We are lucky in Wiltshire to be surrounded by some of the countries greatest archaeological remains from ancient history, as well as many from more modern times.
Most of these are easily accessible from public footpaths and there are plenty within a short drive of Chippenham.
A good way to see Wansdyke is to head through Calne on the A4, and then take the road towards Bishops Canning which rises up sharply onto the Wilshire Downs.
Just before you reach the North Wiltshire Golf Club, there is a parking area on the left signposted as Small Grain picnic area.
On a sunny day there are usually plenty of walkers and picnickers making the most of the views across Wiltshire from this lovely spot.
Poppy, Max and I headed off along the well marked Wansdyke Path, avoiding the occasional cyclist on the first part which is also the White Horse Trail an official cycle path.
After about half a mile the two paths split and Wansdyke climbs steeply up towards the top of Morgans Hill.
The dogs love chasing the rabbits back down their holes and smelling out the badgers and foxes that must roam these paths at night.
At the top of the hill is a communications mast and some small buildings fenced off, but there is plenty of room for the dogs to run off their leads if the sheep aren't in this field.
Wansdyke itself is now clearly visible and you can walk along the old earthwork defences which it is though were built by Britons or Saxons during the 5th or 6th century, after the Romans had left the country.
A good detour is to walk across the field up to Furze Knoll, which is a small wooded hill top with a very good view across the downs towards Devizes.
As we wanted to see Avebury as well today, we headed back around the top of Morgans Hill and down the other side back to the Wessex Ridgeway path which follows the old Roman road from London to Bath.
You can walk all the way across the Downs to Avebury but this is too much for a short circular walk with the dogs, so we went back to the car and drove back along the A4 from Calne to Avebury.
After parking in the National Trust car park we walked into the village and meandered around the great standing stones which form the largest Neolithic stone circle in Europe.
The sheer scale of the earthworks becomes clear the more you walk around the area, and the neighbouring monuments of Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow all date from the same period some 2500 years ago or more.
This must have been an awesome place for early stone age people to comprehend, let alone build, and Avebury is now a World Heritage Site owned by the National Trust together with the more recent 16th century Avebury Manor in the centre of the village.
After exploring the village end to end, we enjoyed a short rest and drink outside at the Red Lion pub before heading back to the car park and home for tea.
Most of these are easily accessible from public footpaths and there are plenty within a short drive of Chippenham.
A good way to see Wansdyke is to head through Calne on the A4, and then take the road towards Bishops Canning which rises up sharply onto the Wilshire Downs.
Just before you reach the North Wiltshire Golf Club, there is a parking area on the left signposted as Small Grain picnic area.
On a sunny day there are usually plenty of walkers and picnickers making the most of the views across Wiltshire from this lovely spot.
Poppy, Max and I headed off along the well marked Wansdyke Path, avoiding the occasional cyclist on the first part which is also the White Horse Trail an official cycle path.
After about half a mile the two paths split and Wansdyke climbs steeply up towards the top of Morgans Hill.
The dogs love chasing the rabbits back down their holes and smelling out the badgers and foxes that must roam these paths at night.
At the top of the hill is a communications mast and some small buildings fenced off, but there is plenty of room for the dogs to run off their leads if the sheep aren't in this field.
Wansdyke itself is now clearly visible and you can walk along the old earthwork defences which it is though were built by Britons or Saxons during the 5th or 6th century, after the Romans had left the country.
A good detour is to walk across the field up to Furze Knoll, which is a small wooded hill top with a very good view across the downs towards Devizes.
As we wanted to see Avebury as well today, we headed back around the top of Morgans Hill and down the other side back to the Wessex Ridgeway path which follows the old Roman road from London to Bath.
You can walk all the way across the Downs to Avebury but this is too much for a short circular walk with the dogs, so we went back to the car and drove back along the A4 from Calne to Avebury.
After parking in the National Trust car park we walked into the village and meandered around the great standing stones which form the largest Neolithic stone circle in Europe.
The sheer scale of the earthworks becomes clear the more you walk around the area, and the neighbouring monuments of Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow all date from the same period some 2500 years ago or more.
This must have been an awesome place for early stone age people to comprehend, let alone build, and Avebury is now a World Heritage Site owned by the National Trust together with the more recent 16th century Avebury Manor in the centre of the village.
After exploring the village end to end, we enjoyed a short rest and drink outside at the Red Lion pub before heading back to the car park and home for tea.