Deterioration in the weather after day 9 meant I had to postpone the next section to the following week. I was able to travel easily back to Avebury via Swindon and the express bus X5 and had time to examine the village (church above) and the neolithic landscape again before walking along beside the dry bed of the River Kennet. Soon Silbury Hill came into view, but I decided not to climb it. It certainly has a mysterious air about it. There is a platform just below the summit and it must have been used for sightlines to points on the horizon or earlier monuments as most henges. When built it was faced entirely in chalk and would have been a stark and spectacular site for miles around. I had convinced myself that it aligned with Avebury at midwinter sunrise and that the priestly caste built a bonfire there at midwinter, so that from Avebury the sun appeared to rise out of it. But this is nonsense as it is almost due south. Where did I get this notion? Was it a dream?
Further on I climbed the hill to West Kennet long barrow, the oldest in the neolithic landscape and one of the finest – more impressive than Wayland’s smithy. It is a seven chambered barrow and fully open to view. A lady was circling it widdershins while chanting and banging sticks together: amazing how supersition clings to these places 4500 years later. The interior is very evocative.
Continuing along the Sarsen Way through East Kennet, I continued along the side of deep valley, missing the correct track and ending up in a covert full of startled pheasants. The OS map is ambiguous about the route and I came to an impassable fence and had to double back. This section is marked (historic font) Ridgeway so I feel my gut feeling is right about this being part of the route to Stonehenge. The modern Wessex Ridgeway goes further west in this area.
A little further on in a little wood I came across the Wansdyke. Here’s another mystery. It’s a substantial ditch and dyke defensive line (up to 6.5m from top of dyke to bottom of ditch) running right along ridge here and for many miles. Best guess is that it was a Romano-British defence against the invading Saxons after the Roman withdrawal, a major effort but soon abandoned. But no-one really knows. The name is a corruption of Woden’s dyke. As usual anything inexplicable to a new culture gets blamed on a deity or the devil.
A little further on and there are linear features on the hill opposite (Golden Ball Hill) that could be part of the Ridgeway, leading towards the neolithic camp at Knap Hill . Then a little further on is Walkers Hill with the Adam’s Grave long barrow (formerly Woden’s – there they go again!) , with further incised tracks known as the Cross Dyke, actually more of a ditch. I avoided climbing to the summit because a terrible violent squall came in from the west – lasting only a few minutes but proving my new waterproofs were a good investment. Great view nevertheless from the footpath that skirts the hill, watching as the squall moved on followed by clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine moments later. The route then carries on down a ridge to Alton Priors. I was surprised to notice on the map just east of the village another section of the ancient Ridgeway. From here a stream with extensive water meadows flows down to join the Avon at North Newnton: could this be the ancient route? Above this point the Avon is little more than a stream itself today.
A little further down the road and I came to the Kennet and Avon Canal and a little further along this to the Barge Inn for lunch. This turns out to be the centre of crop marking back in the 90s and is filled with memorabilia and an elaborate ceiling painting, complete with a flying saucer hanging from it, depicting crop circle designs, neolithic monuments and aliens. Funnily enough I met a man on the X5 bus who claimed to be one of the crop circle makers (not an alien) which he said were placed on ley lines and set out by an engineer from the local area.
From here the route was simple and the weather much improved for a five mile walk along the attractive wooded towpath to Pewsey for my overnight stay.
