Celebrating 50 years of The Ridgeway
Have you noticed signs for the Ridgeway when walking in the Chilterns? Ever wondered about where it goes?
The Ridgeway National Trail is part of Britain’s oldest road and follows the same route over the high ground used since prehistoric times by travelers, herdsmen and soldiers. The path is in a surprisingly remote part of southern central England with views over open countryside form much of its length of 87 miles (139 km) from Overton Hill near the Avebury Stone Circle World Heritage Site in the North Wessex Downs AONB to Ivinghoe Beacon in the Chilterns AONB.
2023 is the 50th anniversary of The Ridgeway National Trail, so what better way to honour the route so many of our walks cross over than walk the whole thing! Starting at the eastern end in our familiar patch, we walked the first few sections in day walks and the sections towards the end as a weekend away.
Our Ridgeway Walks
1. Ivinghoe Beacon to Wendover
23 keen walkers tackled the 12 mile a familiar route between Ivinghoe Beacon and Wendover via Pistone Hill, the Grand Union Canal and Tring, before skirting around the edge of Wendover Woods and down into Wendover for a well-deserved stop at the pub. For a change, we took the group photo right at the start from Ivinghoe Beacon to commemorate kicking this walk off. A special thanks to everyone for being so helpful with the carpooling at the start and end ❤️
Download gpx Ridgeway 1. Ivinghoe Beacon to Wendover
2. Wendover to Chinnor
A fantastic day of walking from Wendover to Chinnor through some of the most picturesque but undulating bits of the route - even if it started off a bit soggy!! Count of number of slips in the mud enroute: 8 🤣 We walked up Coombe Hill, Chequer's Knap and Whiteleaf Hill, with a quick pub stop at The Plough at Caddesden to give us energy to climb the latter. Skirting around Princes Risborough to enjoy the second part of the walk through more open countryside, enjoying scenic views over the countryside. Finally, we head into woodland beneath The Cop and the Warren and onto the final straight to Chinnor. Thanks to everyone who turned up today to do the walk, I think everyone was questioning their life choices when it was hammering it down at the start but WOW were we rewarded with sun and stunning views after a couple of hours 🙌😍
Download gpx Ridgeway 2. Wendover to Chinnor
3. Chinnor to Wallingford
We tackled the longest section of all. What's even better than a 16 mile walk with 18 of the loveliest people (plus 2 dogs) you could possibly ask for as walk buddies? 🥾 ☀️A sunny one with surprise bluebells, of course! We headed further along the Ridgeway via Aston Rowant nature reserve, around the edge of Watlington Hill and then through a gorgeous mixture of open countyside and small woodlands before picking up the cheerfully named Grim's Ditch and heading into Wallingford. 😍 Thanks to everyone who came on part 3 of the Ridgeway in Reverse (Chinnor to Wallingford) today! ✅ That's the longest section done, 4 left to go!
Download gpx Ridgeway 3. Chinnor to Wallingford
4. Wallingford to Bury Down
The fourth section, saw us tackle 15 miles but a relatively flat section from Wallingford to Bury Down. The first half was a gentle stroll along the river. We set out of Wallingford towards the south, where the Ridgeway follows the Thames for several miles through the villages of North Stoke and South Stoke where we enjoyed lunch and carried on until the charming villages of Goring and Streatley. The second half was a somewhat more challenging section as the shade disappeared and the heat intensified, but we made it! Thanks to The Bull Inn at Streatley for quenching our thirst before heading out over Thurle Down, where we gained a bit of height to enjoy further-reaching views. The rolling hills and downs continued until we reached a car park directly on The Ridgeway at Bury Down. 🥳 Thanks to everyone who came and looking forward to seeing you on Section number five. Forgot to get a group pic so enjoy a picture of the view.
Download gpx Ridgeway 4. Wallingford to Bury Down
5. Bury Down to Uffington White Horse
This section really puts the "ridge" in Ridgeway. Starting right on the ridge, we set off from Bury Down carpark just before the rain set in and headed west for a steady 12.5 miles along a stunning but remote part of the Ridgeway. We walked parallel to Grim's Ditch before passing right by the remains of Segsbury Camp, an iron-age hill fort and enjoying glorious views over the equally cheerfully named Devil's Punchbowl. Finally, we'll continue along the open ridge until reaching Whitehorse Hill, where we can admire the famous Bronze-Age chalk horse and the Iron Age hillfort known as Uffington Castle. The picture was taken at mile 13 where the rain had most definitely soaked us. What a hardy and cheerful bunch of people, thanks so much for joining us.
Download gpx Ridgeway 5. Wallingford to Uffington White Horse
6. Uffington White Horse to Ogbourne St. George
The sixth section and seventh section were walked in single weekend for the last 26 miles of the Ridgeway, starting at Uffington White Horse on Saturday morning and reaching Overton (official end) and onto Avebury (a more scenic end) at 4.30 on Sunday. Taking the undulating route from the Uffington White Horse through to the charming village of Ogbourne St. George on Saturday. Largely limescale track, we passed Wayland's Smithy, a neolithic long barrow dating back to at least 1590 BC. We continued west, passing between Charlbury and Fox Hills respectively, before crossing the M4 (finally!) and ambling past the remains of Liddington Castle fort and finally through the downs until reaching Ogbourne-St-George, our stopping point for day six.
Download Ridgeway 6. Uffington White Horse to Ogbourne St. George
7. Ogbourne St. George to Overton Hill and Avebury
The final section set off from Ogbourne St George and went through a mixture of arable land, changing colour with the seasons, and areas of sheep or cattle grazed grassland. Some of the best views are from Smeathe’s Ridge as you ascend from Ogbourne St. George to Barbury Castle Iron Age fort, that we walked past enroute. The final few miles offer glorious views across Avebury Down. Once reaching the official end/start point of The Ridgeway National Trail at Overton Hill (and celebrated!) we headed back the way we came before heading over to Avebury, site of the remains of Avebury stone circle and back to our cars to return home, having conquered The Ridgeway and then some! 🌼 We were blessed with perfect weather on both days and although we've all got some sore legs and everyone was delighted to have ticked that off the bucket list . We're happy to have celebrated 50 years of #theridgewaynationaltrail in style 😊
Download gpx Ridgeway 7. Ogbourne St. George to Overton
Ridgeway Map and gpx files
With a few extra diversions (most of them intentional)