our bottoms. But a nice clump comes a close second.

Exploring Wilsford and Normanton Down in the ancient Stonehenge landscape, we contemplate V.S. Naipaul's Enigma of Arrival.

My destination was to be the little village of Ham and its beautifully simple church of All Saints.

Today we are walking in the hills above the valley in which one of our most beautiful rivers, the Wylye, rises.

This has been a very difficult blog to write. One which I very nearly didn’t write at all.

It’s easy to focus on the more obvious attractions of towns and cities during a visit, especially when they are as beautiful as this

A visit to All Saints Church in West Lavington, Wiltshire and its remarkable Whistler Window