34: Tidcombe, Hippenscombe and the Devil’s Waistcoat

Hidden Wiltshire Podcast

Glyn was hoping for an easy edit for this episode of the podcast as he had less time than usual to do it. This was all the invitation Paul needed to say exactly what he wanted knowing that Glyn didn’t have the time to cut it out! But being responsible podcasters we stuck to the brief. The main feature was a glorious walk we put together for Wiltshire Museum based around Hippenscombe Bottom, so beautifully painted by Eric Ravilious in 1937. And there was a special announcement at the end of the podcast.

But first we discussed our news since the last podcast.

In that podcast Glyn talked briefly about his visit to Bincknoll Castle and Broad Town White Horse. Since then he has written and posted a blog to the website about it (see link below). But apparently Bincknoll is pronounced “Bynol’ in Wiltshire! Which begs the question “how do pronounce Long Knoll and Little Knoll”?

Meanwhile Paul has travelled to the far northwest of the county to the Cotswolds west of Malmesbury, for a walk around Brokenborough and Easton Grey. There’s a blog about this walk on the website (link below). He has also written a blog about his visit to Bentley Wood, a collaboration with Hidden Wiltshire contributor Elaine Perkins, who suggested the route and provided a number of the photographs. You’ll find a link below to that blog.

Elaine also posted a description of her recent visit to Sherrington and Boyton, off the beaten track in the beautiful Wylye Valley, where she found some fantastic hidden treasures. We’ll be pulling that together as a blog along with some of Elaine’s lovely photographs in due course.

And whilst on the subject of the Wylye Valley, we mention the café and gallery at Langford Lakes Nature Reserve run by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. The gallery and café is open from 10:00 to 16:00, Wednesday to Sunday. At the moment there is an exhibition there entitled “Woodlands” featuring art, photography and 3D work including the photographs of brilliant woodland photographers Stephen Davies and, a friend of Paul’s, Nigel Hudson. The exhibition is on from 2 April to 2 May 2022 and you’ll find a link below.

This podcast’s main feature is the stunning landscape and history of Hippenscombe Bottom. Paul wrote a blog which was an amalgam of some five visits to the area which he posted on the website on 21 January 2022. There’s a link to the blog below. This walk was put together at the request of David Dawson at Wiltshire Museum and we’ll be doing a guided walk with the museum there later in the year. There are many route options but the highlights of this walk are the tiny village of Tidcombe and its “humble” church, Tidcombe Long Barrow, Fosbury Camp (an optional extension but well worth the effort), Chute Causeway, the Devil’s Waistcoat and the glorious Hippenscombe Bottom itself. Paul discovered this bottom purely by chance following a momentary glimpse as he drove up Conholt Hill towards Chute Causeway a year ago. Screeching to a halt in the road above he grabbed a photo of the bottom that coincidently was from the exact location that Eric Ravilious painted it in 1937. Little has changed since 1937 although we suspect the shooting estate is now operating on a far more industrial scale.

Parking for this particular walk is a challenge. As shown the walk starts from the church in Tidcombe but at best it is only possible to park three cars here. Scot’s Poor is a slightly better option with parking on the wide verge on the byway. The route map has been amended in the blog to include this location in order to provide alternative parking options.

Then on to the wrap up:

Steve Dixon’s piece leading into our main subject today is called “Shadows Travel Fast” because that’s exactly what they do in this part of Wiltshire. As ever the piece in the introduction and at the end of the podcast is entitled “The Holloway”.

And so to the special announcement. Well you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out what it is!

Don’t forget to check out the Hidden Wiltshire online shop on the website if you’d like to help us keep the lights on. Both Hidden Wiltshire books can be purchased there. The second book is also available at Devizes Bookshop, Wiltshire Museum in Devizes and now Wiltshire’s libraries. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Hidden Wiltshire Newsletter from the website. You can also subscribe to alerts about new Blogs.

Links:

Glyn’s blog about Bincknoll Castle and Broad Town White Horse can be found here: Bincknoll Castle and Broad Town White Horse

Paul’s blog about his walk round Brokenborough and Easton Grey can be found here: Brokenborough and Easton Grey

Paul’s blog about his walk in Bentley Wood can be found here Bentley Wood

WWT Langford Lakes Art Exhibition Langford Lakes Art Exhibition

Paul’s blog about Hippenscombe can be found here Tidcombe, Hippenscombe and the Devil's Waistcoat

Glyn’s photographs can be seen on his Instagram feed @coy_cloud

He is also very active on Twitter where his username is @Glyndle

Paul’s photography can be found on his website at Paul Timlett Photography and on Instagram at @tragicyclist

Steve Dixon’s sound art can be found on Soundcloud where his username is River and Rail Steve Dixon River and Rail. His photographs can be found on Instagram at @stevedixon_creative and his graphic design business website is at Steve Dixon Creative

And finally you’ll find the Hidden Wiltshire online shop here Hidden Wiltshire Shop

and a link to Glyn’s blog about the latest book and how to purchase a copy here Hidden Wiltshire from near and far