Things To Do
Surrounded by beautiful Wiltshire countryside, Chippenham makes an ideal centre for walking and cycling. The map at the back of this guide shows some of the main possibilities, and brochures are available from the Museum or Tourist Information Centre.
As well as the pleasure of walking around the town centre there are circular walks out of the town in all directions, including a particularly scenic one from Chippenham to Lacock, via the Wilts & Berks Canal. We particularly recommend the Macmillan Way (www.macmillanway.org) which winds through the Bybrook Valley to the west of Chippenham, through part of The Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The route meanders beside the trout stream, through picturesque villages such as Ford and Castle Combe, up winding hills and through woodland festooned in the spring with snow-drops, daffodils or bluebells.
The bluebells at Seagry Wood in May.
Maud Heath’s Causeway runs north-eastwards from Chippenham to Bremhill. This redoubtable lady gave land and property to a trust which oversaw the construction of a causeway allowing people dry passage from Wick Hill to Chippenham. There are monuments along the route: in Chippenham, at Kellaways (where there is a long raised section) and at the top of the hill near Bremhill. Find out more about Maud Heath at Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre.
For the more adventurous, Spirthill Farm offers off-road biking and multi-terrain trails for walkers and mountain bikers. Walk or cycle across ditches, bridges and ridges, under and over natural obstacles, with 2- 4- and 7-km tracks, fully waymarked.
To the north of Chippenham, the Parish of Seagry is built around the old Draycot Estate. Today you can take a walk over the motorway to the site of Draycot House – although the House itself was demolished in the 1970s, the pathway to its little church is still open, and from here you can see the beautifully landscaped lake. For cyclists, the Rivers Route (part of the Sustrans National Cycle Route 4 www.sustrans.org.uk) makes use of the Wilts & Berks Canal path and the old Calne railway. The route offers a choice of easy cycling in the river valley or more strenuous work in the surrounding hills.
The Rivers Route follows the old railway line, which used to carry pigs and milk to and from Calne.
