Windmill Lane, The Bubbling Kettle and The Goat Chute
From the top of Northbrook take the path which heads North West - a continuation of the road. A slightly raised causeway leads between two fields. On the left is a meadow, sometimes also grazed by sheep. To the right, in front of St Barnabas School there is an arable field. Soon, a new field starts on the left - a very big meadow. This field has a fence around it so we must keep to the right, along the edge of the arable field. Some razor wire protects the corner of the meadow! A stile takes us into the meadow. A hedge starts on the left.
This meadow has, for some years, been the home for young cattle. Sometimes, a Charolais bull runs with them. I don't know if he is present today for all of the beasts are sitting in the far corner of the field, well over 200 metres away. The edge of the field curves. The path does not, so we cut the corner, passing quite close to a pair of wooden poles which support a transformer, as well as the electricity line.
Another stile, rather ramshackle in its make up leads to the next field. This has undergone change in the last 12 months. I think of the field as being one where Roger Buckle grows potato or long straw wheat crops. Now it is subdivided by barbed wire fence and is probably to become more meadow. We are now passing the Tow family field on the right. Horses abound. A new stile over a new fence brings us to a fork in the path. Straight on, continuing past the Tow's hedge and you'd get to the 5 ways where this path meets Drove Lane, Parham Lane and The Sands Road (Kings Road) We are going to turn left, with the new fence on our left and so reach The Sands Road via a new metal gate. (750 metres)
Before turning left along The Sands Road it is worth looking over the gate opposite. The Vale of Pewsey is visible to the right, with the Marlborough Downs beyond. Ahead, beyond Devizes, the slope of Roundway Down and Oliver's Camp are visible. It is a lovely view, even on a windswept, near drizzly day like today. As we walk briskly along the road, there are farm buildings on the left and a number of houses on the right. As the road veers to the right, a track called Windmill Lane crosses it. We are going to turn right on the lane.
It takes a bit of bravery to go down Windmill Lane for a ferocious sounding Alsation Dog guards the garden on the left hand side. This hound leaps at the wall and it looks as though it could leap over and make mincemeat of you. So far, it never has. A year ago, this path was not in good order. Fallen trees blocked it and there seemed to be domestic refuse tipped there as well. Today, we followed a horse and rider (it is a bridleway). and found the path in passable order.
This path is yet another sunken sandstone lane, and we are heading North West down off the high ground. It is a haunt for Snowdrops. Last January, they were in flower very early. This year, the green stalks are pushing through well. Some may show a little white at the top. It seems a shame that there is no way to avoid trampling on them. A right angle bend turns us to a South Easterly direction. Sharp's Farm is close in the valley below with its huge range of outbuildings. The path ends up as a gravel drive by a house on Ledge Hill. Note the fancy brickwork on the house chimneys. (475 metres)
Turn left onto Ledge Hill. Like The Sands Road this is surfaced and used by fast motor traffic. There is no pavement. We are going up the hill, in a South Westerly direction. There is a good view to the West, right through to Westbury cement works. The railway line - one of the last bits of main line built in the country is close by in the valley. Above and to the left there is a small cluster of houses. One of these supports a local industry - the manufacture of dolls houses!
At the top of the hill the road curves to the left. On the right is the gate house or lodge for Lavington Manor. The lodge, like the manor itself, is no doubt Victorian and built from best Lavington bricks. Lavington Manor is now owned by Dauntsey School and the road past the lodge to the manor is private. A path starts immediately to the North of the lodge and heads to Littleton Pannel. The Sands Road begins on the left, making its narrow and indirect way to the middle of Easterton.
We continue down the hill - Spin Hill - towards Market Lavington. The views now are of Salisbury Plain towards Ram's Cliff and the strip lynchets (medieval agriculture?). I can only just see over the hedge, but in January, the hawthorn is not in leaf so the view may be taken through the hedge. Just before the houses start on the left, Windmill Lane heads off to its crossroads with The Sands Road. Almost opposite this, and by a telephone box, (It is good to report that we still have traditional red K6 style boxes.) a path leads right in a South East Direction. Take that path. (600 metres)
We are now into much more built up areas and it is not surprising that other walkers are about. This path is yet another sunken lane and we are joined by a dog who seems to prefer us to its owners some 30 metres behind. Much of this path can be very squelchy although it turns to dust in the summer. Attempts have been made to improve some of it by laying bricks down. On one of these brick bits I stop to admire the light Sussex bantams at the back of a Spin Hill garden.
Beyond the garden we are back in arable land. the field on the left has the remains of last year's maize crop in it. The path here has its own way, between iron railings. These have been bent and contorted all along the length and have been supplemented by barbed wire. I can only imagine that these fences have been the scene of strength tests for local lads, and those from Dauntsey School. The bending does not look like a natural phenomenon.
A conker tree grows from the path. This is still visited in autumn by stick throwing children, desperate to get the best conkers down. Just after this we come to another meeting of the ways where a crossroads of public paths all meet the track down from the lodge we passed earlier at the top of Ledge Hill. We will turn left through a slight squeeze, still keeping the maize field on our left. (300 metres)
We are now walking along the Grove, but it has lost some of its old glory. Some of the avenue of beech and sweet chestnut trees remain, but many have succumbed to age and the wild weather. The grounds of Lavington Manor have been made into a golf course for Dauntsey pupils. Ordinary village folk are excluded by a high and ugly wire fence. To the South we can see Lavington School which is no pretty sight. The sound of a grunting pig drifts up from the school which has its own farm including milking cows.
Ahead of us we can see the new houses on the Grove Farm estate. These have been built over the last five years. Excavations revealed that the area had had continuous settlement from pre-Roman through to medieval times. All is now buried under the new houses. Continue on the path through Canada Woods. There used to be a kissing gate, but just the posts remain now. At the bottom of the hill, and very close to the new housing, we reach a couple of bridges and a small island. Here is 'The Bubbling Kettle'. This is a spring which gently bubbles through the sand to add a little more to the waters of the Northbrook.
The path, now heading North West continues close by the water (on the right) and Canada Woods on the left until it arrives at the bottom of Spin Hill. (800 metres)
This is another place where 6 ways meet. A small roundabout has been built to deal with the road junction, but there are two footpaths as well. We will take the Spin Hill road again. This is the second road on the left and goes up less steeply than Canada Rise which leads to a housing estate above Canada Woods. The road is narrow and very sunken. The steep sides offer little refuge to escape from passing traffic. A new sign is in the course of erection. I think this will tell motorists that the road into Lavington is one way only. Immediately after this new sign a footpath heads steeply up the bank on the right. (100 metres)
Take the footpath. At first it is parallel to the road but it climbs sharply and curves around. This path is known locally as The Goat Chute'. The Goat Chute is a difficult path. Heavy rain can cause parts of the bank to wash away. From time to time the council repair it. It needs doing again. As it turns to go straight up the hill it is very steep and sunken. It is also very slippery. At the top of the bank we find a few more houses (including mine). These houses are served by the track which is a continuation of The Goat Chute and brings us back to the top of Northbrook. (275 metres)