In the interests of timeliness I took a taxi from Swindon station to Hackpen Hill, where I started today's walk.

Some info on Hackpen Hill.

Nice to be back on the Ridgeway.

Just yesterday Leon was joking that millions of years from now people would be finding the spoons from McFlurries, and lo and behold here was one littering the car park at Hackpen Hill.

Setting off on the Ridgeway.

Lovely day for it today! I always seem to feel particularly great for the first few steps of a proper country walk nowadays.

The views from the Ridgeway heading south from Hackpen Hill.

Flowers by the wayside along the track.

I'm really warming to the Wiltshire countryside - to begin with I thought it a bit bland and featureless (compared to, say, the South Downs), but on a day like today it's hard not to relish the sense of wide open space.

Blossom along the way - hawthorn perhaps?

I didn't particularly want to wear this stupid hat but felt it necessary as the sun was actually quite strong today.

The point where I left the Ridgeway to follow the White Horse Trail instead.

Lichen on the sign post.

The very green path the White Horse Trail led me along, towards Fyfield Down.

More flowers by the wayside.

A field I passed by.

First glimpses of sarsen stones by the side of the path.

Elderflower I believe.

...and hawthorn blossom.

I think I'm close to the edge of Fyfield Down now.

More sarsen stones.

I felt somehow drawn to this ancient beech tree, which for some reason had a littering of rocks at its base.

It had almost entirely split in half.

...and just beyond it were surprisingly wide open views.

The neighbouring beech tree, also quite appealing.

More of those views to the north east, over the Marlborough Downs.

After some dithering over which exact route to take, I decided to delve into Totterdown Wood, and was really glad I did - there were still late bluebells in flower and it was rather magical.

More so as the woodland floor also had a scattering of sarsen stones (not so visible in this photo)...

More bluebells.

...and now a mix of bluebells and moss covered sarsen stones. I thought this was really magical.

Very easy to imagine fairies frolicking about in this wood.

...and I loved the addition of the komorebi - the dappled light through the leaves of the trees.

Almost a little stone circle here.

This stone looked particularly significant somehow. Perhaps a way marker of some sort?

It occurred to me this would be a really special place for a wild camp. If this wood ever came up for sale it would be an absolute dream purchase.

Funny little signpost.

More sarsens in the woods.

Close up on some bluebells.

This hollow bit of a tree trunk looked like it had a nest or something inside.

...or perhaps there was some other explanation for the accumulation of twigs here?

More of the magical woodland.

Sign for Fyfield Down.

Finger post pointing to Fyfield Down.

Nearing the edge of the woods now.

This fenced off bit was curious - I wonder what it was protecting?

Heading out of the woods now, first glimpses of the open hillsides of Fyfield Down.

Onto Fyfield Down proper.

What a contrast from the woodland landscape I had just been in!

...and here is what I really came for (although the woods had been an unexpected highlight): this down covered with protruding sarsen stones.

I think this captures the feeling of Fyfield Down quite nicely.

More sarsen stones.

Me in my silly hat looking rather content at being here.

I paused for a bit here to cook my lunch.

Resting my feet while the billy can came to the boil.

I was going to have this hijiki rice Chie had got for me in Japan - just need to pour boiling water on it and leave it to hydrate for a while.

Heading on now after lunch had cooked. The sarsen stones are sometimes referred to as "grey wethers" because from a distance they resemble sheep sitting down in the field - and you get a sense of that here I think.

The occasional lone tree adding extra character.

I was following a path of sorts here, and it led me to this cluster of stones.

I thought this almost looked a bit like a stone circle.

Probably a natural formation but I wondered if something like this inspired people in Neoloithic times to build the stone circles like Avebury.

Quite a lot of character in this stone.

Looking back up the slope, you get a slightly better sense of the huge number of stones.

I think I was coming to the Wessex Ridgeway here, also marked on the OS map in this section as "Herepath or Green Street".

A sarsen stone surrounded by nettles.

More trees and stones.

I just couldn't stop taking photos around here.

I had decided to head to see the Devil's Den, but to get there I first had to negotiate round this herd of cows, and as there was a bull in one of the fields I decided to give them a wide berth.

I followed along by this fence at the edge of the common access land, and came across this standing stone which appeared to be a marker for a barrow.

A little way from the fence was the mound, just about visible over to the right hand side of this photo.

A little closer up to the mound.

Carrying on towards the Devil's Den.

At this point I was walking through a sort of dry valley.

More of the dry valleys.

It was lovely how one side of the valley was strewn with buttercups like this.

Presumablty there was a sign or something here at one point?

A puffball?

A stone with a recess in it, close to the Devil's Den.

Approaching the Devil's Den now.

Here it is, a rather striking thing in the middle of the fields like this.

Apparently this was originally a dolmen burial chamber, reconstructed in the 1920s (there's a slightly unfortunate slab of concrete involved now, but I tried not to focus on that too much).

Great to have been able to see this under such glorious blue skies.

Although the clouds did start to gather a little while I was here, which added a touch of drama to it.

I sat here to eat my lunch and admire the monument.

In case you were curious what my lunch looked like.

Leaving the Devil's Den now.

A stone split in two not far from the Devil's Den.

I continued my wander across Fyfield Down, now with my sights set on getting to Avebury.

This I believe is Meadow Saxifrage.

As I was leaving Fyfield Down, another photo which hopefully really gives a sense of the extent of the stones.

This stone really looked like some sort of way marker to me.

Another stone which looked like a way marker.

Another herd of cows as I got back to the Wessex Ridgeway.

On the Wessex Ridgeway now - I think - heading towards Avebury, with a lovely silvery light coming from above.

A few last glimpses of sarsen stones in their native habitat.

Me looking slightly idiotic but really pleased with my visit to Fyfield Down.

The point where the Wessex Ridgeway crosses the Ridgeway.

More signposts.

The usual grainy photo I always like to take on the way into Avebury.

More of the Wessex Ridgeway / Herepath / Green street heading towards Avebury... and more of that lovely silvery light shining through the clouds.

I love these chalky tracks - not always easy on the feet - but today I seemed to be bounding along still after around 9 miles or so, feeling like I could happily do another 9.

More of the chalky track... I think this might be looking away from Avebury.

Getting close to Avebury now.

I wanted to check to see how presentable I looked without my hat on before arriving in Avebury. Could have been worse.

The edge of Avebury.

I went and got a takeaway pint of bitter shandy from the Red Lion and sat with it amongst the stones, delighted to be back here once again.

The stones at Avebury.

This one is particularly massive, and having just come from Fyfield Down I couldn't help but think of what a huge effort it must have been to extract it from the ground and move it here.

The beech (?) tree at the corner of the south east quadrant field looking particularly magnificent today.

From the earthworks, looking down over Avebury.

I decided to walk along the bank a little way to the eastern edge to see the trees which apparently inspired Tolkien to create the Ents in Lord of the Rings.

Sky looking quite dramatic now.

Those beech (?) trees which apparently inspired Tolkien.

I think it's partly because of these exposed roots - but apparently that's not healthy for the trees. I avoided stepping on them to be on the safe side.

It is quite an evocative spot.

One last stroll around the stones before getting the bus.

I look a little subdued here but was actually very pleased with my day out.

Goodbye Avebury! See you again soon!

Unsuccessful attempts to get a photo of the Hackpen Hill white horse from the bus back to Swindon.

Back in London now. The girls were still out for the day, and so I decided to just walk back from Paddington to home, following the Regents Canal most of the way.

It was surprisingly quiet and tranquil along here.

Some of the surprisingly nice houses that back onto the canal in Camden.

Back in Kentish Town now, the sunset as I waited for some Indian food for dinner.