Lamwan one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Lamwan here.

This is a lovely direct route travelling through the Lambourn Downs up to the Ridgeway before descending into the Vale of the White Horse at Letcombe Regis for a flat finish to Wantage. Great views over the Lambourn Downs and then from the Ridgeway extending over Oxfordshire.
Starting in Lambourn the route heads out on Oxford Street to Sheepdrove Road. You can either turn right here (Photo 1) to walk up the road (no pavement), or, continue for a short distance to just beyond North Farm Close where a footpath on the right (Photo 2) runs parallel with the road for the first part of the hill. When the footpath re-joins the road, the route continues for just over 1km to the gates of Sheepdrove Organic Farm. It is a single track road with passing places and though generally quiet there were occasions when I had to stand into the side to let vehicles pass. Sheepdrove also has a conference centre so the traffic could be busier if there is an event on. At the gates to the farm, again, you can either continue on the road, or, take the bridleway (Photo 3) which parallels the road on the right hand side. Where the route takes a right turn at the next junction, the road continues for a while with the bridleway as a wide grassy verge on its left side (Photo 4). At around the 4.5km mark, the route becomes a wide track only as it heads towards the Ridgeway (Photos 5 & 6).
The route to the Ridgeway is quite easy to follow. The path alongside one of the fields was quite overgrown with nettles but with the crops not planted to the edge of the field, the bare field edge looked to be an alternative. At the Ridgeway, the view opens out to Oxfordshire and there is a handy bench to take a rest and admire it (Photo 7). There is only about 200m of Ridgeway to walk before the route takes a left, over a stile (Photo 8) to descend (quite steeply in places) through fields and woodland (Photos 9 & 10) to Letcombe Regis. There are several stiles on this section.
The route winds through the pretty village with its many thatched cottages including past the Greyhound pub. It then joins a tarmacked footpath (Photo 11) which takes you all the way to Wantage, just a couple of streets away from the end of the route in the market place.

If you wanted to explore the Ridgeway a bit more, the Iron Age hill fort of Segsbury Camp is situated approx. 500m further along and has an alternative path down to Letcombe Regis.

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