Marlborough Town Council
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Marlborough Town Council
Tel: 
01672 512487 
  E-mail us  5 High Street, Marlborough, SN8 1AA   Weekdays 10am-4pm

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Nature Trail Trail One

Nature-Trail information panel and route map

 

NATURE TRAIL

Trail One

 Distance 2.7 miles/4.3 km: time about 1 hour & 15 minutes
Some rough, open ground in parts of the walk may be inaccessible to some people.
With the exception of Stonebridge Meadow, this is a route following paved and sometimes gravelled paths.

You will cross some busy roads.  There are benches at all the listed gardens (please note that dogs are not permitted in Wye House Gardens).

coopers-meadowlivestock

1Trail one begins and ends in Coopers Meadow, a natural water meadow - between 1 March and 31 July dogs must be kept on a short lead.

Look for the first snowdrops in winter and wild garlic, daffodils and cow parsley in spring.  In summer you may well encounter sheep or other livestock, part of a conservation grazing scheme with partners Action for the River Kennet

A leat runs around the perimeter of the Meadow, although it may be dry for parts of the year.

Why not start or finish your walk here with a picnic?  

For nature lovers your patience might be rewarded with the sight of water vole, herons, little egrets, dippers, kingfishers or other water fowl, right in the centre of town. There are plenty of picnic benches and there's a play area for children too.

 

map1-coopers-meadow

 

Follow the path, leaving the car park behind, with the river on your left.  Turn right at the bridge and keep going to the junction with George Lane.

Turn left and, almost immediately, at the lights, cross over the road.

Turn left and walk up to the double roundabout and go just round the corner into Salisbury Road.

Cross here at the pedestrian refuge, straight over to join London Road (photo A).

Walk for some 300 yards to the zebra crossing.  Cross over, turn right and then left into Stonebridge Lane (photo B). 


a street scene A - cross the road, then go round the corner into London Road a footpath with an ivy covered wall and signs reading stonebridge B - turn into Stonebridge Lane

 Picture27

Follow the lane to a right fork onto a grass path. Take this and then turn left onto the boardwalk, and immediately right, where you will see a Stonebridge Meadow information board. 

a portion of a map and info about chalk streamsStonebridgeRiver1

 

wetlands information panelA designated wildlife site, the Meadow is part of the more extensive Stonebridge Wild River Reserve.  You can enjoy pond and river dipping and watch all manner of British wildlife from dragonflies to bats, brown trout and perhaps even a glimpse of a kingfisher.  Look out for fritillaries and cowslips in spring, rare Black Poplar trees and in summer you may find cattle grazing too.

Explore here as you wish – we suggest taking a loop right round, which means following the grass path, keeping the gate into the field on your left and continuing along the hedge line, turning left with it, joining up with another short boardwalk and then turning left at another information board (photo C).

Please note the walk beyond the boardwalk may be inaccessible for some people as it is rough, open ground - cut out the Stonebridge loop and continue along Stonebridge Lane for a more accessible route. 

From here, the path is narrow, uneven and often squelchy. Keep going, with the river on your right now, right up to Stonebridge Lane.

Here, turn right, over the bridge and follow Stonebridge Lane uphill (perhaps detouring to explore the short boardwalk on the other side of the river) and admire the allotments on the right.  At the end of the path you'll  reach the junction with St Martins.

Turn left here and walk about 300 yards (photo D) until you reach The Green.

a countryside scene. An information board is on the left. A muddy path leads to trees and a river C - turn left before the bridge and follow the river along a narrow path a street scene. Old cottages line a road with a green space and a church visible in the distance D - from Stonebridge Lane, turn left onto St Martins and walk to The Green

 3

The original Saxon settlement where Marlborough began, The Green is surrounded by historic listed buildings and has plenty of benches if you just want to sit awhile.

 

a portion of a mapWyeHouse

 

From The Green, turn left and head down the hill to the roundabout at the bottom, where you will see a metal gate on the left signposted Wye House Gardens.

 

Go through the gate (photo E) and follow the path through the archway, under the clock and into the garden. 

4A semi-hidden gem open until dusk, with its own natural spring-fed pond and wildlife habitat beyond the formal gardens.  There's a redwood tree here, and it is the perfect place to stop and read.  In autumn, please enjoy fruit from the Community Orchard trees.

From here, go over the bridge at the other end of the garden and follow the gravel path to the gate and out into Kelham Gardens.

Turn right and go round the corner where you will see an archway on the right. This is Plume of Feathers Garden (photo F).

a woman stands in a gateway E - from the Green go down the hill to Wye House Gardens F a wooden gateway leading to a garden F - leave Wye House Gardens at the rear & walk round the corner to Plume of Feathers Garden 


5Explore Plume of Feathers garden: former allotments turned peaceful garden with a mural and occasional bug houses.  You'll find more Community Orchard trees here too. 

Leave via the opposite exit into Plume of Feathers Lane.

 

a portion of a mapthe-waterfront

Turn left into the lane and then right onto London Road.

Walk to the zebra crossing, cross the road and turn right, then immediately left into The Parade (photo G).

Walk past the old school on your left towards the Fire Station. Turn left here into Kennet Place (photo H).

6Go round the corner where you'll find the Waterfront Garden, a community garden on one side of the flood wall and an established wildlife sanctuary on the other.

From the Waterfront Garden, cross the river over the bridge into Town Mill (photo I).

Take the archway ahead of you back into Cooper’s Meadow.

 

G-the-parade G - from London Road take a left into The Parade H-kennet-place H - stay on the left in The Parade - you'll find Kennet Place next to the Fire Station I-town-mill I - through Town Mill under both bridges to return to Coopers Meadow

 1

Follow the path round and over the bridge.  Turn right and walk back to where you started.  Finish Trail One here or continue to Trail Two

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