Sparsholt Firs to the Punchbowl
From the car park we cross the B4001 with care and follow the Ridgeway east for a few hundred metres. At a footpath sign we leave the trail on the left and follow the path along the field edge towards Hackpen Hill. After a gate we are on Open Access Land, a big sweep of steep, unploughed downland. Ahead the ground drops away into the Devil’s Punchbowl, a deep, rounded coombe carved into the chalk. Like the other dry valleys along this scarp, it was probably cut by meltwater at the end of the last Ice Age, when the ground was frozen and water could not soak into the chalk.
Round the rim of Hackpen Hill
We keep to the path along the rim, with the coombe on one side and the flat Vale spreading out on the other. On a clear day we can pick out Didcot, the Chilterns and, far to the north, the line of the Cotswolds. The National Trail notes that permissive routes here were changed recently. Notices on the gates show where walkers may go, so we follow those rather than any old line on the ground. The path works east along the high ground and then descends steeply on grass towards Letcombe Bassett. Take this slowly when it is wet.
Letcombe Bassett
We come down to the lane at the southern end of Letcombe Bassett, a small spring-line village where one of the sources of the Letcombe Brook rises. Thomas Hardy called it Cresscombe in Jude the Obscure, after its watercress beds. The church of St Michael and All Angels is a few steps away along the lane. The village has no pub or shop.
Up Gramp’s Hill to the Ridgeway
Now comes the climb. We follow the lane south out of the village and up Gramp’s Hill, steep but quiet, to meet the Ridgeway near the top. It is the highest point of the walk, a little over 230 metres. We turn right and follow the Ridgeway west. The going is easy on a broad track, and the views swing between the Punchbowl on our right and the rolling downs of the Lambourn valley to the south. After about 2½ miles we are back at Sparsholt Firs.
What to look out for
The National Trail singles out these downs for their chalk grassland flowers and butterflies. From late May to July look for common spotted, pyramidal and fragrant orchids, with rock-rose, bird’s-foot trefoil and thyme in the short turf. In July and August the grassland can be busy with marbled whites and blue butterflies. Red kites and buzzards ride the updraught along the scarp all year, and kestrels hover over the slopes. Skylarks and meadow pipits sing overhead in spring and summer; in winter, flocks of fieldfares and redwings move along the hawthorn scrub. Brown hares and roe deer use the quieter fields.
Before you go
Take OS Explorer 170 and check the gate notices on the day. There is no water or shelter anywhere on the route, and the Ridgeway is fully exposed, so carry water and sun protection in summer and waterproofs in any season. The grass slopes are slippery after rain; boots with good grip help. During the shooting season (1 October to 1 February) you may meet shooting parties: keep to the paths and follow any instructions.
Make it longer or shorter
If the permissive paths are closed or you want an easier walk, stay on the Ridgeway from Sparsholt Firs to the top of Gramp’s Hill and back (about 4 miles), which gives views into the Punchbowl without the steep slopes. To make it longer, carry on down the brook from Letcombe Bassett to Letcombe Regis for lunch at the Greyhound, then return up the lane past Segsbury Camp to the Ridgeway and west to the car park (about 8 miles in all).
