Tower and Town, July 2017 (view the full edition)A Canal WalkWalk to Hungerford? What? Don't take the car? All the way from Marlborough? And back? On the A4? Well, not quite. Take the bus from Marlborough to Great Bedwyn and then set off down the Kennet and Avon Canal. It's only three hours' walk, with the sun behind you in the afternoon and slightly downhill at each lock. This is a very pleasant section of the canal and the countryside flanking it. You'll meet a heron or two en route and all the delights of Hungerford await you. The town is not the only one round here with interesting shops, including an independent bookshop, and places to refresh oneself with food and drink. Have a look at Hungerford's website: there's a fair amount of local pride in what's on offer there. But how do we get back, apart from walking back the way we came? Well, there's the bus back to Marlborough or the train to Bedwyn. But you may not want to walk for as long as three hours, even to that nice place Hungerford. If you'd like a shorter walk, just go down the towpath from Great Bedwyn to Little Bedwyn and back. The church at Little Bedwyn is worth a look, with its late 12th century structure and you may be curious to find out why Pevsner describes the east window as 'terrible', and I suspect that there aren't many villages with a boules pitch. The distance there and back is about four miles. There are several good reasons for returning to Great Bedwyn, including a bus to Marlborough, two pubs and a fine, spacious church. The 13th century chancel has memorials to members of the Seymour family from Wolf Hall, including the tomb of Sir John, father in-law of Henry VIII for a few months.... and the kind parishioners do great teas in the church on Saturday afternoons in the summer months.  John Osborne |