Rambling above Edington: 3rd

With the summer weather still holding, we once again decided to make the most of it heading out for a ramble above the small village of Edington. The Edington parish was once part of the Hundred of Whorwellsdown (the term ‘hundred’ was a geographic division which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions) and is believed to hold a vital place in English history, for it was probably here that King Alfred the Great won a decisive battle against the Danes at the Battle of Ethandun, thus saving the foundations of England.

(The Battle of Ethandun or Edington is where the forces of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex under Alfred the Great defeated the Great Heathen Army led by Guthrum between 6 and 12 May AD 878. It ultimately resulted in the Treaty of Wedmore the same year when the Viking leader was baptized, accepted Alfred as his adoptive father and agreed to leave Wessex.)

Interestingly, William Gullick the man who designed the New South Wales Coat of Arms, was also baptised here in 1858.

After convincing the children that ‘it would be fun’, we parked roadside and made our way to the beginning of a sign posted public footpath. I just love the fact that the entire country is criss-crossed with such ‘footpaths’ allowing access to both public and private land. It is simply a case of guessing which direction the path might go and rambling around until you find a path, stile or sign that lets you know you are heading in the right direction. In this case we wanted to head straight up the hillside so the direction was easy, the footing, however, proved a bit more of a challenge at times. The kids coped brilliantly and we were rewarded with fantastic views across Wiltshire. Edington also lies below the Salisbury Plains so we were also able to get views across the plains in the other direction.

Despite having an ordinance map, the exact route we planned was somewhat difficult to follow so we used the force making our way across the hillside only stopping when confronted by a herd of cows, and an amorous bull! Abbey had fun collecting wild flowers along the way whilst Zac and Nathan scouted out our path. As luck would have it we managed to eventually follow a small ravine, which led us straight back to the car (though through a few nettles which were not much fun).

A loo with a view

As a reward for our efforts we stopped at the 200-year-old village pub for a refreshing drink. Recently renovated and reopened as The Paulet Arms, it is the parish’s only surviving public house. Best of all though was the fact that it backs onto a fantastic playground so everyone was happy!