Box NATS Anniversary Trails Summer 2018 Alan Payne March 2018
Box NATS is 50 years old next February. To start the birthday celebrations we are revisiting walks from those times to discover how Box's natural history and topography has changed in half a century.
Barns at Lower Shockerwick Farm (courtesy Carol Payne)
Box NATS started when local teenagers Richard Hodges and Alison Borthwick were enthused by excavations at Box Roman Villa in 1968 and wanted to discover more about the environment and history of the village. Using Richard Hodges' contemporary words, our walks this summer retrace their footsteps in some of the less well-known hamlets of the Box.
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Alcombe & Shockerwick Sunday 3 June 2pm
We follow the trail from the field of the old Box Horse Show and Box Rovers football pitch in the 1950s to the magnificent setting of Georgian Shockerwick House (seen right courtesy Carol Payne). The Saxon boundary of Box parish is still evident as a stream which joins into the By Brook. Lower Shockerwick Farmhouse (shown at heading) is one of the most complete farms of the late 1700s. We pass the grand houses of Alcombe House and Coles Farm which have had some notorious owners in the past. Meeting point Selwyn Hall; road and field walking; one short steep hill; 2½ hours; circular trail. |
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Mills on Box Brook Sunday 1 July 2pm
Cuttings Mill, mentioned as half a mill in the Domesday Book, was fully demolished in 1841 to make way for Box Railway Station. We go on to trace the history of Box Mill, at times a fulling mill, grist mill and later manufacturer of animal feedstuffs; more recently restored as Peter Gabriel's Recording Studio. The water meadows along Box Brook still have indications of Georgian farming improvements with sluice gates, weirs and raised containing banks. Drewetts Mill (left courtesy Carol Payne) was the last mill in operation in Box owned by the Tucker family in the 1970s.Meeting point Meadowbrook lay-by behind Northey Arms; easy field walk; 2½ hours; circular trail. |
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Saxon Footpaths Sunday 5 August 2pm
We follow Saxon footpaths from Box village to the old ridgeway route called the Bath Roads and back. We start at Box Tunnel, and go past the World War 2 defensive pillbox, and through the remains of stone quarrying in Quarry Woods. Then we turn to consider the history of Hazelbury Manor from Tudor times, through its life as a Girls' School after the war up to its current existence as a modern private residence. From here, we pass Wadswick Common and down the steep and rough footpath of the Saxon Wyres Lane, once a main route into the village. This is one of the prettiest footpaths in Box and well worth the walk for this alone. The route then goes through Box Bottoms to explore charcoal burning in the Saxon woods. Meeting point Doctors' Surgery; field walk; hills up and down; 2½ hours; circular trail. |
Wyres Lane (courtesy Carol Payne)
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To Book Your Place
The walks are again courtesy Box NATS and Box People and Places. Do join us if you are able.
The walks are free and open to all, but you need to book your place please: by email boxpeopleandplaces@yahoo.co.uk or by phone 01225 743614.
The walks are again courtesy Box NATS and Box People and Places. Do join us if you are able.
The walks are free and open to all, but you need to book your place please: by email boxpeopleandplaces@yahoo.co.uk or by phone 01225 743614.