Hi Everyone,
Requests for Guided Walks are one of the messages that we receive most often at Our Chosen Hill.
With this in mind, I put together a series of different maps and suggested walks during 2022, to help those of you who would like a little help exploring the Hill and surrounding area.
As you might already guess, arranging to meet up for walks at a time which suits everyone isn’t always easy. So, although we may try and arrange a longer guided walk later this year – perhaps on the basis of something like The Old Elm Inn & Wheatstone Inn Loop – I thought I might try and record some of my own walks in map form, for those of you who are interested to try.
This walk is approximately 3 miles in length and will take around 1.75 – 2 hours, depending on how quickly you walk and how much time you need to stop and take in the views and/or take pictures etc.
The Route (Clockwise):
The walk begins at the Car Park (4) Then heads down Jesse Purnell’s Way into the Bluebell Woods (29). Following The Lower Circular Walk around to The Buckled Gate (M), the walk then follows Stump Lane past Fairy Door No.1 (a), The Tumps (28), Jack Morris (b)[Please note that Jack hasn’t returned from his Winter break at time of writing!], The Golden Egg (c)to Buscombe Noake (9). Following The Lower Circular Walk a little longer, the walk then heads down the Hill to Zoons Court (10) and then heads along the path to Whitticombe Arch & Pirton, to the Footbridge (Q). Heading back up, the walk then follows the field boundary along the bottom and up to the Corner of The New Woods (16). Going up the Pirton End of The New Woods, the walk then rejoins The Lower Circular Walk going anti-clockwise, until it reaches the path from Buscombe Noake to Tinkers Hill, which it follows to and up the Wet Steps (ws), and then along The Soldiers Walk (sw) to Fairy Door No. 5 and Five Ways Meet (g). The Final leg of Walk No. 6 takes in The Trig Point (8), The Old Radio Mast (7) and The New Radio Mast (6) before passing the Car Park (4) and then doing a loop of The Parish Burial Ground (3), passing The Vergers Cottage (2) and then St. Bartholomew’s Church (1) before ending at The Car Park (4).
Here are some pictures from the walk (All taken on Sunday 5th March 2023):
There are 5 Maps already available which you can download as PDFs without charge.
Walk No. 6 is pretty much the same to walk anti-clockwise in terms of difficulty. This is a walk for the Summer months or when the ground is dry, as it passes through some of the most difficult parts of Chosen Hill’s path network in the Winter and wet months.
There are steps and some very tight gateways along this walk. It isn’t suitable for push chairs or anyone who might find uneven ground difficult to walk on. Appropriate walking footwear is always advisable.
The first version of the Map isn’t perfect, but I wanted to get something posted for those of you who are thinking of things to do – bearing in mind just how good the paths are for the time of year! (5 March 2023) – and that this walk will provide a different route to take in some of the best areas to see The Chosen Hill Bluebells when they appear in the next few weeks.
Enjoy!