THE RIVER Wylye is one of the five rivers that meet at Salisbury. It flows along a delightful valley from the north west of the city and through Wilton.

This walk is from Great Wishford, a pretty village of thatch and flint-walled cottages and stone houses, which lies on the river just above Wilton.

Following rural lanes, part of a Roman Road, and the downland paths, the route climbs out of the valley to the hill tops that separate the Wylye and Nadder valleys.

Approach the village from the A36, turning left over the river about two miles north of Wilton just as you approach Stoford.

Parking is available at the excellent village pub, the Royal Oak, but check with the landlord before using the car park.

Otherwise, turn left as you approach the church and into South Street, where roadside parking is available just beyond the shop and post office.

Start the walk from the church and note the stone tablets in the wall marking local bread prices since 1801.

Head along West Street past the village school and stone wall on the right.

Just beyond the Royal Oak, go underneath the railway arch and follow Grovely Road ahead towards the rising curve of Hadden Hill.

Follow this quiet lane for just over a mile.

1. The tarmac gives way to a gravel track as you pass a sign marking Grovely Wood.

The wide, fenced track climbs gradually through mixed woodland and its surface returns to tarmac as you continue uphill through hazel, beech, ash and larch.

Eventually, you reach a junction of paths which form a grass triangle on the left. Here, turn left along a tarmac/gravel track.

2. After a short distance, a large field appears through trees ahead. Follow the track as it bends around to the left and past a metal barrier.

You are now following an ancient route which once linked the Mendips in Somerset with Kent. This fine avenue between stately beech trees resembles in parts an entrance to a stately home.

After about one mile, blue marker signs indicate a public bridleway crossing your route but continue ahead along the tarmac avenue.

Although the avenue continues, it is not long before conifer woodland replaces mixed native trees behind the line of beech trees.

3 About half-a-mile further on, as the conifers become thicker, look for and follow a blue permissive bridleway sign to the left along an earth woodland track which can be muddy at first.

Soon, cross another earth track to continue ahead downhill through a dense conifer wood. It is not long before you leave the wood via a stile.

Enter a field with a superb view over the Wylye valley and some of its villages ahead. Bear right across the field, skirting a group of oak trees, to make for a stile.

A yellow marker sign indicates the direction of the path, which follows the left side of a post and wire fence along the top of a field which drops away steeply to the left. Ahead are the houses of South Newton, while, to the left, is the neater village of Great Wishford clustered around its 15th-century church tower.

Your route descends towards the Bristol to Salisbury railway line and a stile at the start of a fence farm track. Cross the stile and bear slightly left along an earth path towards another stile. Cross this into a small meadow to make for another stile by a railway arch.

4 Go into the lane and under the railway arch before turning left along the lane, which follows part of the River Wylye back to Great Wishford. Bear right into South Street to return to the church.

LEN SHELTON