Walking to Broughton Gifford – and back

It was a new walk for us on a bitter February day with the ground still frozen.  From Pound Lane to the swing bridge, then across the fields to Whaddon Grove Farm and on to the Pack Horse Bridge across the Avon, then through the fields to the church at the southern tip of Broughton Gifford.  It’s a walk of crossings: the Kennet & Avon, Semington Brook, the sadly disused Holt to Devizes rail line, the Avon, the still active Trowbridge to Melksham rail line, the B3107 (a risky crossing) and finally an un-named brook that drains the land around the Wraxalls.  There was a well defined track through the arable fields beyond the Pack Horse Bridge suggesting this is a well-used route.

On this day, we walked back the way we’d come and the surprise of the return journey was how invisible the Avon was untill we were right on its bank by the Pack Horse Bridge which had collected tree debris over the winter.   In the Summer we’re going to be walking on from Broughton Gifford to Great Chalfield and then to Holt and Staverton before returning along the Avon to Waddon and then to Semington.  In normal times, this is a 4 pub walk, so fingers crossed that at least one of them will be open.