Walks from Bedwyn

Pretty villages of Little Bedwyn and Chisbury, farmland with expansive views, and the Kennet & Avon Canal.

The Kennet & Avon Canal: A historic canal with a towpath running past Great Bedwyn and the Crofton pumping station.

Warnings: Some steep steps over the canal and railway at Little Bedwyn, avoidable via a road alternative.

Walk details: Visit Pewsey Vale (photos).

Wilton Windmill (the only working windmill in Wessex), Wilton Water, Crofton Beam Engines and Bedwyn Brail woodland, with Kennet & Avon Canal stretches.

Wilton Windmill: A working five-storey brick tower windmill, the only one of its kind in Wessex, above the village of Wilton.

Wilton Water: A reservoir feeding the Kennet & Avon Canal, popular with wildfowl, beside the village of Wilton.

Crofton Beam Engines: A restored Georgian pumping station on the Kennet & Avon Canal housing the world's oldest working steam beam engine.

The Kennet & Avon Canal: A historic canal with a towpath running past Great Bedwyn and the Crofton pumping station.

Walk details: Visit Pewsey Vale (photos).

Hatchet Lane bridleway, Wilton Brail woodland and the restored Crofton Beam Engines canal pumping station.

Crofton Beam Engines: A restored Georgian pumping station on the Kennet & Avon Canal housing the world's oldest working steam beam engine.

Warnings: Includes one pedestrian rail crossing.

Walk details: Visit Pewsey Vale (photos).

Kennet & Avon Canal towpath, the pretty village of Little Bedwyn and a climb to Burridge Heath.

The Kennet & Avon Canal: A historic canal with a towpath running past Great Bedwyn and the Crofton pumping station.

Walk details: Visit Pewsey Vale (photos).

Country lanes, Bedwyn Common and Chisbury Wood, passing the Victorian church of St Katharine's.

Warnings: May be muddy in places.

Walk details: Visit Pewsey Vale (photos).

Ancient forest with veteran oaks and beeches, chalk plateau, rolling downland, dry and wet valleys, undulating pastures, landscaped parkland, river meadows, dismantled railway line and historic market town.

Time: 7h

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Quiet woods and pastures, long open ridge with panoramic views, forest walk and canalside village.

Time: 6h30

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Magnificent views. Canal towpath and with moderate climbs. Part of the Mid Wiltshire Way.

Time: 5h–10h30

Walk details: Railwalks.

A flat, easy canal towpath walk, mostly dry and firm underfoot but with some seasonal mud after wet weather; one short section can be especially bad. Some uneven ground and kissing gates and a narrow bridge. Railway stations at both ends make it an easy there-and-back by train.

Waterway: nine tenths along the Kennet and Avon Canal.

Time: 2h–4h30

Lunch: A cafe in Great Bedwyn, but it closes at 3pm.

Warnings: A railway crossing and a section of road through Great Bedwyn with no pavement, though traffic is light.

Walk details: Slow Ways.