July 3, 2018
Salisbury to Hinton Charterhouse
Salisbury to almost Bath. Lead astray at Longleat.
July 3rd Tuesday 62 kms
Salisbury to Hinton Charterhouse
Salisbury to almost Bath. Lead astray at Longleat.
The sun is already beating down as we leave our campground under Old Sarum. It’s a beautiful morning and our goal for the day is Bath, around 70 kilometres distance- might that be too much of a challenge in this heat though?
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Continuing on the Sustrans route, we make our way through small towns and villages. Arriving in Wilton, we turn a corner to be confronted by an amazing structure. When we investigate the impressive Italianate church, and chat to a local volunteer about its history we learn that the church owes its existence to the combined efforts of the Hon Sidney Herbert, his mother, the Russian Dowager Countess of Pembroke, architect T H Wyatt, and his partner David Brandon. Herbert had collected a number of marble artefacts while living in Italy, and these have been used in the interior of the church. The building certainly stands out as vastly different from the average village church. A little like Tuscany transported to Wiltshire.
From Wilton the route becomes more challenging with some high hills and a forest area. At Sutton Veny the churchyard contains graves of WW1 Anzacs. More Australian than NZ, including a 16 yr old. They all have the Rising Sun insignia on the stones. A nearby stately house was reallocated as their convalescent base.
Picnic lunch at Longleat but miss a turnoff and end up taking the steep road until we reach the ‘Colliers Way’ a beautifully smooth path which takes us into Radstock. Here when we ask a local the direction for Bath she looks a little shocked. This should have been a warning. We appear to have diverted further afield than we thought.
We continue along a dedicated cycle path which nevertheless includes some impossibly steep climbs. It is getting late when we reach Wellow and here a wrong turn puts us on the road up a hill so steep that we have to walk in parts. Fortunately at the top we find a village called Hinton Charterhouse where, fortuitously, there is a pub called ‘The Rose and Crown,’ and here we decided we must stay.
Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 2,018 km (1,253 miles)
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