'Low on miles but high on interest' was a strap line used by one publisher of walking guides. This walk would fit the bill perfectly.
With a NT manor at Westwood and Iford Manor with its Italian-style garden, there is much fine architecture and design to catch the eye. There is also Stowford Farm, where Pevsner was much taken by a 'front with three irregular gables and windows with uncusped arched lights'.
Today's visitor will no doubt be more interested in the cream tea served daily from 3pm to 6pm.
There are also fine views along the way, including charming glimpses of the Frome Valley as well as extensive tracts of the West Wiltshire landscape stretching away to the fringes of Salisbury Plain.
The Peto Gardens are open from 2pm to 5pm excluding Mondays and Fridays.
Westwood Manor is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday 2pm to 5pm.
Nigel Vile
Distance: 3 miles
Time: Allow 2 hours for a leisurely walk
Start: Westwood Manor (GR 813590)
Maps: OS Landranger 173 or OS Explorer 143
Terrain: Undulating
Suitable for: Walkers and runners
Directions: Getting there Leave the B3109 just south of Bradford-on-Avon to follow the signposted road into Westwood. Turn left by the New Inn and, in 10 yards, park on the roadside by Westwood Manor.
1: Cross the stile opposite the entrance to Westwood Manor, bear half right and follow the path signposted to Stowford across to a gap in the hedge in the corner of the field just beyond a cottage. Follow the right edge of the next field down to a small copse in the corner of the field, pass through this copse and join a lane Follow this lane to the left for 150 yards before turning right onto an enclosed path that leads to a handgate in 100 yards. Follow the right edge of the field ahead as it winds its way downhill into a shallow valley. In 200 yards, having passed a sewage works on the right, turn right at a handgate and follow a track up to a lane in ¼ mile.
2: Turn left and follow the lane – signed with a 17% incline sign – downhill. In 200 yards, as the road reaches the gardens of Iford Manor, turn sharply left onto a bridleway, detouring ahead to explore Iford first. Follow this enclosed track for ½ mile to reach a lane, turn left and, in 300 yards, pass through a gateway on the right into a field, ignoring an earlier footpath on the right. On the far side of the field, follow a track that drops downhill to reach the A361 in Stowford in ¼ mile, detouring into the field on the left to bypass a boggy patch at the start of the track if necessary to rejoin the track in 40 yards.
3: Head across the A361 to Stowford Farm for a cream tea – for the main walk, pass through a gate on the left and follow the left edge of a field along to a pair of gates and a paddock. At the end of the paddock, bear left into the adjoining field, bear right to a gap in the corner of this field and follow the field ahead uphill to a stile in its top right corner. Cross the next field to a stile opposite before heading across the next field to a gap in the hedgerow opposite, maybe following the permissive path to the left around the edge of the field to reach this gap. Beyond this gap, follow the right edge of the field ahead across to the stile
