Fonthill

 October 2026

We started in the direction of home and stopped at Fonthill for a morning walk  around the Fonthill Park estate in beautiful autumnal weather. Starting at the Beckford Arms (SP3 6PX) we walked clockwise around the estate through Fonthill Gifford, Stop Farm, stables, a grotto and back to the pub. There are plenty of signed tracks and it’s easy to create a walk of your chosen length. Look out for the Fonthill Arch and various grottos and beware a rather steep section just north of Stop Farm. 

John was thrilled by a dam and hydropower, then we took lunch in some luxury at the Beckford Arms in Fonthill. 

Yet another good walking trip though Mark’s unexpected return on Tuesday and Tim’s unwelcome steak pie plus various phone calls did take off some of the shine.

Salisbury

 October 2026

Miserable weather today. We appreciate the importance of rain after such a dry and hot summer but we could not cheerfully walk in it so we decided to take a bus to Salisbury where we spent much of the day in and around the majestic cathedral. It holds an original 1215 Magna Carta in a special exhibition. 

The cathedral has a very fine spire and is lofty and airy. We joined a well informed guide on an hour-long tour and saw many things we would have missed. I particularly liked the exquisite model of the cathedral in process of being built. 

A snack lunch then the adjacent museum has plenty of interest and we spot the grave and house “Arundells” of ex prime minister Edward Heath.

In the evening, having cancelled our booking elsewhere, we stayed in at The Grove and enjoyed our evening meal followed by a great quiz. We did well enough to win three packets of pork scratchings!

Shaftesbury

October 2026

Mark left us, feeling unwell, but we three walked from Ludwell into Shaftesbury, approximately 2.5 miles. Ludwell is in south Wiltshire (as is Salisbury) and Shaftesbury is in Dorset. 

We found several stiles to be challenging but overall the walk was pleasantly varied through farm land, fields, isolated houses and the built up edge of Shaftesbury. Lunch at The Mitre was very good (we enjoyed the coronation chicken and the pleasant waitress) plus a fine view over the hills.

Gold Hill, made famous by Ridley Scott’s Hovis advert, was a delight and the adjacent museum equally so.

Popping in to the Abbey grounds (the Abbey itself having been demolished by Henry VIII) we are met by a genial local reporter for Alfred local radio who quizzes us on our impressions of Shaftesbury – which we are pleased to give. You can hear it here https://thisisalfred.com/podcast/the-alfred-daily-8th-october-2026/ (Listen from 43.50 to 48.00)

We return by a partly different route though we can’t avoid the tricky stiles.

Supper at the Benett Arms in Semley. Approaching the village, on single track roads in near total darkness we find the road closed, necessitating a retreat and a long diversion.

The steak pie has pastry like mdf and Tim can’t finish it. Worse, it revisits him overnight. There is little atmosphere in the pub and we leave early, returning to the Grove for a final pint. 

It promises to rain tomorrow morning so we may reconsider our walking plans.

Dorset & Wiltshire Border

October 2026

John drove us to the Woolpack Inn at Totford for lunch, followed by 3.7-mile circular walk in the Candover Valley (WW4903). From Totford (SO24 9TJ) we walked clockwise up to Brown Candover (The Wayfarers Walk) then turned south at Moth Farm, west along the Oxdrove Way then south again on the Wayfarers Walk back to the Woolpack.

 It’s further than you think from home in Cambridge when driving takes in the M25 but we experience no hold ups and this walk is a useful break on the way to just outside Shaftesbury. The Candover Valley walk is suitably varied in warm weather and our sandwich lunch is substantial.

After lunch we headed on to The Grove Arms in Ludwell, where we were staying for the next three nights.

The Grove Arms is welcoming, providing double rooms and a single. Evening meal is good.

South Downs, Shere and Gomshall

 May 2026

A bit away from the South Downs, actually, but on our way home to Cambridgeshire.

We started from the village of Shere, between Guildford and Dorking. The circular walk of just 3.5 miles, (Walking World 2953) offered extensive views, including the North Downs. 

It also led us past the church of St James, Shere. There was almost certainly a Saxon church here, but the current church of St James dates to around 1190 and is cruciform in plan. The church is approached up a cobbled lane, through a lych gate designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1902.

For lunch we visited Gomshall Mill, which offered a wide range of menus.

Our trip home was, predictably, slow, as it so often is on the M25 on a Friday.

To round off another very good few days walking and talking, John produced a map showing where we have stayed, approximately south of The Wash, over the years - as an aid to deciding where to go next. Any great areas that we might have missed? Where next?

South Downs, Cissbury Ring

 May 2026

Thursday was our day at the Cissbury Ring.

The mighty earthwork of Cissbury Ring has a history going back over 5,000 years, yet still stands out and provides a broad panorama from its crown. It has been a neolithic flint mine, a bronze age burial site, an iron age hill fort, a Roman mint, a Tudor vantage point, a Victorian archaeology site and a second world war gun emplacement.

Lunch was at the Black Horse at Findon.

Supper was at the Five Bells, West Chiltington.

South Downs, Amberley

May 2026

 On Wednesday we constructed our various breakfasts in the spacious kitchen and headed out into the South Downs National Park.

Today we walked from North Stoke to Amberley by way of St Mary The Virgin, North Stoke, which was certainly worth a visit for its medieval wall paintings.

... in delightful, if rather windy, weather. 

For lunch we ate at the Amberley Bridge Inn, where the car park was scintillating with highly polished and powerful motor bikes, mainly of the Harley Davidson style.

In the afternoon we found the Amberley Working Museum, which was excellent, like a smaller version of the Beamish Museum in County Durham. Here were old household utensils, a print works, steam engines, leather and wood working sheds and a working smithy. We took a narrow gauge train to the far end and caught a coach coming back even though it was all easily walkable. Recommended!

John alights from the narrow gauge shunter

After tea and rest hour back at Nutbourne we returned to The Sportsman at Amberley for supper.