Drive along the A4 eastbound for a few miles and you will come to Cherhill and the magnificent sight of a White horse cut into the hillside. You can take a walk up to the Horse and Monument and the walk also takes you off into a nature reserve. Back in time Cherhill was the location of Highwaymen preying on coach travellers.
Carry on theA4 for a few more miles and you will arrive at Avebury. Here you will find great stone circles, more than at Stonehenge. A fantastic place to visit and see the work of Prehistoric Man. Large avenues, steep banks and hundreds of Sarsen stone slabs. A short distance from Avebury is Silbury Hill. Famed in song, man made and measuring over 130ft high.
On the way back, just past Cherhill, take a left toward the Villages of Stockley and Heddington. Gorgeous countryside, pretty Churches and where a famous battle took place. In the fields around Heddington the ‘Battle of Roundway’ took place. Roundheads against Cavaliers. There is also the Atwell motor Museum close by in Stockley Lane
If you travel further south you will come to the famous Caen Hill Locks on the Kennett and Avon Canal. Twenty Nine in all which raise the water level by 72 metres over two and a half miles.
West along the A4 from Calne to Derry Hill and the wonderful Bowood House and Gardens. Here are the laboratories of Dr Priestley who discovered Oxygen. The gardens were designed by Lancelot Capability Brown in 1760 and include an Orangery. Around 40 acres to walk peacefully round with the feature of a giant lake, caves, waterfalls and a Doric Temple. There is also a Hotel and Spa there to sooth aching muscles.
To the South and West is Lacock. Here you will find the National Trust and local residents have tried to keep the atmosphere of an Eighteenth Century Village. Here you will find the famous Lacock Abbey. Used for Harry Potter as the place where ‘Quidditch’ was played and the Village was also used in filming.
North of Calne is the Village of Compton Bassett with the lovely St Swithin’s Church. Further North you will come to Lyneham and then onto Royal Wootton Bassett.
