Glyn, Elaine and I are back with another episode of the Hidden Wiltshire podcast, and once again we have returned to record outside at a mystery location. You’ll have to listen to find out where we were. There are lots of links to things we discussed in this episode in the full show notes on the Hidden Wiltshire website linked below. There you will find links to the various blogs and other things referenced below. Thanks to Glyn Coy for the stunning aerial photograph above of Biss Wood.
Before we moved onto the main topic we had the usual run down on what we’ve been up to since the last podcast. And there was an awful lot to talk about so some of it was consigned to the cutting room floor!
Glyn led a Wiltshire Museum walk with David Dawson which was timed to enable a visit to Oare House whose gardens were open to the public for the day. They took in some of the scenes for paintings by Eric Ravilious who was invited to stay there in 1932. The walk took in Gopher Wood, one of the most stunning sites for bluebells in the county.
Glyn also ventured north, not to Yorkshire but to Royal Wootton Bassett to deliver his Wiltshire Blind House talk at the library.
Meanwhile Elaine has been as busy as ever and has posted a few new blogs on the website including one based on the border of Hampshire where she followed the Shire Rack footpath and discovered connections with Jack the Ripper!
Elaine also touched the border of Dorset with a soggy but inspiring visit to Mere, a town worthy of an entire blog in itself. You can read about her visit on the Hidden Wiltshire Facebook page.
Glyn also finally wrote up his visit to another Wiltshire town, the beautiful and historic Malmesbury with tales of flying monks and tigers.
I have only recently returned from his Spring residency in France so had little to share that was Wiltshire related. However, it was interesting to discover that on Wiltshire Day, 5 June, the Thames Path National Trail tweeted a recommendation of my walk around Inglesham Church and the Thames Path.
Long term followers of Hidden Wiltshire may be familiar with the story of Alan Dodson who contacted us after our podcast about Imber, podcast number 2! Alan lived in Warminster for a few years as a child when his father was transferred here in the last war. Alan was trying to locate a cottage he used to visit somewhere on the Imber Range, long since demolished. Some people may be aware of the archaeological dig which is taking place at Imber at the moment led by Operation Nightingale, the veterans’ charity. I contacted them about Alan’s story and within a day or so two people both identified a possible location for the cottage. I have written to Alan to see if he thinks this is the place.
Finally in our round up we wanted to mention the work of some friends – Hedley Thorne, and Paul and Rebecca Whitewick. They are prolific bloggers, You Tubers and podcasters writing and filming about ancient trails, railways and canals amongst other things, much of it in Wiltshire. We share a common passion about rights of ways and in particular blocked or lost footpaths and bridleways. In the podcast we had an extended chat about this, particularly as both Elaine and Glyn have had walks thwarted by blocked rights of ways recently. We mentioned the tool that has been developed by The Ramblers called Don’t Lose Your Way which seeks to save lost paths before the Government closes the book forever in 2031 on any chance of having them reinstated.
We then began our discussion of some of our favourite woods in Wiltshire. Elaine chose the much loved Bentley Wood just to the south of Salisbury close to the border with Hampshire, a historic Royal hunting ground mentioned in the Domesday Book but which dates back even further. We mused over the origins of the name which Elaine subsequently established derives from the following – “the name Bentley comes from the Old English words beonet and leah, meaning "the clearing where bent grass grows". It was written in the past in various ways, such as Bentelwoda, and first recorded in the 13th century.” Elaine and i collaborated on a blog about Bentley.
Elaine shared her love of Chase Woods, also down in the borderlands, this time with Dorset. Chase Wood is part of the Rushmore Estate. It’s a fantastic place for wildlife and in particular for birds. Elaine and I are recent converts to the Merlin phone app from Cornell Lab which is very effective at identifying birdsong.
Next up was two of my favourite woods, or are they forests? Firstly we talked about Grovely Wood about which I wrote a blog on the Hidden Wiltshire website. Hardly hidden and well known to many but its huge scale and open access to much of it mean there are many hidden corners and opportunities to be completely alone. Its history dates back to the Romans and beyond, being the route for the Lead Road which enabled the Romans to transport lead from Mendip to the rest of southern England. It is also a place of great folklore and stories of murder and hauntings. The famous Witch Trees are to be found here and it is key to Great Wishford’s fabled Oak Apple Day which takes place each year on 29 May.
My other favourite wood is Great Ridge, which is even bigger than Grovely! Sadly access is restricted to designated rights of way but that if anything adds to its mystery. Little has been written about it but you can read about my 2020 walk through the wood on the Hidden Wiltshire website. It seems Wikipedia also struggled to find out anything about the wood as my blog is both referenced and a chunk quoted on its page about Great Ridge! However, the Lead Road also passes through here and later history features in W H Hudson’s marvellous book A Shepherd’s Life. Hudson was a great lover of Great Ridge and frequent visitor. There are again stories of mystery and folklore surrounding the wood. And the newly established Stone Daisy Brewery located on the Fonthill Estate, owners of Great Ridge, have picked up on the significance of the wood naming one of its excellent beers Snail-creep Hanging after this bizarrely named location in the wood.
Finally Glyn talked about his favourites. Biss Wood is where Hidden Wiltshire began. Tipped off by someone about the simply stunning Autumn colours Glyn went for a walk in the wood in 2016. On a whim he put up his drone and was staggered by the rainbow of colours seen from above. His aerial photograph is now widely known and used, and features in both of the Hidden Wiltshire books. Once just a meadow it was re-planted with trees in the 1940s/50s and is now managed by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.
Not far from Biss Wood is Clanger Wood and Picket Wood, south east of Trowbridge. Managed by the Woodland Trust these woods were once part of the ancient and vast Selwood Forest recorded in the Domesday Book. Little remains of Selwood but Clanger Wood is still large enough to find seclusion without becoming lost. It is listed as one of top 10 places in England for its display of bluebells, which may explain Glyn’s love of the place.
Finally Glyn wanted to add Southleigh Wood in view of its historical connections and its mystery. When King Alfred marched his troops to engage Guthrum and the Danes at the Battle of Ethandun (Eddington) in 878AD, the Saxon Chronicles say that Alfred assembled his men at Iley Oak the night before the battle. The location of Iley Oak is not known for sure but is thought to be in Southleigh Wood. The wood is now host to the mysterious and frankly creepy Robin Hood’s Bower about which Glyn wrote in 2019. The bower consists of monkey puzzle trees planted by Lord Bath in 1965-67. Here will be found many votives and tokens together with wicker circles. It is clearly a place of relevance to some!