[1] From the High Street, turn into St. Martin’s Lane and in a short distance go through a 2-in-1 gate on the right, signed Cold Ashton. Head down to the lower left corner of the field, to a kissing gate, then go ahead along the valley bottom, climbing a stile to reach a path junction. Turn left here, and in a short distance, climb a stile on the right. Now follow a discernable path down to a brook and walk with it on your left. (Choose your own path through the mud!) Climb a stile, beyond which, the brook, now more visible, is to your left. Go through a kissing gate then take the higher path, passing between two green pipe access boxes, eventually passing through an old hedge boundary by a gate post, after which you climb to the top corner of the field, passing old farm buildings hidden in the trees to your left.
[2] A few yards further, you reach a hill. Go ahead left (ignoring the well-worn path up to the right), picking up the trees on your left and walking on a more or less level path with the hill on your right. Keep close to this old boundary and look for a kissing gate down to the left, just past an obvious manhole cover. Go through and head down the hill to cross a stone footbridge over a brook, then go immediately right, up the hill. At the top climb a stile and go left, following a well-defined path around the hillside until you reach a field corner, where you go left, to climb a stile by a gate. Now, go ahead, keeping the hedge to your left. Cross a stile by a field gate then climb ahead to reach a road.
[3] Go ahead and almost immediately take the footpath on the left over a stile by a field gate, then head down the spur towards a house, where you climb a stile by a gate. Cross the driveway, through the kissing gate by the barn, then walk halfway across the field before dropping down right to cross a wooden footbridge. Now head for the top left corner of the field to a gate by a house to access a road. Walk left for a short distance, then take the track on the right and beyond the gate, look immediately left for a kissing gate hidden by bushes. (If this is overgrown, continue to a gate on the left and use that.) Then follow the left boundary up the hill and round to the right to reach a gate in the top corner. (Note: There is a kissing gate and permissive path off to the left before reaching the top corner. This path rejoins the track leading to the 2-in-1 gate.) Beyond, follow the track to a 2-in-1 gate. Now follow the footpath sign directing you half-left to a stile in the boundary fence. Cross over to enter the old airfield on Charmy Down.
(A) Charmy Down, a World War II airfield, closed in 1946 and was decommissioned in 1949. Five years later, construction of a radar station began, part of the UK’s post-war air attack early warning system. Records indicate some £400,000 was spent here before work was abandoned in 1955.
The footpath sign now directs you straight ahead across the airfield to pick up a wire fence on the left, just beyond one of the two main runways. Keep going to reach a gate, go through and stay on the same course, crossing the other runway then walking with a fence on your right.
[4] At the far side of the airfield, turn right at the fence and follow the perimeter track, going left through a field gate, passing the remains of the aircraft dispersal pens on your right, then passing barns to eventually reach a stile and lane. Climb over and turn left and follow the tarmac passing Cherry Well House until you reach a footpath sign and stile on the right. Cross into a field and ahead, you have your first view of your next objective, Little Solsbury Hill. Now head down the hill, aiming for the telegraph pole and from there keeping parallel with the lines overhead and following waymarks directing the you in a zigzag left and right through the field boundary to enter a second field. Continue your descent following the overhead lines to cross a stile to the left of the pole at the bottom of the field then take the steps down to another stile, thence on to the bottom of the next field. Continue down to the right to reach derelict farm buildings.
[5] Now go through the metal gate and keep in the same general direction, climbing to reach a stile in the bushes beneath the power line. Turn left and walk with the hedge on the left to a kissing gate, go through and go ahead to another. Beyond here, you have a short, steep ascent to Little Solsbury Hill, though you must return to this point to continue the walk. Climb to the top of the hill, noticing the turf maze cut into the step of the hill on your right. (May be overgrown)
(B) This labyrinth is a relic of the Batheaston Road Protest, the protestors created it as part of some eco-magic ritual intended to halt the construction of the bypass – along which the traffic now thunders. The hill, now National Trust land, is triangular in shape and was a Bronze-Age fort. Those of a certain age will know of ‘Solsbury Hill’ from Peter Gabriel’s 1977 song of the same name. Apparently, he had a mystical experience here…
It is well worth walking around the perimeter of the hill to take in the views over Bath, before descending to the last kissing gate you used to access the hill, going right when you reach it. (Don't go through the gate.)
[6] Your walk now continues on a vague route, keeping the fence to your left and following it downhill for a few yards, then around to the right to a stile. Climb over and take the path ahead through woodland, then follow a waymark directing you down to the left. The path hereabouts is quite indistinct, but you can’t go far wrong! You’ll find yourself going right again, then descending once more before going right yet again on a level path, where you breathe a sigh of relief as a stile by an electricity pole comes into view. Go over and walk with an old boundary hedge on the left to the field corner where you drop down to the lower field and kissing gate, now walking with the boundary hedge up to your right. As you approach the cross-boundary veer left, passing through a gate and keeping on, now with the hedge on the left, as far as a lone gatepost. Follow the waymark left and walk down the hill with a hedge on the right, staying with it as it turns right at a corner. In a few yards, go through a kissing gate to reach a lane.
[7] Turn right and follow the lane to a metal gate on the left. Beyond, go down the hill, following a clear path in the direction of the house on the opposite hillside. At the bottom of the hill, cross the stream via gates and bridge, then turn right and head towards the kissing gate. Go through and cross the meadow to a further gate in the far top left corner that gives access to a lane. Here, walk right to a junction, where you go ahead, along Ranscombe Lane. Continue to a signposted stile on the right, climb over and walk straight down the hill, crossing another stile with a lane beyond.
[8] Walk left along the lane to a right turn, that you take to reach water treatment works on left. Cross stream and a short distance further, climb the stile on the left and walk the length of the meadow, passing through a gate in the cross-fence, to climb a stile by a wooden gate. Cross the drive and another stile, then continue for a short distance to another driveway. Go ahead along this, then when it swings up to the road, cross the stile ahead and walk over the meadow ahead with the stream to the left. At the far end you reach a stile and bridge (waymarked as a permissive path), cross over, then bear left as directed by the waymarks, following the stream around a left hand bend, then ascending gradually to a stile. Cross, then go half right heading for a disused stile, finger post and large boundary stone.
[9] Pass through the field boundary and go ahead in the same general direction, walking the length of the field eventually dropping down to join the hedge on your right, eventually reaching a stile. Climb over and continue ahead, picking up a fence on the right with a lake beyond. At the far end of the field, go over a stile by a metal gate then go ahead climbing a stile to access a road. Go left along the road, then left through a green metal gate with a footpath signed to Ashwicke. In a few yards, before reaching a gate ahead, look up to the right for a stile. Go up and over, then climb steeply, keeping right, to the top of the hill. Continue ahead to a kissing gate then contour the hillside, finally climbing gently to pass through a kissing gate to a road opposite a cottage. Go left along the road that bears right in a short distance, and continue to a sharp left bend with gates on the right. Here, go ahead through the kissing gate.
[10] Cross the field keeping right, then go through gates either side of a track and continue a short distance to go through a kissing gate. Now walk in the same direction across the meadow to the far side, through a 2-in-1 gate, and continue on with a hedge to your left.
[11] On the crest of the hill Marshfield comes into view; keep going down the field and through a kissing gate at the bottom, then continue in the same direction, hedge left, to reach another gate. Go through and continue, now with the hedge on your right, down to a further kissing gate. Beyond this, climb the track ahead to a disused stile then go up to the left and through a kissing gate. From here the path is clear; follow it down to the valley bottom where you cross a brook and through a kissing gate. Now head diagonally up the field to the top corner, over another stile, then continue for a short distance going through a kissing gate into Weir Lane. To return to the main road, go left and in a short distance fork right, then right again into Sheep Fair Lane and thus back to the High Street.
(C) Unlike other medieval Cotswold towns, Marshfield’s wealth came mainly from the growing of barley for malting, rather than from wool production. As early as the 15th century, there is evidence that barley was being grown for this process, which converts the grain into fermentable material that can then be sold for brewing beer and ale. Marshfield at one time had over 80 malthouses, the last one ceasing operation in the early 1900s. The town was also the first stage on the Bristol-London stagecoach route, hence the large number of pubs and inns that the town once supported.