The Trail

The Friends of The Ridgeway concern themselves with the whole length of the Ancient Ridgeway track-ways along the chalk downs of Southern England, from Norfolk to Dorset, and their natural aspects and features.  Much of the central section of  this ancient track is now The Ridgeway National Trail, 85 miles long, opened in 1973.   Starting at Overton Hill, near Avebury in Wiltshire, the path ends at Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire.  It is linked to the east coast by the Icknield Way (105m) and Peddars Way (94 m); and to the south coast by the Wessex Ridgeway  (136m). Like The Ridgeway, The Peddars Way is a National Trail, but the Icknield Way and the Wessex Ridgeway have not yet been adopted by the Countryside Agency.

Click here or in the side menu to see more details on the proposed Great Stones Way project.

The National Trails Office is the semi-detached  civil service department that is responsible for The Ridgeway. It organises the Ridgeway Volunteers who undertake practical work on the Trail.
Its web address is www.nationaltrail.co.uk
E-mail to Nationaltrails@oxfordshire.gov.uk

See the section on The Ridgeway in the National Trails site for many details about the Trail.

See also our Users' Guide for tips on accommodation, available guides etc.

Click here for a report on the opening of the Ridgeway Link Path.

You may also find the Vale & Downland Museum in Wantage interesting.