Ancient battlefield and modern live firing range: Roundway Down and Imber Ranges

This week I continued my exploration of Wiltshire: in contrast to tree-clad Surrey, the open downs and plains of this county offer far reaching views all round.

I bunged the bike in the car, and did two shortish rides: one at Roundway Down near Devizes, the other from the White Horse car park above Westbury.

Roundway Down is the scene of a battle in the Civil War. I parked at the end of the tarmac lane heading to Oliver's Castle a mile of so north of the market town of Devizes (see map). I cycled down the rough stone track to the second car park at the very end of the track, from which there is access by a wicket gate to Oliver's Castle (you will need to lock your bike here or push). The views from the Castle - actually it's an ancient hill fort - are very fine, over the vale below to the downs of Salisbury Plain. At the entrance to the castle there is an information board about the battle, which took place on 13th July 1643. Parliamentary forces besieging Devizes arrayed on the fields to the NE were routed by a Royalist relief force from Oxford, sweeping down from Morgan's Hill, which is the hill with two radio towers visible in the distance. (I visited this hill in a previous ride, see blog for 14 May). Walking to the northern extremity of the castle gives a view over a valley cleft into the escarpment. This is known as 'Bloody Ditch' because the left wing of the parliamentary army fled into this valley and were slaughtered in great numbers. Retracing my steps to the wicket gate, I cycled on round a circuit via the White Horse carved on the hillside to mark the millennium.

I then drove on and parked in the car park overlooking the White Horse above Westbury. This is another fine vantage point with far reaching views over to the Mendips, although the foreground is rather marred by a tall chimney at the cement works below the scarp. It's a popular spot with paragliders. This ridge marks the northern edge of the Army's Imber live firing training ground. Entry to the ranges is verboten on all but a few days per year (when access is granted to the abandoned village of Imber). However, it is possible to follow the perimeter track along the downs, which forms part of the White Horse Way. I cycled East for a few miles, turning back when I reached the downs above the town of Tilshead (see map). There are excellent 360 views from this track. I could see the hills of the neighbouring Lark Hill Range which I circumnavigated previously, and also convinced myself I could make out the White Horse above Alton Barnes (see ride described in my blog of 3 May. It should make an excellent outing to follow the northern track (the White Horse Trail) along both ranges - I'll save that for another day.