Walks & Rides

Leaving the Silks turn right and walk along the main road until you reach the end of the houses on the opposite side of the road. Crossing the road carefully follow the short lane up to join the railway path that runs from Swindon to Marlborough. Turn right and follow the path until you go through a gap in a wooden fence (you will see a small rise in the path in front of you over what used to be a bridge). Turn right and follow the track back down to the main road.

Crossing the road again you enter the hamlet of Ogbourne Maizey. As you pass an open field on your right, at the far corner you will come across a kissing gate. Turn right through this gate (kissing optional) and follow the path across the field heading back in the direction of Ogbourne St Andrew. Having crossed this field, go through the gate under the line of trees and cross the next field. You will pass behind a small barn to another gate which will lead you down a path between a fence and a hedge. This path opens out onto a small lane. Cross this and follow the path opposite. You will cross the end of another lane, carry on and enter the gate to the churchyard. Continue through the churchyard and turn right onto the lane, reaching a small triangle of grass. Turn left and follow the road through the village. The road turns right and crosses the river Og. Follow this road up to the main road and cross it again (be careful).

Follow the track opposite and turn right onto the railway path again. Follow this until you cross a drive into a house, the railway path continues slightly to the left. You will pass behind a row of houses and at the end is the lane that you took at the start up from the main road. Follow this down, cross the road and stop in at the pub for a well earned drink!

Turn left out of the pub and left at the war memorial into the village. The road will turn right, follow it round to a small triangle of grass. Turn left here and walk past the church on a lane. Continue on this lane, passing various houses until the lane passes a pond and stops at a barn.

Turn left here and walk along a track (muddy after rain), past hedgerow on the right until you reach a large tree. Opposite the tree is a stile into the field on your left. Head straight up the steep hill (with the tree at your back) to a stile at the top of the hill. This field often contains horses so please keep your dogs on a lead. Climb this and head right a few feet to join a track.

Turn left and follow this all the way down into the village. You will reach a road junction (you passed this previously) — continue straight on to the memorial and back to the pub.

Turn left out of the pub and left at the war memorial into the village. The road will turn right, follow it round to a small triangle of grass. Do not turn down towards the church (unless you fancy looking at the long barrow in the graveyard) but continue along the lane. When the lane turns right, ignore the turn and keep straight ahead along a grassy lane which soon narrows to a path. After a period under trees, it opens out.

Follow the path for a while with fields on both sides. It reaches a junction with a lane coming up from the right. Turn right down this lane, follow it as it winds through the hamlet of Southend and eventually reaches the main road. Cross over carefully and take the track opposite. It gently climbs until it crosses the Swindon to Marlborough Railway path.

Turn right here and head back in the direction of Ogbourne St Andrew. Keep following this path, passing through a left/right dogleg until you pass behind a set of houses. At the end of the row of houses, take the track on your right which descends to the main road. Cross over and head right back towards the pub.

Turn left out of the pub and left at the war memorial into the village. The road will turn right, ignore this and carry on down the lane ahead of you. At the end of a hedge on your left (and before the entrance to the stables) take the path on your left that passes between the back of houses and the stables. You will reach a gate, continue on the path across the field (the fields are used for horses and livestock so please control your dog appropriately). You will go through another gate into a smaller field and then pass through a kissing gate into the village of Ogbourne Maizey.

Turn right and follow the road, which nearly immediately turns left. Continue through the village and at the point that the road turns right and ascends carry on straight ahead through the stables. The footpath soon opens and you will cross fields before appearing at the back of a parking lay-by on the main road. Bear left in the lay-by and, as you reach the main road, you will see a field gate on the opposite side of the road.

Cross carefully, go through the gate and bear left. You will shortly reach the Swindon to Marlborough Railway path. Turn left and follow this until you reach a row of houses. Take the track on your left before these houses back down to the main road. Cross over and head right to the pub.

Turn left out of the pub and left at the war memorial into the village. The road will turn right, ignore this and carry on down the lane ahead of you. You will pass the entrance to a stables on your left, the lane becomes more of a track which heads up the hill. Follow this uphill for about a kilometre until you reach a clump of trees. The main track turns left here — follow this passing a solitary tree on your left and another clump on the right. As the track turns left, continue on a few paces and turn right and you will see three posts with white marks on and a path that heads up the right side of a set of gallops. Follow this path keeping the gallops on your left and the row of trees on your right. These gallops are used by racehorses so please keep your dogs under control and stick to the path.

Follow this path until it opens up with a wider track joining from your left. Just through the gate on your right is a bench if you fancy just sitting down and enjoying the view. From the path continue straight ahead following the wider track. At the next junction of three tracks turn left and follow this wide track until you reach a field gate / pedestrian gate on your left. Go through this and cross the gallops (having checked for racehorses first!) and you will reach a path on the far side that heads left.

Follow this until you reach a wider track. Turn right here and follow the tree lined track (Green Lane) all the way downhill into the village of Ogbourne Maizey. Where the track reaches the road, continue on until you reach a kissing gate on your left into a field. Cross this field, go through a gate and across the next field. Through another gate, taking a narrow path between the back of some gardens and a stables until you pop out on a metalled track. Turn right here and follow the road back towards the main road. Turn right and you are back at the pub.

Turn left out of pub then left across river Og to Ogbourne St Andrew village. The road bears right and passes the village church (with Neolithic barrow in churchyard) on the left. Continue ahead following the road round with houses on right and then left. You will reach the A346.

Cross the road (carefully) and follow the track straight ahead for short distance to reach old railway line and turn left. In 1 km you will pass a picnic table and will then cross over Ridgeway long distance path* and continue along the old railway line until it reaches a minor tarmac road. Turn sharp right onto the road and climb 1 km to the high point just before Bytham Farm on the left. The byway now passes through 250 m of trees and, at end, fork right onto a bridleway and descend for 600 m to a byway crossing.

Turn right onto byway and climb to a high point on ridge before a steep descent (can be muddy and slippery when wet) to reach the old railway line again. Turn right onto old railway for 350 m and just before the cottages on the left, turn left down a short track to the A346. Cross the road and head right to return to the Silks for a well-deserved drink.

* You can turn right here and ascend the Ridgeway path, turning right onto the road when the Ridgeway reaches it. This saves nearly 1 km of walking but is a steeper climb on a muddier track.

Turn right out of the pub and walk along the main road for a short distance until you see a track on the opposite side at the end of a row of houses. Cross the road carefully, head up this track and turn right at the top. You are on the Chiseldon to Marlborough railway path.

Continue on this path for approximately 3.5 km until you reach a Millennium Milepost with distances to Swindon, Cirencester, Marlborough and Bristol on it. Turn left off the railway path, head down the residential lane (Barnfield), turn left at the bottom, walk under the old railway bridge (you have just walked over this) and follow this road until you reach the Roebuck pub.

Carry on along the main road in roughly the same direction until you reach two mini roundabouts. Turn right here, cross the river Kennet, pass the petrol station, use the zebra crossing to cross the road and bear left into the Parade. You’ll see the Parade cinema across the parade and our route bears right and heads up to a junction with the town hall opposite and Marlborough high street stretching out to your left.

Make your way down one of the widest high streets in the country on one side and come back on the other so that you end up on the north side of the town hall at the bottom of Kingsbury Street. Head up Kingsbury Street (steep!) until you reach Marlborough Common at the top of the hill. Follow the road round to the right and where it meets the main road, cross over (take care) and take the road opposite. Turn right down Laineys Close, taking the first left which will deliver you into Coldharbour Lane. Turn right and head down the hill.

At the bottom, cross over the road and continue in the same direction into Stonebridge Lane (you will pass Vicarage Close on your left). This takes you into Stonebridge Nature Reserve. Continue on but just as you reach buildings, turn left just before them and follow the path through the nature reserve. After passing behind some industrial units on your left, the path will bend left, head up to some trees and cross the river Og. Having crossed the river head left towards a gate by a road. There is a sign (Rabley Barn Arts Centre) pointing to a smaller road opposite.

Take this smaller road and shortly after this take the lane on your left (signpost says private road) and follow this for roughly 2 kilometres with the river Og occasionally visible on your left and horse paddocks on your right. At a line of trees the path turns 90 degrees to the right and heads up to rejoin the railway line path you walked down at the start of this walk (if you want to take this route, turn left to head back to the pub). At the 90 degree turn another path continues on a short distance to appear on the main road opposite a large layby.

Crossing the main road carefully, through a gap in the hedge at the back of the layby is another path. This heads off to the right, crosses part of the Og at a line of trees and continues ahead to bring you into the back of a set of stables and the village of Ogbourne Maizey. Follow the road straight ahead, it turns sharp right and shortly after you will see a white kissing gate on your left. Pass through this, cross the field, through the gate and across a second larger field (keep your dogs under control — often horses and/or livestock).

A gate at the end will lead you down a narrow passage to appear on a metalled track. Turn right here and you will shortly join another road — keep heading in the same direction and you will appear at the war memorial on the main road. Turn right and the Silks awaits for a much deserved reward.

Turn right out of pub, in 50 m cross main road to take path at end of cottages up to disused railway line and turn right. In half an hour or so you will pass under a double bridge (road bridge and pedestrian bridge) with a sign to Wiltshire Cycle Path on the right. Stay on old railway line for another 200 m where a footpath crosses. Take the footpath left which drops down steps in the side of the embankment. Follow this footpath, initially with a stream on your right, to the end of the field on your left where a footpath comes in from your left. Go through gate and continue between houses to the end of Church Lane. Go through lychgate and pass the church on your left — one of the few which still contains its Georgian fixtures and fittings.

Go round church and through gate into field. Cross two fields, aiming for hut in corner of sports field. Go through gate by hut and turn left along the side of sports field and through gate onto road. Cross road and fork left up Thicketts Road, pass the fine old chapel on the right (now a private residence). In 500 m when road levels, take bridleway on left. Follow this along edge of wood. After about 1 km the fence on your left will end and you walk along the edge of a field; shortly after you will see a gate on the right. Go through this and across field to another gate. Go through and follow path left until it joins a byway. Turn right and walk downhill to join another byway and turn left to walk uphill for 600 m to join a minor road with cluster of agricultural buildings to your left.

There is a gate opposite into the field, cross the field, bearing slightly left, to a gate. Turn right on track and a few metres later go left through the gap in the strip of woods and cross the next field to come out on a track. Take the byway opposite which rises to the high point of the walk (221 m — there is a disused trig point hidden in undergrowth a few metres down the path on the right) and then drops steeply down, with great views over Ogbourne, to meet the old railway line. Cross over it to reach the main road. Cross the road very carefully and head down the minor road opposite (Wet Pits Lane). Follow the road as it turns left and pass the church (with Neolithic barrow in churchyard) on your right. Follow road as it turns left again to cross the Og just before you reach the main road again. Turn right and return to Silks for a well-deserved drink.

These longer routes sit on the downs around the Silks — tracks, grass paths and some lanes, often muddy after rain. Expect livestock, other walkers, riders and cyclists; keep dogs under control and on a lead near gallops, livestock and road crossings. Written step-by-steps for these are still being gathered — ask in the pub for local tips, or explore via the cycling collections below which share some of the same tracks.