We are blessed in this area with an abundance of walks of all difficulty levels. Cley Hill, near Warminster, is one of our favourites.

There is a legend that the hill was formed by the devil, when he dropped a sack of earth with which he had planned to bury the town of Devizes (which seems harsh!). He had retrieved the earth from Somerset and was travelling to Devizes when he stopped to ask an old man the distance to the town. The man replied that he had been walking for years to reach Devizes, so the devil abandoned his plan.

Archaeological features include a large univallate Iron Age hill fort, two bowl barrows and medieval strip lynchets (an earth terrace found on the side of a hill). The first three photos above are of Cley Hill.

It’s a steep walk if you go directly up the hill, but there is a shallower route wrapping around the hill if the direct route looks too much!

Other walks we like in the area include:

• The Great Ridge, which you can walk to from The Old Rectory. This has wonderful views across South Wiltshire – on a clear day you can see Salisbury Cathedral.
• The Fonthill Estate Lake – this is an easy walk from near the Fonthill Arch around part of the lake
• Shear Water and Heaven’s Gate on the Longleat Estate. Although part of the Longleat estate they are not within the paywall of the Safari Park and are free to visit. Shear Water is a pleasant walk around two sides of an artificial lake whilst Heaven’s Gate offers fabulous views over the Estate and Longleat House, surrounded by modern standing stones. Images 4 and 5 above are of Heaven’s Gate.
• White Sheet Hill – another hill fort offering stunning views, this time over towards Mere and Stourhead.
• King Alfred’s Tower – part of the Stourhead Estate, this folly is visible for miles and features pleasant walks in many directions. Maps are available from the Stourhead visitor centre – there are lots of lovely walks around the estate which are free to access.