The Ridgeway path is an officially designated 85 mile national trail for walkers along the Wessex downs and Chiltern hills. Running from near Avebury in Wiltshire to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire, the path for much of its route follows ancient trackways that formed a major highway long before the Romans came to Britain. But where the old track has become a modern motor road the Ridgeway is diverted to field and woodland footpaths; road walking therefore, is kept to a minimum and the walker will for the most part share the way only with other ramblers.
In this new edition, revised by Howard Clarke, the route is described twice, firstly from Avebury to Ivinghoe, and then in the opposite direction from Ivinghoe to Avebury, so that the description is easy to follow whether you walk eastwards or westwards, or whether you choose to walk the whole path or just a section of it, for a week, for a day, or just for an hour.
Illustrated with easy-to-follow maps and with photographs of places on the way, this guide also includes a chapter by A C Fraser on the natural history of the Ridgeway, as the walker will encounter many birds, butterflies and other wildlife, and the chalk downs and woodlands are especially rich in wild flowers, including some rare species.
Another chapter, by James Dyer, describes the archaeology of the Ridgeway. It was the highway of prehistoric man, and throughout the route you are seldom far from traces of his former presence - hillforts, barrows, hill figures and boundary ditches.
With Discovering the Ridgeway in your pocket, you can enjoy some of England's loveliest countryside and finest views.
