The Ridgeway: Overton Hill to Ogbourne St George

For much of its route, The Ridgeway National Trail follows part of an ancient track, the Great Ridgeway, which once ran from Dorset to Norfolk and which has been dubbed ‘the oldest road’ in Britain. It is impossible to walk the track without feeling that the division between past and present has been worn thin by the tramp of countless feet over the thousands of years of its use. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about The Ridgeway is the mere fact of its survival as a green track. It winds its way through some of the most intensively farmed parts of England and yet is enormously wide.

The start of The Ridgeway is distinctly low-key; an unpretentious track running north from the busy A4 on Overton Hill, marked with a signpost carrying the National Trail acorn symbol, the first of many to be seen along the route. In fact, for those wishing for a more romantic starting point, it is quite possible to start the walk within the great stone circle at Avebury and then join The Ridgeway some 2 miles (3.2km) further on by means of an equally ancient track known as Herepath or Green Street.

If, however, the official start point has been chosen, then before setting out for Ivinghoe Beacon (should you do all eight walks in this series) cross the A4 to inspect the site of the Sanctuary, a double stone circle dating from 2,000BC and destroyed in 1724, but which provides a good viewpoint for some of the Avebury monuments.

From the car park, The Ridgeway begins a steady ascent to the crest of the Downs, to meet with Green Street as it climbs up from Avebury.

A right turn here will lead you to Fyfield Down, a remarkable remnant of ancient downland which has
been described as the ‘best preserved accessible large tract of ancient landscape in Wessex’. The Ridgeway itself continues northwards.

It eventually meets the first crossing of a metalled road above the Hackpen White Horse, which tradition maintains was cut in 1838 by the parish clerk and a local publican to celebrate Queen Victoria’s coronation. The Trail begins to swing eastwards at this point and before long the ramparts of Barbury
Castle, a hill fort with a long and violent history, rear up ahead.

Just to the west of the hill fort The Ridgeway parts company for a while with the route of the prehistoric trackway and, preferring higher ground and less tarmac, goes over Barbury Castle
before swinging south towards Ogbourne St George. Ahead lies one of the most dramatic sections
of the whole route, where the track undulates along the narrow back of Smeathe’s Ridge, giving
a feeling of unexpected airiness. The views to both sides are extensive; Liddington Castle, another Iron Age fort, to the north and the Downs stretching away into haziness to the south. Approach the edge of Ogbourne St George