Covid Walks - lockdown 1
About the work….
March 2020 - we were told not to leave the house, except for necessary journeys. Living in the countryside of Wiltshire I decided to create a series of walks from my house which would cover a circuit in the landscape, using public rights of way. It amounted to 8 different walks which effectively became a series of petals to create the whole. On 28th March I started by walking north past Windmill Hill and then began the circuit anti-clockwise. On 14th April at the end of the 8th walk I walked south down the same path, completing the walks.
We live in the World Heritage Site of Avebury and much of the walking was within its bounds. I walked past the Neolithic monuments of Avebury, Silbury Hill, Windmill Hill and the West Kennett Long Barrow; the Anglo Saxon Wansdyke; and the Victorian Cherhill Monument on Bronze Age Oldbury Castle. There’s an old Roman road and the winterbourne tributary to the river Kennet and its source. Much of the land is open farmland, classic Wiltshire, and includes the gallops belonging to the local stables.
The landscape was just recovering from the wettest February on record, and April was building up to be the driest. It had a worn out tired feeling, the land was very dry and spring was only just gearing up. Furthermore, it was quiet and empty. It had a forlorn feeling, almost post-apocalyptic. Even though my walks covered a fair distance, I rarely encountered other people – the odd dog walker or cyclist, keeping a respectful distance. The roads were almost empty as people stayed at home, in lockdown and awaiting their fate. Perhaps the landscape just reflected my sombre mood. We felt “hostile to the past, impatient of the present and cheated of the future” as Albert Camus writes in The Plague. There seemed to be a heightened symbolism in ordinary subjects in the landscape, and these are the ones I was drawn to as I made images. The birds were singing though, and some wildlife was visible - deer, hares. Spring was pushing through. The exuberant skylarks were busy during the later walks. The sun was shining. Nature was continuing.
The walks
The map shows the 8 walks, which were recorded on a GPS tracker. They all started and finished at my house.
Walk 1: 28th March, 6.9 miles, afternoon. Heading north, with a deviation to Windmill Hill, then anti-clockwise past Snake’s Lane Plantation, over the A4 and back along the Old Bath Road.
Walk 2: 30th March, 7.5 miles, afternoon. Out along the Old Bath Road, past the gallops, deviation to Cherhill Monument and Oldbury Castle, along Wessex Ridgeway and back along the Roman Road.
Walk 3: 3rd April, 9.3 miles, afternoon. West along the A361 then Roman Road, south on Wessex Ridgeway and onto the Wansdyke, over the A361 and back over Easton Down and through the Firs farm.
Walk 4: 5th April, 7.0 miles, midday. Back through the Firs and up to the Wansdyke, along in easterly direction, then north along by-way and back past Beckhampton Plantation.
Walk 5: 7th April, 9.5 miles, dawn. South up to the Wansdyke, and back down ridge towards East Kennett, with deviation to West Kennett Long Barrow, then round the back of Silbury Hill.
Walk 6: 9th April, 8.0 miles, dusk. Deviation round Silbury Hill, over A4, toward East Kennett, then north to the Sanctuary, over A4 again, along the Ridgeway, down to and through Avebury, back past Silbury Hill.
Walk 7: 11th April, 8.2 miles, dawn. Past Silbury Hill (with deviation), round Avebury the other way, towards the Ridgeway, then north, past Winterbourne Monkton, back through Avebury Trusloe.
Walk 8: 14th April, 6.4 miles, dawn. Through Avebury Trusloe, north along River Kennet tributary toward Winterbourne Monkton, then west and round the back of Windmill Hill to join first walk .