Date walked: 10th February 2014
Distance: About 8 miles
Map used:OS Explorer 130: Salisbury and Stonehenge
There are no facilities of any kind on the path but there are shops in Wilton.
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Inserted out of sequence but I thought I’d start off with a nice woodland pic.
In what proved to be the wettest winter on record (and our weather records go back a very long way), the sensible walker might heed the cry: “Take to the hills!”. The river Avon running through Salisbury had flooded several riverside paths, so I was grateful for Christopher Somerville’s book “Britain and Ireland’s Best Wild Places”, where he recommends The Grovely Woods Ridgeway.
This ancient woodland about 4 miles from Salisbury rises to no more than 600 feet but I reckoned that this height, combined with the fact that its surface geology is a free draining chalk with flints would be enough to keep me from the worst of the floods.
I drove to Wilton, leaving my car near the Victorian built but Romanesque styled church of St Mary and St Nicholas (more impressive out than in).
I should have included the 105 feet campanile in the picture.
Just past the tunnel under the railway the nearby river Wylye had flooded the road .
It had re-opened by the time I had finished the walk!
I took the somewhat slippery footpath that rises up towards the woods and which quickly gave me a view over the extent to which the river had transgressed its banks.
Nice conditions if you are a duck.
My route followed the most majestic double avenue of mature beech past Ugford Red Buildings (called Red, I presumed, due to its construction from brick) and then split off and narrowed as it approached the edge of the wood.
Sorry about the car, but it adds a sense of scale.
I had intended to make for the First Broad Drive which on the map runs a straight course through the middle of the woods for nearly two miles until it reaches Grovely Lodge. Sommerville suggests that it has been used as a thoroughfare for 7,000 years, and the OS map records it being used as a Roman Road. But on the ground the labyrinth of paths combined with map reading laziness on my part took me along a more or less parallel route to the south of the main highway next to, initially, Grims Ditch.
I think you can just about make out the ditch here.
The woods are clearly being actively managed. In amongst tall oaks are large areas of hazel coppice and some of the more mature trees show evidence of coppicing.
Classic example of coppiced hazel
In fact records from 1603 declare there to have been 14 distinct coppiced areas in the woods as a whole.
Here, several quite large yews
I was struck by how different some parts of the wood were from another, some parts dominated by mature stands of sun blocking conifers, others more open and coppiced and others still highly populated with Yew.
And here, a dense stand of conifer
The recent storms had taken their toll on some tall trees, their chalky bottoms exposing their shallow roots.
With such shallow roots its a wonder that they stand up at all.
A crossroads in the broad tracks was marked by a small hut of concrete, its purpose obscure and I was none the wiser for having a look inside. A sentry box might be the obvious guess, but in what context?
Anyone got inside knowledge?
I took the right turn the path passing through an open field (though still lined by trees) to reach a group of buildings near Grovely Lodge.
Not apparently a British Native.
Over to my left a small trespass into the land attached to a cottage was rewarded by the sight of masses of snowdrops. This was the most minor deviation and I was then back on the Second Broad Drive. This section had certainly been tarmacked at some time, though the surface now is mostly degraded to firm gravel.
Dark and mossy and today making me feel slightly oppressed
On either side were stands of conifer and these combined with the leaden skies that were beginning to rain were somewhat depressing and led me to turn off left after a mile or so and follow a way marked path through Baverstock Long Coppice heading for more open countryside.
Not the most remarkable scenery but a nice open view
I emerged by a field that had been cleared of its crop of maize revealing its flinty soil.
Flint is beautiful stuff. Smooth, hard, multicoloured, sharp as glass when broken
I was glad to have more light and some views to the gently undulating countryside. The path follows the edge of a narrow strip of woods that were clearly used to shelter and feed a pheasant population.
They were far too quick to skidaddle for me to get a picture
Birds scattered and took to the air as I passed, squawking noisily in alarm, abandoning temporarily their patrol of the metal drum feeding stations.
At the bottom of the field I turned east and briefly joined the route of the Monarch’s Way……
…… leaving it as it headed back into Grovely Wood and keeping instead to a wide chalky track shown on the map as Ox Drove.
The route is thought to be pre-roman but I don’t know about archaeological evidence
This easy path rises and falls as it passes the edge of outlying parts of the larger woodland. Attached to a tree a small faded white sign with “ABA” written on it provided a mystery.
All theories welcome
The path passes under a double line of crackling and buzzing cables, strung between wooden poles.
Why do these high voltage lines make such an evil noise?
I peered up half expecting to see sparks emanating from these powerful totems.
The path did become muddy in parts and occasional pools of water reflected the passing clouds, but they were easily side-stepped.
On one side of the track a silo (Containing what? To provide for what? ).
And another thing, how do you get stuff out of it?
A little further on a pair of green painted tanks (fuel perhaps) only re-inforced my agricultural ignorance.
If it was fuel someone would come and nick it wouldn’t they?
The track rose towards the line of beech trees that marked my outward path. The sun, hidden for most of the afternoon, dropped below the clouds and suddenly the day was transformed.
Below the tall beech, a hedge of seedlings, still clinging to their autumn foliage flamed copper.
Beautiful, isn’t it?
The low sun cast dark lines of shadows onto the ploughed fields and illuminated the leafless trees in the waterlogged fields.
Similar to the pic at the beginning, I know, but with much nicer light.
Facing towards the sun, the avenue was brilliantly silhouetted.
I began to think of tea and toast. As you do.
My next post will follow a guided walk around Salisbury and will, be published on March 16th.
Lovely photographs again, Charles, with a strong sense of this interesting landscape. I’m afraid I have no sensible suggestions to make about the items that puzzled you.
Thanks Ian. Hope all is well with you. I shall try and pimp to some locals!
I see your luck held and you encountered another dry day for walking. In future, could you please let us know in advance when you plan to walk so we can plan outdoor activities as well?
As usual, you started me “walking” off in all sorts of (digital) directions. I wonder if you are on the mark in suggesting that little hut is some sort of sentry hut. Whilst walking, I came across this obscure little bit of the interweb: http://www.airfieldinformationexchange.org/community/showthread.php?5879-Grovely-Wood-Ordnance-Depot-(Oakley-Farm-site)&s=4d5484c7f396a76d3aab3a40ec91c98c
Most links are dead but those in “Petertheeater” posts work and may be of interest. I’m surprised Wikipedia didn’t mention this. I was wondering if they were talking about a different Grovely Wood but the pic links seem to be of the same place as yours (which are of their usual atmospheric quality of course).
And I found this answer to another of your questions: “The audible noise emitted from high-voltage lines is caused by the discharge of energy that occurs when the electrical field strength on the conductor surface is greater than the ‘breakdown strength’ (the field intensity necessary to start a flow of electric current) of the air surrounding the conductor.” Which, of course, makes perfect sense to me (not) but will teach you not to ask questions. 🙂
Thanks for all this good stuff. Looks like its set fair for next week, so you might dust your boots off. I shall try and explore that link now. As for the electrical discharge, I prefer to think of it as the Devils work, or at least some kind of warning.
I read about your walk with interest! I live fairly locally to Grovely and have been there many times. I’m also a local writer of folklore, ghosts and history and I have covered Grovely before. The road through the woods was tarmacked in WW2 (it’s actually a Roman road originally) as the woods were used to house ammunition. Salisbury is a big military area, and many people were stationed around here in the war. There are a couple of old bunkers in the woods if you dig about. If you want to read the blog, the link is here: https://weird-wiltshire.co.uk/2022/01/10/when-you-go-into-grovely-woods-tonight/ ?
Thanks so much for adding further to this ancient post. I dont understand why but this post seems to be one of my most visited. Kind regards
Charles
Bit different from Wales! Great to see where you’d been. Great holiday….. Xxx
Very different! No barabrith in Salisbury.
Charles, the chalky tracks remind me of my past life living near the South Downs. Salisbury was often a stop off point on the way back to Portsmouth. The stand out photo for me is the image of reflected sky in those large puddles.
Brilliant woodland pics – especially the first. And always enjoyable to ghost the walk alongside. Thanks Charles
Thanks Julia. I like our mutual appreciation society. An urban walk for you next week. X
Quite right sentry box. Ammo was stored in nissen huts along the roman road during the war.
Thanks David. Always nice to know I’m right.
Fascinated to read about this walk. I used to live not far from the row of houses in your last picture, and used to walk and ride horses in Grovely all through my childhood. I always found it a weird, scary place (with lots of odd nylon stockings lying around, which to a child seemed especially sinister…!) It’s somewhere I’d love to revisit. I’ve been writing about the area (crime fiction) and my work in progress includes mention of one of the brick water tanks that were sunk in Grovely during one of the world wars – may even have been the First World War. As kids, in about 1964, my intrepid friend Jennie & I explored the ruined cottages in the middle of Grovely (possibly now demolished – they were pretty dilapidated even then!) and got a good idea of how primitive life must have been if you had a farm or forester’s tied cottage years ago. Thanks for your blog!!
Hi Nikki. What a wonderful comment. So pleased you found the blog and got so much from it. We often think about how different and primative life must have been for those that lived in our cottage 150 years or so ago.
Hi Charles,
I grew up in Wilton, very close to the track that leads to the red buildings. I went to Wilton Secondary school, which was at the bottom of the track. As small children, we used to go up into the woods along what we used to call the Roman Road and dig up ammunition. We would spend hours on end in the woods. It was nice to see the photos you took. They bought back some really good memories.
Steve, thanks so much for this comment. I love how blogs can reach people who know the places I walk in – especially when they bring their own memories.
Grovely Woods contains several bunkers as well as the hut you photographed. During WWII the American Airforce stored tens of thousands of tons of munitions along the main road through the woods, when, as you noticed, they also tarmacked it. The bombs etc. were offloaded from railway trucks at sidings at Wylye and brought up to the woods (which were ‘Out of Bounds’ to the locals) where the tree canopy hid them from enemy aerial reconnaissance. They were mostly uncovered, but there were clusters of small Nissen huts nearer the road from Wylye for smaller ammo. I have long suspected that they didn’t take everything away in 1945 and Steve Stacey confirms my suspicions. The ruined cottages also once had a school and a small chapel in the area. The Sunday school used to go up there in wagons for their annual treat in Victorian times and have games in the open area nearby and tea in the school. The water tanks were dug earlier than WWI when the army used to do their autumn manoeuvres up there in the late 1800s and in 1910. Lots of water would be needed not just for the men but for all the horses as military vehicles were not in use before the 20th century, obviously. Loved your photos which show the problems with flooding we get occasionally. Wilton Facebook pages (Chat and the History Society pages) often have photos of the terrible ones of 1915 when they could float a boat through the centre of the town!
What a fantastic contribution, thank you. This is the most popular post on my blog by some way!
I think you get the virtual prize for the best comment ever!
During WWI, the area around Salisbury had large camps for troops before heading off to the Western Front, as recorded in the Fovant Badges. During WWII, the Americans hid troops in the build-up to D-day, several large camps under tree cover along the Ridgeways west of Salisbury. My dad (then 8 years old) remembers endless lines of vehicles passing through Dinton village, headed off to the coast, and says all sorts of stuff was abandoned in the camps – from tinned food to string. He said the Yanks seemed fun to the local kids – a chant of “give us some gum, chum” would get all kinds of sweets and biscuits handed out liberally!
Fantastic addition to the post, thanks so much. I have no idea why but this post is the most visited of all the ones that I’ve published.