1. I followed this route in reverse, from Fordingbridge to Salisbury meeting point. The high street in Fordingbridge does have pavement but it might require crossing the road here and there where it narrows. Although there is a degree of traffic going through the town it is slow-moving owing to its topography. A little after the Fordingbridge meeting point this first photo depicts the pavement along Whitsbury Road. Some branches were edging onto the pavement in places. 1 km from start —
2. Section of pavement apart from the road approaching the Sweatford green space. 1.2 km from start —
3. Some roadworks and traffic cones. Pavement remained largely free. 1.6 km from start —
4. Turning onto Fryern Court Road. 1.8 km from start —
5. Fryern Court Road. It had little traffic on a wet Sunday afternoon. 2.4 km from start —
6. Fryern Court Road continued. 3.1 km from start —
7. Approaching Outwick Cross turning onto another country road. Again little to no traffic. 4.1 km from start —
8. Leaving the road and joining the gravel track of Long Steeple Lane. 4.7 km from start —
9. Long Steeple Lane. 4.9 km from start —
10. Long Steeple Lane continued. 5.5 km from start —
11. Leaving Long Steeple Lane encountering a vehicle gate. 6.2 km from start —
12. Closer photo of the vehicle gate. 6.2 km from start —
13. Gap past the vehicle gate. 6.2 km from start —
14. Track following the vehicle gate. 6.3 km from start —
15. Dirt track gives way to footpath. 6.6 km from start —
16. Grass-covered junction of paths. 6.8 km from start —
17. Footpath circumnavigating the first of two padlocked livestock gates. 7.6 km from start —
18. Gap past the first padlocked livestock gate. 7.6 km from start —
19. Path around the second padlocked livestock gate. 7.6 km from start —
20. Gap past the second padlocked livestock gate. 7.6 km from start —
21. Dirt track after the gates on the approach to the Great Yews. WARNING: Following the ascent pictured this section can has ruts that can be filled with mud and deep puddles in all seasons so be prepared to backtrack and circumnavigate this section if required. 7.7 km from start —
22. Deep puddle in track which necessitated the photo surveyor to climb the raised verge to the right, leaning toward the trees and shrubs for balance. Might be unsafe if not sure-footed. 9.2 km from start —
23. Turning toward and joining the track along the Great Yews. 9.9 km from start —
24. Entering track under the Great Yews. 9.9 km from start —
25. Uneven and muddy sections along the Great Yews. 9.9 km from start —
26. Further uneven and muddy sections. Risk of slipping. 10.2 km from start —
27. Track becoming more even leaving the cover of the Great Yews. 10.6 km from start —
28. Just before the right turn after the Great Yews. 10.7 km from start —
29. Track after turning right. 11.1 km from start —
30. Dirt track giving way to country road beginning the descent into Homington. 11.8 km from start —
31. Country road toward Homington. 12.7 km from start —
32. Crossing Homington Road into the village. Little traffic but be aware of vehicles that might be travelling at speed. 13.6 km from start —
33. Approaching the bridge over the River Ebble leaving the village and following Homington Road. Occasional farm traffic along with standard road users. 14 km from start —
34. Closer photo of the bridge. 14 km from start —
35. Note that Homington Road is fairly steep in places. 14.3 km from start —
36. Crossing the A354 onto a country road unofficially signposted as Old Shaston Drove. Be aware this main road crossing is blind until almost on the road itself, and there can be quite a lot of traffic. Moreover it is where the National Speed Limit ends/begins into/from Salisbury proper. There are frequent large gaps in the traffic however. 16 km from start —
37. Leaving the country road onto the byway, although here it has resolved to little more than a footpath. 16.1 km from start —
38. Path beginning fairly open but soon becomes overgrown in places. 16.2 km from start —
39. Overgrown tree branches that the photo surveyor had to duck under. 16.2 km from start —
40. Narrow with shrubs and branches hugging the path. 16.3 km from start —
41. Nettles as path reaches the residential boundaries. 16.4 km from start —
42. Exiting the path and joining Old Blandford Road which has good visibility and is fairly quiet. There is a dedicated pedestrian section roadmarked turning to pavement later on. 16.6 km from start —
43. Pavement on Old Blandford Road. Slight border overgrowth. Take note of the dips to drain covers as there are several in this section which can be slippery when wet. 16.8 km from start —
44. This section of the pavement had moss growing owing to the overhanging tree. Take care to not to slip when wet. 17.3 km from start —
45. Traffic lights crossing over Harnham Road. 17.5 km from start —
46. Pavement over the bridge crossing the River Avon and joining St Nicholas's Road. 17.8 km from start —
47. Section of pavement before turning into De Vaux Place. 18 km from start —
48. Traffic control crossing under the gatehouse into the Cathedral Close. Be aware of vehicles rounding the corner when entering. 18.1 km from start —
49. Gap for pedestrians entering the close. 18.1 km from start —
50. Bollards on the pedestrian path approaching the cathedral. 18.3 km from start —
51. Further bollards entering the cathedral grounds. 18.3 km from start —
52. Wider angle of the entrance of the vehicle gate and bollards. A similar barrier is found at the other end. The grounds can be circumnavigated following the roads instead. Following this is cobbled road with pavement leaving the close altogether, then onward to the Salisbury meeting point. 18.3 km from start —