These route directions, from Manningford Abbotts onwards, are identical to those for the Pewsey Avon Trail (PAT), and for this section, are an update of the original directions (for the north to south route only) given by Chris Cole in his excellent guide book published in 2010 when the PAT was first established. This guide book is still available from The Hobnob Press, at www.hobnobpress.co.uk, and is recommended due to the huge amount of historical and interesting information relevant to the Trail which it contains.
Salisbury to Old Sarum
Distance: 3 miles (4.8 km) Maps: OS Explorer 130, OS Landranger 184
The Sarsen Way starts outside the west door of the cathedral. Facing the entrance, turn left. Cross North Walk and go past The Green and through the Cathedral Close. Pass under the archway into the High Street, and continue ahead to the traffic lights/crossroads.
Turn left along Crane Street. Just before the bridge, instead of continuing ahead on the Cranborne Droves Way towards Win Green, turn right onto a tarmac path next to the river. On reaching the road (Bridge Street), with a distinctive clock tower to your left and the King’s Head Inn to your right, cross the road, then the river via the pedestrian bridge to the right of the Bishop’s Mill pub. Go through the archway and continue ahead on the tarmac path, which is shared with National Cycle Route 45 and the Golden Way circular cycle route. Keep the river close to your right. At the time of writing, the route here has been badly disrupted by the Salisbury River Park Scheme; follow the diversion signs provided and return to the original route just before the bridge under the ring road. Turn right onto this.
Walk through Ashley Road Open Space. When the National Cycle Route 45 and the Golden Way turn right over the river, continue ahead along the riverside path. The route has again been badly disrupted by the Salisbury River Park Scheme; this time no diversion signs have been provided. Cross the small bridge over the river hatches into what used to be the Fisherton Recreation Ground, incorporating Butts Sportsfield, with a children’s play area to your left, but is now a large building site. Fencing beside the site forces you onto the path directly beside the river, but after a short distance, the two options you had with the original route, with several possibilities of switching between them, reappear.
- To take the official route, turn left, away from the river, at the end of the fencing, and pick up the path going right after 20m or so. This soon passes allotments. When the fence ends, the route kinks left and right onto an enclosed path, which you follow all the way to a crossing of tracks, about 1 mile (1.6 km) after leaving the small bridge. Turn right here and after 100m cross the river on a footbridge.
- A more scenic option is to stay on the path directly beside the river, which incorporates a lengthy boardwalk. When the boardwalk comes to an end, continue ahead on an obvious path which veers gradually away from the river but returns to its side just before the footbridge across the river mentioned in (1) above, which you cross.
Continue on the tarmac path on the other side and pass through staggered railings at its end to pass the entrance to Avonside House on the left. Turn right onto Mill Lane to a junction with Stratford Road. Turn right here, cross the road, then turn left onto a byway beside a thatched cottage, just before St. Lawrence Close, signed Old Sarum ½ mile. Proceed up a narrow path enclosed by hedges and fences.
Where this bends sharp left, go through a gate on the right into a field and follow the hedge on the left to another gate in its corner. Keep the hedge on your left in the next field to arrive at a T junction with a tarmac path, with the A345 only a few metres to the right. Turn left up the path and bear right up to a gate which gives access to the yellow box markings on the entrance drive to the interior of Old Sarum. Bear left if you wish to visit the English Heritage site, where you will find a car park and toilets..
Old Sarum to Amesbury
Distance: 7 miles (11.2 km) Maps: OS Explorer 130, OS Landranger 184
Walk down from the car park towards the A345, but before reaching it turn left through two small gates next to a farm into a fence-lined path round the base of the hillfort. Cross the minor road (which, if you turn right along it, leads to the Beehive Park & Ride) and follow the broad track downhill past a cottage, then gradually uphill and down again to pass Keeper’s Cottage on your left. Here you cross a footpath known as The Avenue. Climb up out of the dip, ignoring a left fork immediately after Keepers’s Cottage, and continue across the centre of a large field. Go through a copse, where you cross the Monarch’s Way, and continue along the bridleway on the left-hand side of a field to arrive at a T junction with a wide, stony farm track.
Turn left onto this, and after 120m arrive at a track to the right, beside a seat dedicated to Eddie, a pleasant spot for a rest. Go down the track, with a fence to your left. At the field corner go straight on into the wood rather than following it round to the right. There is a well used path through the wood, which descends quite steeply at first, then more gradually, to a road. Turn right here and walk through the village of Netton, then on to the bridge across the Avon, ignoring three turnings to the right on the way. On the other side of the bridge is the Bridge Inn in Upper Woodford.
Turn right for 200m to a signed footpath to the right down a gravel drive in front of metal railings. The drive becomes a track between paddocks, then hedges. Bear left (effectively straight on) at a Y intersection, then cross a track at Woodford Green. Continue along the track, now enclosed by hedges, into an open field, with the Avon on your right. When the field comes to an end, go down the slope and turn right round a tree to turn left across a bridge over the river. Follow the path over a second bridge in front of Durnford Mill, then continue down its driveway onto the road through Great Durnford.
Turn left and walk through the village, passing a turning to the right, and St James’ church on the left just before a bend to the right. Continue on the road uphill, then down again past the imposing entrance to Great Durnford manor. Soon after this, take the bridleway to the left by a house called Fairwood House, with Beech Wood to your right. Ascend through Ham Wood on a wide, clear track, with open countryside to your right. Fork right downhill away from the wood, still on a wide track, and soon cross an intermediate track.
Continue between fence and hedge to a double field gate with a bridle gate beside it. Pass through the gate. On the other side there is a path which forks left downhill to the river. Ignore this and instead continue ahead along the edge of the field with a fence to your left. Pass a fenced plantation on your right and go gently downhill to another double field gate (one side of which is usually left open) and bridle gate, where the track becomes wide and stony. Continue ahead steadily uphill, then down again across another track. Go ahead down the narrower, grassy track, to arrive at yet another crossing of tracks near a house.
Go straight on and follow the path across three bridges over the Avon (this is Ham Hatches), then down the side of the children’s play area in Bonnymead Park. Leave the park on Recreation Road, and walk down to a bend on a minor road. Continue ahead over yet another bridge over the Avon, Queensbury Bridge, and down Church Street in Amesbury. Pass the church, which is set well back from the road, on the left. Continue across Salisbury Street, which goes off to the right, and along the High Street to the A345, where this section ends. Amesbury’s Central Car Park is a few metres to the right.
Amesbury to Figheldean
Distance: 4.5 miles (7.2 km) Maps: OS Explorer 130, OS Landranger 184
Parking is available, at a price, in Amesbury’s Central Car Park, which is off the A345 (Salisbury Road). Alternatively you can park for free in Bonnymead Park, which is on the PAT route from Great Durnford
At the cross roads with traffic lights and a petrol station on the A345, turn left out of the High Street down the A345. You now have two choices: the easiest, quietest, and most straightforward route is to turn right into Lord’s Walk at the first entrance you come to, then proceed ahead on the wide grass strip between trees to the gate at the end. Seats are provided but the trees obstruct distant views. A more interesting alternative is to follow the river, but this is noisier due to its closer proximity to the A303. To take this route, go through the second entrance to Lord’s Walk. Follow the river to the A303 river bridge, then turn right up steps on a purpose-built path through the trees. Bear left past an electricity sub-station at the top to arrive at the gate mentioned in the first option.
Turn left down Ratfyn Road for 200m, then turn left down a tarmac path. This crosses over the A303, then bends to the right, parallel to the A303, through a tunnel of trees to arrive at a tarmac road. Turn left and follow the road round to the right, going gently uphill. At the crossroads by another electricity sub-station, with wires radiating in various directions, turn right onto a gravel track. As you walk along this, over to the right you can see telecoms masts and related buildings. After passing a pylon (on the left) the track starts to go downhill. As it bends left, fork right onto a narrow bridleway, still going downhill, to emerge beside the entrance to the Watergate Farm coarse fishing lake.
Bear right along the concrete track. When this arrives at a tarmac road, turn left for 50m, then cross a stile on your right just before the entrance to the Dovecote (a property). Follow the path along the edge of the field, then turn left over another stile and a footbridge. Continue ahead across the grass to arrive at the A3028 in Bulford.
Cross it carefully and go down the narrow tarmac track opposite (Church Lane), with Bulford church on your left. When the tarmac peters out, continue along the edge of the field to a kissing gate. Go through this and follow the path through two more kissing gates into a wood. The path meanders back and forth, getting ever nearer to the river down to the left. Emerge onto a road and turn left past some cottages. Soon after this, the road ends; turn left on a surfaced path, follow this round to the right and cross the Avon. Soon after this, cross it again by turning right over another footbridge with a road just beyond. Turn left. When the road bends right after 200m you will find Milston church on your left. Continue on this minor road, which again turns sharp right after a while. Some 50m before arriving at a T junction with another road, at The Croft, turn left down a narrow fence-lined path by a notice board and post box.
Continue ahead across a field of long grass and cross a military road. Go straight on through a narrow uncultivated area into a wood. Join a track coming in from the right, but turn right off it almost at once. Cross the access road to Syrencot House. Keep going on a wide rutted track, which can often be muddy and overgrown, to reach a stile on the other side of a farm track. [There is an alternative permissive route here devised by the landowner for those who would like to avoid the livestock in the fields ahead: turn left down the farm track to the road, then turn right for 20m to the kissing gate* below]. To continue on the standard route, cross the stile and continue ahead to another stile which has been extensively chewed by horses! Follow the wall on the other side to a small gate* onto a road, with Ablington Farm to your right.
Continue on the path which is a few paces to the right on the other side of the road, with a wall to the right and a school on the left, to emerge beside a post box and parish council notice board. Maintain direction across the field beyond, keeping the fence on your left, and pass through a gap at the end of the field to arrive at Figheldean’s (pronounced Filedean!) magnificent village hall, where this stage ends.
Figheldean to Enford
Distance: 4.3 miles (6.9 km) Maps: OS Explorer 130, OS Landranger 184
Take the footpath opposite Figheldean village hall. This passes houses to the left and allotments to the right. At the crossing of tracks, follow the path round to the right, and shortly afterwards bear left down to the road through trees. Come out opposite the church. Turn right along the road, and at a junction with another road some 450m later, bear left. After 175m, go through a gap on your left next to a redundant kissing gate into a field. Follow the path past a small copse on the left, then a sewage works on the right, going past two more redundant kissing gates in the process. Bear half right across a field to arrive at a third kissing gate by the entrance to Choulston Farm.
Turn left down the road for 50m, then take the footpath on your right (before reaching the river). This goes through woods and is soon accompanied by the river, which later veers off to the left. It is soon replaced by a small lake. After passing a telegraph pole, turn sharp right, then left after a short distance, along a fence-lined footpath. This comes out at a road in Haxton, opposite the Old Post House Cottage. Turn left here and follow the road round to the left (signed Netheravon) to cross the river on Haxton bridge (which dates only from 2011). There is a junction very soon after this; if you are in need of sustenance, continue ahead for 50m, where there is a shop. Otherwise, turn right. This is Mill Road, in Netheravon.
About 75m after passing the Stonehenge Ales brewery on your right, fork right off the road onto a track. Follow this past a secure private fishing area. It soon becomes a path across fields and goes through two metal kissing gates. After the second one, aim to the right of two L shaped barns to arrive at a military road. Cross straight over this and go down the track opposite to come out on a bend in a road. This is Fifield. Go right (effectively straight on), then follow the road round to the right. The road narrows to become a metalled path in front of houses.
Continue ahead on an enclosed path which has a concrete surface for almost its whole length. This crosses the river again on an old metal bridge, then passes a sewage pumping station (on the right). Ignore the signposted turning to Fittleton. Don’t miss the blue plaque on the wall on your left not long after, placed there in memory of two policemen who lost their lives on this spot in 1913. Arrive at another road, in Coombe, opposite a turning to Coombe Lane. Turn left along the road through the village. Follow this through Longstreet, then Enford, passing under the gantry outside the Swan Inn. At the junction, turn left, signed Amesbury and Pewsey, to arrive at the church car park on your right after 120m.
Enford to Upavon
Distance: 4.8 miles (7.7 km) Maps: OS Explorer 130, OS Landranger 184
From Enford church, walk up to the main road (A345). Cross with care and walk up the steps inside the small wood opposite (which may well be hidden by a parked vehicle) to a kissing gate at the top. Cross the field beyond, bearing slightly left and aiming to the left of a wooden pylon, to go through another kissing gate onto a bend in a lane. Go immediately right on a track (a bridleway), which goes downhill to pass an electricity sub-station. Continue ahead past a barn to a kissing gate in the fence on your right (which may be hard to see due to vegetation). Turn left after this to go through a kissing gate. Proceed downhill on a wide, grass path between low banks, parallel to the A345. Bear left behind a white thatched cottage and follow the fence on your right to a kissing gate.
Cross the small field on the other side, passing to the right of a pond, to arrive at another kissing gate. This is a permissive route which cuts out the dogleg required to follow the right of way; this would take the walker to the far end of the field to cross a stile and return on the road. Take the road beyond the kissing gate, which bends right through the yard of Compton Farm (which contains several unusual items!). Ignore the tarmac road and a track, both off to the right, and turn left to join the byway in front of you which goes uphill. This can get very overgrown in the summer. At the top, continue ahead on a narrow tarmac road to the large barns of West Chisenbury farm.
Turn left here onto another byway, which arrives at a T junction of byways after ¾ mile (1.2 km). Turn right onto a wide gravel track alongside the edge of the impact area. This is a military road, so be aware of the occasional light vehicle (tanks use the parallel dirt track to the left). After about 0.8 miles (1.3 km)), arrive at the vedette at Casterley Camp by an open parking area. Turn right here and walk for approx. 1.3 miles (2.1 km) back down to the A345; the road goes steadily downhill after passing a pair of tall masts above a reservoir.
Cross the road with care onto the grass verge, where there is a seat and wooden carving that commemorates the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Cross the road into Upavon at the island and walk down the pavement on the other side past the Antelope Inn into the centre of the village.
Upavon to Overton Hill/A4
Distance: 11.75 miles (18.8 km) (although it can be broken up into shorter stages, for example to Knap Hill or Honey Street) Maps: OS Explorer 130, OS Landranger 184
Take the A342 towards Everleigh from Upavon village centre, cross the river and turn left into Vicarage Lane. Soon after the houses end, this becomes a gravel track, then a grassy path. When the path appears to fork a couple of times, bear right. On reaching a Y-shaped intersection, where the gate has been removed, fork left onto a wide, well-maintained path, and after about 550m arrive at the A345. Turn left along the path on the verge, cross the river and arrive at a roundabout in front of the Woodbridge Inn. Cross the A345 and take the road past the side of the inn. After 625m, take the quiet lane to the right opposite Falkner’s Farm, signposted to St James’ church in North Newnton. You join the White Horse Trail (WHT) here.
Pass to the right of the church and take the footbridge across the stream. Follow the path on the other side, with the stream to your left. About 20m after it joins a stony track, with Manningford Trout Fishery to your right, take the concrete bridge across another stream and turn left. Veer right along an enclosed path, which kinks right then left and brings you out onto a road. To the left is a pair of imposing pillars between metal railings. Go right down the road for a few metres, then left across a broad strip of grass to the Manningford Business Units. Cross its tarmac forecourt or the grass beside it and take the short, narrow fenced path leading off the grass once past the Units, which brings you out into a road (Wick Lane). The property on your left is Pheasant Cottage.
Cross the stile a few paces to the left on the other side and leave the White Horse Trail for a brief diversion to see the Manningford Bruce church. Follow the right-hand fence past a corner to cross a stile on your right. Go left along this enclosed path to reach a minor road. Cross this to enter the churchyard, and follow the path to the left round to the back of the church. In the left-hand corner, turn left through a metal gate and along the wall round a large house. Pass through a kissing gate and walk along the right-hand side of the field beyond to a kissing gate on the right. You rejoin the WHT here. Pass through the narrow band of trees beyond via a sleeper bridge.
Bear half left in the field beyond another kissing gate, aiming for the left-hand corner of the field. Go through another kissing gate and down an enclosed tarmac path to a minor road, where The White House is on the left. Cross the road and take a boggy path through a small wood into the field ahead. You are now leaving Manningford Bruce and entering Manningford Abbots. Towards the top right-hand end of the field, enter what used to be a small wood, but which has all now been cut down (which can also get extremely boggy) via a kissing gate. You leave the PAT at this point, but continue on the WHT.
Turn half left towards a wooden field gate. Go through it and down a potentially muddy path and across two footbridges and a section of boardwalk in quick succession. Pass the Mill on your right, then a corrugated iron barn, to go through a wooden kissing gate into a small paddock. Go through another wooden kissing gate onto an enclosed footpath, with a thatched barn to left. Ignore a wooden kissing gate on the right. Continue down the right-hand edge of the field beyond to arrive at the road through Manningford Bruce.
Turn left down this for some 60m, then turn right up Dragon Lane. The surface of this tarmac road gradually deteriorates. Stay on this until it bends sharp left beside a large white house, where you continue in the same direction on a footpath with woodland to left and open farmland to right. Cross the Exeter to Paddington railway line, with care, and continue in the same direction along the left-hand edge of a long field, which can get very muddy. Cross the stile at the end beside the memorial stone at Swanborough Tump (although access to the road can also gained by forking left on a clear semi-circular path in the corner of the field kindly provided by the landowner)
The memorial commemorates the meeting between the future King Alfred the Great and his elder brother King Aethlred I in 871 on their way to fight the invading Danes, when each of them swore that if the other died in battle, the dead man’s children would inherit the lands of their father, King Aethelwulf. It was erected by families who bear the Swanborough name.
Go down the long drive to Cocklebury Farm opposite the memorial. Go down a hedged, tarmac path at the end, then through a gate to arrive at the Kennet & Avon canal at bridge 120 (Ladies Bridge). Cross the bridge and turn left onto the towpath going west. At bridge 122 (there is no bridge 121), cross the canal and continue on the towpath on the other side. Shortly before arriving at bridge 123, you have the option of visiting a WWII memorial, indicated by a metal post by a stile on your left which used to be signed simply “To Memorial”. It is to two airmen who lost their lives when their Albemarle bomber crashed nearby in 1944. If you wish to see it, cross the stile and continue parallel to the canal for 50m or so, where you will find the memorial on your right just before bridge 123.
You can now either return to where you entered the field, turn left along the towpath and pass under bridge 123, or continue past the memorial to the rather awkward stile 50m or so further on, passing bridge 123 en route, and return to the towpath there.
At bridge 124 turn sharp left after going underneath it to arrive at the Lockeridge to Woodford road. Turn left (north) over the bridge. Approx. 130m from the bridge, you pass another memorial, that to RAF Alton Barnes. A few metres to the left of the road is a sign on a blue background marked “R.A.F. Alton Barnes Memorial” indicating a kissing gate to its left which gives permissive access to the memorial some 20m beyond the gate. It is sited on the only remaining air raid shelter from the war time base, above a padlocked steel gate. Sadly it is now completely hidden by overgrown vegetation, and is inaccessible.
Return to the road and turn left along it until reaching a turning to the right signposted “St Mary Saxon Church”. (Some 20m before reaching this, the Devizes to Alton Barnes WHT comes in from a field on the left). Go down this. On arriving at an old-fashioned wooden turnstile on the left, go through this and along the cobbled path through the field beyond. At a crossroads of cobbled paths, continue ahead. Cross two small footbridges with wooden turnstiles at both ends.
Leave the cobbled path where it turns right to the entrance to Alton Priors’ All Saints church, and continue in the same direction to a fourth wooden turnstile. Go up the tarmac road beyond, past Priory Cottages on the right, and an old thatched barn on the left, to a T junction. Go up the tarmac road opposite but slightly to the left, signposted “No Public Right of Way for Vehicles, Bridleway Only”. This does indeed become a footpath, which can get very overgrown, between hedges after a few metres. Proceed steadily uphill to reach another tarmac road (from Alton Barnes to Lockeridge).
The original route required you to turn left and walk down this road for some 300m, however the route has been changed to minimise the distance walked on this road and to avoid a bend which obscures oncoming traffic. Go right up the road instead for some 75m, then cross over and go through a metal farm gate. Follow the wooden fencing on your left to arrive at a large, square, metal gate. Go through this (unfortunately it is quite heavy). You are now in an open access area so can make your own way diagonally up the hillside on your right to join the obvious wide path up Walkers Hill (see below). Alternatively take any of the paths in front of you which are roughly parallel to the road, and just before arriving at a kissing gate, turn right onto the obvious wide path which leads relentlessly upwards towards Walkers Hill. This has the Neolithic long barrow known as Adam’s Grave at its summit. You can either walk up to Adams Grave, from which there are great views, then turn left to descend, or drift left onto the path which skirts Walkers Hill. Both routes will lead you to a multiple junction of paths.
Turn right here, briefly joining the Mid Wilts Way, beside, or on top of, a low earthwork, with the whale-like shape of Knap Hill now on your right. After around 150m, veer left towards a metal kissing gate, with the car parking area at Knap Hill in your line of sight. Follow the well-beaten path through two more metal kissing gates to arrive at a final metal gate onto the Lockeridge to Alton Barnes road. The car parking area is on the other side of the road. You leave the Mid Wilts Way here.
Do not go through the gate to cross the road, but instead bear slightly left and follow the path (a bridleway) along the hedge/fence beside Knap Cottages and up the right-hand side of three fields, ascending steadily to pass through the tree-shaded remains of the Wansdyke at the top. Stay on the byway (from which there are some fine views, including of Silbury Hill to the north-west) as it gradually descends. At the bottom, turn right onto a wide track, with Manor Farm to the left, and after 30m or so, arrive at a tarmac road. This is the main road through the village of East Kennett.
Turn left here, and at a junction soon afterwards, signed West Overton, turn right. When the road shortly bends sharp right, continue ahead on a byway. Cross the River Kennet, then kink left and right, staying on the byway as it climbs up to Overton Hill and the A4.
Overton Hill/A4 to Barbury Castle
Distance: 6.5 miles (10.4 km) Maps: OS Explorer 130, OS Landranger 184
Cross the A4 with great care to the car park, then follow the well signposted Ridgeway National Trail (RNT) for 5.75 miles (9.2km), crossing Green Street (from where there is easy access to Avebury) after 1.8 miles (2.9km), and passing through the car park at Hackpen Hill after a further 2.6 miles (4.7km). Continue past three picturesque beech copses to the left, then go down a slope to a lane beneath the iron-age hillfort of Barbury Castle. Turn right along a lane for 40m, then go through a bridle gate and take the track on the left up to the hillfort’s ramparts. Walk through its centre or round its ramparts, then through two gates either side of a field to arrive at the Barbury Castle Country Park’s car park. Follow the well-worn path beside the car park past bushes to arrive at a road. Turn left, past the car park entrance. A short cut through the car park is of course also available
Barbury Castle to Coate Water Country Park, Swindon
Distance: 7.0 miles (11.2 km) Maps: OS Explorer 130, OS Landranger 184
Join the well-worn path which runs along the back of the car park, heading south-east past bushes, and when it arrives at a road, turn left past the car park entrance. A short cut through the car park entrance onto its access road is of course also available. Descend for 125m. Turn right over a stile into a field, where you will very soon see memorials on an upright sarsen stone to two local writers, Richard Jeffries and Alfred Williams, on your left. You are now on Burderop Down. Continue on a byway beside the fence (to the right), from where there are fine views towards Wroughton and Swindon to your left. Cross a stile and descend to cross another stile at the bottom. Make your way through a field of long grass and cross a third stile. Walk through scrub and small trees, then cross a fourth stile. Turn right through more scrub. At a junction with a bridleway, turn right, then immediately left onto a byway. After almost a mile (1.6km) cross a minor road, and after a further 0.8 miles (1.3km) pass through a derelict bridge to arrive at the dismantled railway line between Marlborough and Chiseldon (cycle route 482).
Turn left along the dismantled railway, which runs parallel to the A346, and walk for 1.8 miles (2.9km) to reach a minor road. To the right is the Three Trees farm shop and café. Cross the road and continue on the cycle track to the B4005/New Road, passing some allotments on the way (this is another possible finishing point for the Sarsen Way as there are buses from there into Swindon). Cross the B4005 and head down Station Road into Chiseldon, past a shop to your left. Continue down Strouds Hill, then fork right past a row of white cottages and onto a surfaced path.
This goes downhill, bearing right onto a concrete path, towards a disused railway bridge by two information boards about the Washpool; do not go under the bridge but turn right instead, then immediately fork left onto the upper path, through trees. Go through a kissing gate next to a field gate and continue ahead across a field, ignoring a kissing gate and path on the right, to arrive at another kissing gate. Follow the path (which is likely to be muddy in winter) uphill to arrive at the tarmac cycle path 45.
Cross over it and take the path opposite. When this reaches a three-way junction, turn right uphill. Enter a field and continue ahead, passing a row of bee hives to left. Near the end of the field, veer left into woodland and descend. Pass through a kissing gate into a field, bear slightly right across it, then go through another kissing gate to rejoin the cycle path. Turn left and quickly arrive at a bridge across the M4. Cross it.
Continue on the metalled path (cycle path 45) away from the motorway. Turn right over a long bridge and follow either the cycle path or the waterside path along the eastern side of Coate Water to its northern end. Continue alongside the water to the kiosk, where the stage and the Trail end. The car park is on the right.
For bus connections from Queens Drive, turn north (right) on the combined walking & cycling tarmac path and shortly before the road fork right to head through the underpass to a path junction, then either turn left to reach the westbound bus stop (buses to Swindon town centre) or keep ahead through the next underpass and turn left to the eastbound bus stop (buses to Marlborough and Salisbury).