4: The Deverills - South of the River Wylye

In which we follow the first half of a walk heading south from Kingston Deverill to explore the beautiful and ancient landscape of the hills above the Wylye Valley. An area that has been continually farmed since at least 3,500 BC.

 

This is an infrequently visited area of great natural beauty with seemingly endless views. A place where you will find a peace and solitude that belies its past as a busy farming area in prehistoric and Roman times. A meeting place of several ancient trackways including Roman roads and, it is thought, the place that King Alfred assembled his armies on their way to defeating the Danes at Ethandun.

 

But it’s also a place of great biodiversity due to the organic farming methods used here and, incredibly, at least six music festivals in the 1990s. And finally a place where you will find some rather bizarre and misleading secrets!

 

The walk ends at Brixton Deverill which will be the starting place for the second half of the walk in episode 5.

 

You can follow the walk that both Glyn and Paul have done on the Hidden Wiltshire website using the link below. We’ve also written about it in further blogs. Truly a favourite area for both of us.

 

The music and sounds are provided by the multi-talented Steve Dixon. The piece in the Introduction is entitled “The Holloway”.

 

Links:

 

You can follow the walk on the Hidden Wiltshire website here A Different Take on the Deverills

 

Glyn’s photographs can be seen on the Hidden Wiltshire website and his Instagram feed @coy_cloud

 

Paul’s website can be found at Paul Timlett Photography and on Instagram at @tragicyclist

 

Steve Dixon’s sound art can be found on Soundcloud where his username is River and Rail Steve Dixon River and Rail. His photographs can be found on Instagram at @stevedixon_creative and his graphic design business website is at Steve Dixon Creative

 

And two of the businesses mentioned in the podcast: