Yes, really.  I just did another walk…back to back with the West Highland Way.  However, due to time restraints, it was just to be part of a long distance trail called The Ridgeway, which runs west to east in the south of England.  In Scotland, the thistle is the national symbol used to show the way on national trails.  In England it was the acorn that lead us across almost 50 miles of ancient rolling countryside.

Nikki at the start of the walk

My sister-in-law, Nikki, has long thought about doing a long distance walk and this year carved a window of time from her busy life to do a walk with me.  I managed to schedule it in too with all our comings and goings this summer, so the same day as I returned from Scotland, Nikki and I set off to Avebury in Wiltshire to start our journey.

Map of the whole Ridgeway. We traveled from Avebury to Goring in four days which is just under 50 miles.

Unlike the Coast 2 Coast Walk or the West Highland Way, this trail was not as wild or as difficult.  The rolling downs made the going easier, which left more time to explore many of the ancient castles, ruins and burial grounds that the area is famous for.  Everyone’s heard of Stonehenge (which is also in Wiltshire on nearby Salisbury Plain) but the county has many less famous, but equally interesting historical sites, which were ours to explore.  More to follow….

Stonehenge – not on our itinerary but very much part of the ancient history we were to explore