“Little Imber on the Downe, 7 miles from any towne.” [Westbury to Warminster (via Imber Range)]
Length: 30.3 km (18.8 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 553/494 m
Net Walking Time: ca. 7 hours
Toughness: 8 out of 10
Take the 09.37 Paignton train from Paddington (10.02 Reading, 10.17 Newbury, 10.37 Pewsey), arriving Westbury at 10.54.
Return trains: You can return back to Paddington via Westbury or to Waterloo via Salisbury. Buy a Warminster return, or Advance Singles.
Fast walkers should be able to catch the 18.30 to P’ton via Westbury. After that, there are the 19.02 (P’ton), 19.13 (W’loo), 19.33 (P’ton), 20.02 (P’ton), 20.13 (W’loo), 21.14 (W’loo).
Ticketing: both stations are outside the Network Southeast area, an Off-Peak Return at full price is £59.10, less with eligible Railcards. With a Network Railcard, you have to split tickets at Newbury. Cheap Advance Tickets may be available.
Bookended by indifferent, tarmac-heavy urban stretches through Westbury and Warminster, this walk is a fascinating journey across the Imber Live Firing Range on Salisbury Plain, an accidental wilderness due to having been MoD property since 1898, and out-of-bounds for most of the year, apart from short stand downs over Christmas and Easter and for some days in August (most years). Imber village itself was abandoned in 1943 at five weeks’ notice to be used for training house-to-house combat in preparation for the invasion of Continental Europe and is one of the most haunting and evocative places visited on any SWC walk. [St. Giles Church, Imber will be open today during 11.00-16.00 hours]
Either side of the Plain the route conquers five hills, three of which with notable remnants of Iron Age hillfort sites: Bratton Camp, Scratchbury Camp and Battlesbury Camp, and also passes Wiltshire’s largest White Horse, at Westbury. You get superb views across Salisbury Plain and of the surrounding countryside of Wiltshire and Somerset.
Shorter walks, starting from Bratton or Edington, or finishing in Heytesbury, involve short taxi journeys, due to the buses not running on Holidays.
Note 1: Before embarking on this walk, please read the chapters on Public Safety and Access Rights on Salisbury Plain/Imber Range and on General Health & Safety Rules for military areas and ranges on page 2 in the walk directions pdf.
Note 2: The rare Open Days on the Imber Range are very popular; we may be the only walkers in Imber when we get there, but there will be lots of other people coming by car or bike. Please stay out of the cordoned off areas, even if others don’t! The MOD have threatened to stop Open Days completely if people keep straying into those areas.
Lunch: Picnic (although there will be hot drinks and biscuits sold at Imber Church (14.4 km/9.0 mi). Cash only!
Tea: check page 2 of the walk directions. T=swc.286
For the walk directions, a map, a height profile, gpx/kml files and photos click here.
