Walbury Hill, Combe, Buttermere, Ham Hill, Inkpen Hill and Gallows Hill

From the ridge, you can look down on a sheltered hollow where a farm sits protected from the weather. The path leads along the edge of the escarpment and passes through a gap marking the entrance to the Iron Age hill fort of Walbury Hill, emerging amidst grain fields and a small stand of beech trees.

An old holloway leads down from the windswept expanses of the downs to the hamlet of Combe, featuring local flint and brick architecture. The village church of St Swithin (begun in 1160) features 17th-century tombstones, a Saxon font bowl, and a 1430 bell. The route then continues through Combe Wood and Buttermere Wood to the tiny hamlet of Buttermere and its simple flint church of St James the Great.

The final part of the walk follows a path along the escarpment offering wide views over the Kennet Valley. Ham Hill is a designated SSSI nature reserve rich in spring orchids and butterflies, followed by Inkpen Hill and its dew pond (Wigmoreash Pond). The route finishes at the high point of Gallows Down, home to a Neolithic Long Barrow and the grim shape of Combe Gibbet.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.