The Alluvial Floodplains of Lacock

Yesterday, the Long Walkers walked from Lacock to the southern outskirts of Chippenham and back, passing Lacock Abbey and Queen Camilla’s house, walking along the towpath of the Wilts & Berks Canal and through a new park being constructed at Rowden Hill, Chippenham, before returning via Lacock itself to the National Trust car park. There were 6 of us (4 lads, 2 lasses).

In this instance, it would be appropriate to drop the second syllable in Lacock (to form “lake”). Indeed, it would make any future trip to Cumbria unnecessary and we have our very own Lake District nearer to hand in Wiltshire. No amount of pre-walking of the route could have prepared us for what we encountered yesterday.

One thing we had on our side: it didn’t rain (except for a few spots) for our entire walk, and for much of the way it was warm and sunny.

Having decided to initially take the road instead our first footpath across the fields, our adventure started for real, when we crossed the bridge over the swollen river and commenced our first amphibious crossing of the local terrain. We soon found out whose boots were waterproof and whose weren’t. We had to divert slightly from our pre-planned route, and below is an example of what we encountered.

None of us were inclined to wade across, so we went across a field with some very friendly horses to a nice dry country lane. One of the horses seem to be determined to find out if I had some lunch in my backpack (which I did), and the other walkers were glad it didn’t choose to pursue them.

We squelched our way to the canal path where we were rewarded with significantly more conventional walking terrain. At the end of the canal section, it was interesting to see the ongoing reconstruction of a flight of locks.

From there we proceeded uneventfully along well-made paths to the Westmead Open Space on the southern outskirts of Chippenham. Our route was planned to take us along the path by the river under Avenue La Fleche, across a footbridge and back along the equivalent path the other side. Alas, it was not to be, and again none of us were again prepared to wade across.

As you can see, I had a map with me, so what could go wrong? It was a section of OS map with all the public footpaths clearly marked and, of course, fully maintained by the local council. So we scrambled up the bank to the road, crossed the bridge, went down an official public footpath to other side and then came back onto road again a few minutes later. The footpath had degenerated into what is best described as an island covered in stinging nettles.

Not to be discouraged, we found an alternative route through a nearby housing estate, and the continuation of the previously-mentioned public footpath, which was clearly marked with a sign post. However, it would have been helpful if the sign could also have been marked, “Wild geese this way”. Needless to say, it degenerated into a dead end of stinging nettles, and we found ourselves back in the labyrinth that was the previous housing estate. Fortunately, I had an OpenStreetMap app on my phone, and this showed us the way to the correct road where the proper footpath left the estate. It was here where the new park at Rowden Hill is being constructed and, although it now looked somewhat different to when we pre-walked it on that hot Saturday in September, new footpaths had been constructed, and it was easy to find our way through and out the other side to where we all sat on a log and had lunch (amongst the cow pats – the less said, the better).

After lunch and with renewed vigour, we embarked on the final scenic part of our walk, along the meadows by the river back to Lacock. Alas once more, having circumvented the lakes the best we could, we came to what had been a tiny trickle of a stream in September, and what was now best described as an impassable river. At this point it was decided to head to the relative safety of the road network. On the map, we found a footpath which lead there with minimal backtracking and no streams (rivers) to cross, and set off in that direction.

Was this the end of our mini adventure? Oh, no! What we encountered next can be best summed up in the following two words: Crest Nicholson. The path ended abruptly at a security fence, but there was a way in, and we found it. To say that finding our way through from here was not completely straightforward, may be viewed a slight understatement. Nevertheless, we enjoyed posing as potential property investors as we walked a strictly marked-out “safe” route.

We left on the main road entry to the estate, and it was here that we encountered our final challenge. The whole estate was surrounded by security fence, including across the entry road which was secured with a padlock and chain. We stood around feeling somewhat flummoxed until one of our group – who was clearly a distant relative of the great Houdini – worked out a way to lift up the corners of the fencing where they met as far as waist height, and we all made our escape by going through underneath.

A bit disappointed, but glad the difficult bit was over, we made our way along the B4643 and then 0nto the A350 as far as the turning to Reybridge, where we went down the lane there to re-join our original route. Walking the final part through the backstreets of Lacock, we were glad to make it back to our cars. However, whilst it felt that we made big detours, we still only did around 10 miles, which was only a mile or so longer than originally planned.

I think most of us were glad we made the attempt and didn’t cancel the walk, even though it didn’t go as planned. But what is being part of a group like this if it doesn’t involve the occasional challenging adventure? (All within the bounds of keeping safe, or course.)