A return to permissible 'Rule of Six' outdoor gatherings and the Walkie Talkies lost no time in arranging a walk to celebrate. Good Friday was the chosen date and the walk proved so popular, two groups of six duly assembled at the start on the Town Bridge, half an hour apart to ensure government guidance was adhered to.
The walk was a reprise of December's 'Get Unstuffed' one, written up fully this time so it can be added to our Walks portfolio. Note that the map starts at St Andrew's Church gates as Map My Walk refuses to join the High Street part of the walk with the pictured larger map. We simply walked up the High Street to the gates to St Andrew's church, though you'll see from the map there are all kinds of options to vary the route with a pleasant stroll through Monkton Park instead.
We realised when we reached the path past Abbeyfield School that the groups had decided to walk the route in opposite directions. It meant we had a cheerful 5 minutes exchanging greetings and news at a distance.
In Summary
Start point: At the Town Bridge for the full route, or St Andrew's Church as shown on the map.
Route from the Town Bridge to St Andrew's Church where the map starts: continue up Chippenham High Street to the gates of St Andrew's Church.
Distance: About 4 miles (full route), or 3.5 miles from the entrance gateway of St Andrew's Church
Difficulty: Easy - mainly flat estate paths and roads, a quiet country lane, the old railway path (watch out for mud and cyclists!), gravelled paths in Baydon's Meadow (though these can also be muddy) and paved pathways in Monkton Park or through St Andrew's churchyard. One set of steps from St Andrew's Churchyard onto St Mary Street (and vice versa), though this can be avoided by diverting along St Mary Street if desired.
Walk time: Around 2 to 3 hours - allowing for canoe and river life spotting and cafe time.
Cafe: There's plenty of choice in town at the end of the walk. Alternatively there's the Tenth Hole Tea Room in Monkton Park (right by the pitch and putt and crazy golf courses) instead of walking back to the High Street, weather and opening times permitting.
Map: See above
Alternative variations: The walk can be extended slightly to include the whole of Monkton Park. If the steps from St Andrew's churchyard are an issue then turn left down St Mary Street before the church for a more level walk, or continue down St Mary Street if doing this walk in reverse.
Members living on Pewsham or Monkton Park may prefer to start their walk from home and change their route and refreshment stops accordingly.
The suggested meeting point for this walk from Pewsham is at the Cemetery gates on London Road (marked as Two Chapels and Gateway at the bottom of the map). Note that Diane's walk offers a similar route as an alternative which starts from the centre of Pewsham and explores Monkton Park more fully instead of the High Street.
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