Robust Rambles

Section 51

Coombe Bissett to Bishopstone

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

Greatstone to Gillingham Robust Ramble

Section 51  Out

Coombe Bissett to Bishopstone

Map: OS Explorer 130 Salisbury

Distance: 3.5 miles/ 2 hours

Start: The Fox & Goose pub in Coombe Bissett parking for patrons. Open every day. Very limited on-road parking  by church but not Sundays.

Comment: Short but pleasant walk, mostly fairly level along by the river, but contrasts of treelined paths, fields and pastures. The pastures may be heavy going in wet weather. Three medieval churches are passed and all are well worth short diversions. The pub in Bishopstone is not open on Mondays. Three stiles.

From the car park of the Fox & Goose turn left up the main road. Ignore a path off left and stay on the main road over a river bridge.

Pass a road on the left and in a few paces more, just level with the church up on your left, turn right with care, over the road to a meeting of tracks.

Take the righthand drive, with the river over on the right, past a modern ‘grand designs’ house and keep on along the drive for 100 metres. Reach and pass through a metal swing gate by a metal fieldgate and continue on the drive.

Where this ends, go forward on a grassy path, which becomes enclosed, with the river close by on your right.

Reach a point with a seat overlooking the river and a metal swing gate on the left. Go through this into a field corner.

Continue along the edge of the field with trees on your right for ¼ mile. Swing right and left halfway.

At the far end cross a stile into a rougher pasture and continue up the length of this with fence, trees and river over on your right, for 200 metres.

Finally come up to a wooden fieldgate at the far end. Go through onto a drive and continue in the same direction. Reach and pass heavy duty metal gates and go on a short distance.

Take the first track left with a river ford on your right. Ahead is a house. Swing left up the track passing the house on your right. Keep along for some way.

Keep right at a Y-fork and soon over a cross track. Almost immediately, turn left onto a narrow, grassy path (Stratford Tony church down right is worth a detour). Otherwise keep on the grassy path for ¼ mile through pleasant woods.

Emerge down onto a road by cottages. Go forward past a barn on the left then follow the road left and up between concrete posts.

Go through a gateway. Ignore the concrete track straight ahead turn right on the road. Pass a house and garden on your right, ten turn right, off the road through a metal fieldgate into a sloping pasture.

Drop down the bank, then turn sharply diagonally left across a long narrow pasture, heading to the right of a distant house.

In the far opposite corner of the pasture cross a stile into the garden of the house and walk up by the river on your right to find a narrow path in the corner along a tall fence to a garden gate out onto a road.

Turn right on the road to pass Bishopstone church car park on your right. When level with the church (a stunning building) turn left onto the drive opposite to Manor House Farm. Where the drive swings right go straight ahead over a stile by a wooden fieldgate onto a grassy path.

At the end bear right up into a pasture and continue in the same direction. At the far end cross an old stile into a further pasture and bear right, up a bank, towards a white house.

Keep along the high ground passing close by the house. At the far end of the field in a corner, go through a metal kissing gate by a metal fieldgate.

Do not go up to the road, but bear left to a stile by a rusty metal fieldgate. Cross and turn right along the top edge of a further pasture with a hedge on your right.

At the very most top corner ahead, find a squeeze stile out to a road. Turn left a few paces then left down Pitts Lane between houses.

Eventually stay on the lane as it swings right and continue along until reaching a Y-fork with a thatched cottage ahead.

Bear right into an enclosed footpath. This soon merges into a residential road. Continue along it to a crossroads.

Go straight over and up The Croft opposite. At the end of the close continue up a path enclosed between fences. This soon emerges into the village hall car park. Go forward and down to a road

Turn right, up the road to reach the White Hart pub at the top and the end of the section.

Greatstone to Gillingham Robust Ramble

Section 51  Return

Bishopstone to Coombe Bissett

Map: OS Explorer 130 Salisbury

Distance: 4 miles/ 2 hours

Start: The White Hart in Bishopstone has a car park. The village hall car park seems normally open.

Comment: A little road walking to start with then some gentle climbs up onto the downs with great views The paths are generally grassy and easy walking. The final stretch back to Coombe Bissett uses the outward route as there are no other east west paths.

From the White Hart, walk down the side on Butt Lane past the car park at the rear, down to a road junction at the bottom. Turn left on Netton Street.

At the next junction, turn right up Faulston. At a sharp left bend follow the road left a few paces, then right, over a stile, into a pasture. Turn diagonally left across this.

Cross the stile in the hedge at the far side. Go straight ahead on a bridlepath between hedges. At a junction, bear right on the main track, still uphill.

In 200metres, after a slight bend to the right, turn left                  through a metal fieldgate into a field corner (this is on the Cranborne Droves Way). Go straight down the field with a sparse treeline on your left.

At the bottom, by barns, turn left on a concrete track. In 75 metres, at a bend, turn right into the field on the right, then immediately left, uphill, on a grassy way between hedges. Continue along the edge of a pasture for ¼ mile.

Finally drop down to a concrete track and turn right past farm buildings. At the bottom reach a road and go straight on down it.

The route now returns along the outward path to Coombe Bissett.

Keep on the road between houses then swing right past a barn and cottages. After the last house on the left, go forward up a grassy track into trees. Basically, keep forward for a mile.

In 150 metres, ignore a path off right to Stratford Tony church, and continue.

Cross a drive and join a gravel vehicle track going forward.

After some way, drop down to reach a house on your left. Turn right here, passing a river ford on your left, to soon meet a farm road.

Turn right on this, uphill, then around left, to reach heavy duty metal gates. Pass around the side and on up the drive.

In 30 metres reach a wooden fieldgate on your left. Go through this, off the drive, and on down a pasture by a fence on the left.

Finally reach a stile in bushes and enter a field corner. Keep on along the bottom edge for a good way, following the edge to the right then left, halfway.

Exit through a metal swing gate by a bench overlooking the river and go forward on an enclosed path.

Join a gravel drive and continue along this through a metal swing gate by a metal fieldgate. Keep on to reach a main road in Coombe Bissett. Cross carefully and turn left, across a side road, then a river bridge, to return to the Fox & Goose pub and the start of the section.