Go East young man

THIS week's walk appears in my latest book entitled 'Short Walks near Bath & Bristol' and did appear in the paper some four to five years ago. It is worth repeating, however, because it could well have got lost in that turbulent post-Covid period when few of us quite knew what was going on.

- with Nigel Vile

Further, it is a walk that is best done in the late spring and summer, with the local meadowland often resembling primeval marsh during the winter months.

Batheaston, on the western outskirts of Bath, is a much better place following the construction of a bypass in 1995. Before this date, its main street had been the traffic-clogged A4. The bypass was not without its controversies, however, being a vast dual carriageway that carved its way around the base of Little Solsbury Hill. Cue eco-warriors living in trees and protest marches that involved the likes of Jonathan Dimbleby and Bel Mooney.

From the village, the walk crosses nearby meadowland to reach neighbouring Bathampton where the excellent George Inn sits alongside the K&A Canal. Towpath walking follows, before a footpath that crosses Bathampton Meadows brings the walk back to Batheaston. This section of the walk includes a relatively new shared-use path and bridge across the River Avon that opened just a decade ago, enabling access for local cyclists into Bath that avoided the busy London Road.