This is a moderate, dramatic circle in the Vale of Pewsey, climbing up to Pewsey Downs Nature Reserve and the Alton Barnes White Horse and then finishing along a canal. It's about 6.25 miles/three hours walking. Use the map OS Outdoor Leisure 157 Marlborough & Savernake Forest, ref: 093 626. Park near Stanton St Bernard village, between Devizes and Pewsey. From Devizes, take the A361 towards Marlborough and just outside Devizes, turn right signed to All Cannings and Alton Priors. After about 4.5 miles ignore a first turn right (a no through road) to Stanton St Bernard. Go on and take the next turn right by a bus shelter. Immediately park on the left down here in a lay-by. If coming from the other way, it is the first turn left to Stanton St Bernard, just after the village sign.

The walk offers spectacular views from the dramatic downland, wonderful wild flowers in season, and a very close view of one of Wiltshire's white horses, and ends with an easy stroll along the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal where a welcoming canal side pub awaits. There is a steep climb up on to the Downs but otherwise it is easy going. On the whole, it should be dry underfoot, but expect some mud after rain, as usual.

Your dog should have a great time, too, as there are very few stiles.

START

Go up to the main road and turn right for a few yards only. Cross with care.

1. FIELD

Follow the marked footpath straight across a field heading towards the spectacular formation of the bare Downs and the White Horse. It is a huge field, so will take several minutes. As you approach the foot of the Downs, pass a rusty, corrugated iron shed on the right and then curve left following the rough field edge. The landscape is very minimalist and the contours of the land in sharp relief with just a few clumps of trees and grazing cattle.

2. GATE

Reach a wooden gate which is no longer in use but go through a metal gate at the side. Turn left into the downland area which is all open access. Turn left along the foot and gradually you can start to climb up the hill. How steeply and quickly you ascend is up to you. It is quite nice to do it gradually and then curve up to the fence-line near the top.

3. FENCE

Once up at the fence, head back in the direction you came from with the fence on your left. You are now walking along the White Horse Trail which links the eight White Horses in Wiltshire. Enjoy the south-facing views and the shapely flow of the Downs. Keep on towards the horse and reach an information board about Pewsey Downs and the flora and fauna it supports. Go through a gate ahead.

4. WHITE HORSE

Come to the horse and walk along closely above it. As you can see, he is made of chalk and very different from the concrete horse above Westbury which another of my recent walks visited.

The originator of this horse was a Robert Pile, of Manor Farm, Alton Barnes, who may also have been responsible for the first Pewsey horse, or possibly his son. In 1812, Mr Pile paid £20 to a John Thorne to design and cut the horse but he absconded with the money before the work was finished. History records that Thorne was eventually hanged, but for what crime we don't know.

The horse seems to have been well looked after over the years, with fairly regular scouring. It looks out over Pewsey Vale towards the new Pewsey horse, and can be seen for many miles. In recent years, it has been lit by candlelight on several occasions.

Continue on in the same direction following the curve of the downs and getting a good view of the horse as you look back. Ahead of you on Walker's Hill is one of the highest points on the Downs, crowned by the prehistoric Adam's Grave long barrow.

5. ADAM'S GRAVE

Continue towards the barrow. It is about 60m long and 6m high. On either side are ditches and at the south-east end are traces of a sarsen stone burial chamber.

You can go up to the top if you wish but our route follows the path which bears right below it and then follows the spur of the hill out and drops gradually into the vale. Go through a gate where you will find an information board about the White Horse Trail.

Go down the marked sunken track leading to a road.

6. ROAD

Cross and turn left up the road for a couple of minutes and then turn right on to a marked route which goes ahead on a wide grassy swathe alongside ranch fencing and fields of horses.

This is now the right of way, replacing the former Ridgeway which is now a sunken overgrown track on the left, not very pleasant to negotiate. Bend right at the foot and continue round to an opening on the left and a footpath marker. Cross the lane (the Alton Barnes village sign is on your left) and go down Brown's Lane opposite.

7. BROWN'S LANE

Pass an old thatched mud and stone wall on the right. Continue until you reach a footpath on the left. Take this and go through a kissing gate and then follow an old cobbled stone church path across the field to the small church ahead.

8. CHURCH

This beautiful little church of St Mary's is well worth a visit.

Turn right out of the church with a large farm on the left and the lane leads up to a road. Turn left and follow this for several minutes until you reach a bridge over the Kennet and Avon Canal at Honeystreet. En route, pass a gate on the right leading to a memorial to RAF Alton Barnes which was a training airfield here during the last war. The actual memorial stone is on one of the old air-raid bunkers.

9. HONEYSTREET

Cross the canal and turn right on the towpath. Soon reach the Barge Inn.

The Barge Inn's many customers include crop circle enthusiasts, cyclists, walkers, narrowboaters and occasionally musicians. The pub was built in 1810 to serve the Kennet and Avon Canal.

It prospered alongside a waterway busy with both commercial and passenger traffic. In its heyday it had a slaughterhouse, coach house and stabling for four horses, as well as a brewhouse, hopstore, bakehouse, smokehouse and cart shed. The ground floor also contained a grocery and general stores. Sadly, it was largely destroyed by fire in December, 1858, but it was quickly rebuilt and continued to flourish until the demise of the canal. It was sold right at the end of the 19th century. Continue along the canal. Go under one bridge and continue on.

10. SECOND BRIDGE

At the second bridge go under and then turn up left, leaving the canal. Cross the bridge and continue on the track which bends left and leads to a farm and equestrian centre. Turn right on the entrance drive which leads you out to a lane in the village of Stanton St Bernard.

Continue straight on and shortly go past the church keeping it on your right and coming into the village. Turn left on Coate Road and then left again on to another road and follow it for a couple of minutes, going round a bend, and back to where you started.

The Barge Inn, Honeystreet, Pewsey, Wiltshire SN9 5PS. Tel: 01672 851705.