Castle Combe, Bybrook River, Long Dean and Ford

Castle Combe's magnificent church of St Andrew dates back to the 12th century. Old stone cottages cluster around the 14th-century market cross and rows of weavers' cottages stand beside the Bybrook River which powered the fulling mills in medieval times. Today the village contains more restaurants and inns than industry.

The nearby settlement of Long Dean is very small — a handful of cottages set in a remote valley, virtually unspoiled. It looks as if they are straight from the pages of a Thomas Hardy novel. The houses are linked by an old stony track, overgrown with grass, and their flower-filled gardens contrast with the dark wooded hillsides.

From the tiny hamlet of Long Dean the path leads south-west on a course virtually parallel to the Bybrook River. Eventually it leads to the small and pretty village of Ford which lies beside the A420 road, at a distance of four miles west of Chippenham and eleven miles east of Bristol. It is a busy road at times so it is fortunate that you leave its side a few strides from where you arrived.

Further on in the walk, it is possible to see the site of the Roman villa of Truckle Hill. It is off the route, but to visit it follow the track that leads off the North Wraxall Road. Just over one mile west of Truckle Hill runs the Fosse Way, the great Roman road that crosses the Cotswolds and connects Lincoln with Bath.

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