SOUTH EAST
■Distance: 9 miles/14.7km ■Time: 4 hours ■Grade: Moderate
CHOSEN BY… ANDY WEEKES
Wantage is perhaps best known locally as the birthplace of King Alfred, scourge of the Vikings and alleged cake burner, whose statue dominates the market square. A busy market town lying beneath the Berkshire Downs in the Vale of the White Horse, it is the vastness and openness of the hills that rise to its south which make this walk great. Following well-made tracks, and the trickle of a brook, to the pretty village of Letcombe Regis, you soon leave the bustle behind. Climbing past Iron Age earthworks at Segsbury Castle to pick up the equally ancient Ridgeway trail, the route heads eastwards in the footsteps of Medieval drovers.
Looking north, the Vale is laid out in front of you, spirit level flat, spreading for miles beyond Wantage itself as you descend back down to the town. Whilst the famous chalk figure is further west, this is equine country and spotting a real, living white horse is a definite possibility.
Head out of the south-west corner of Market Square then L on Cloisters around the church. Turn L and follow the weaving Priory Road. At Portway, cross the road and take the path in gap between the stone posts to a junction.
