Walking around Watership Down

The route takes you over the North Wessex Downs area of natural beauty, so the views are fantastic. Setting off from the village of Ecchinswell you'll soon enter the open countryside. As you pass over fells and through woodland, the chalk formation below creates a unique habitat for wildlife. Stop off and explore the hamlet of Old Burghclere, before heading back to Ecchinswell. Watership Down is a well renowned walk and one from which you can for sure take in the charm and all there is to offer in the surrounding area.

Why it's special as something to do for recreationWatership Down, along this route, inspired a book by Richard Adams and a subsequent animated film. Nuthanger Farm, which you'll pass, plays a major role in the novel: Clover and the other hutch rabbits are kept there in an outbuilding. The route also takes you past a disused railway line, which once supplied Allied troops heading for the Normandy beaches.

Keep your eyes peeled for Rabbits on the grassland, of course, as well as rare butterflies such as the adonis blue and silver-spotted skipper. 

But bear in mind As much of the area is farmed, make sure you close any gates that you open. The walk goes past Ladle Hill, where a bronze age settlement was built with a hill fort that was never completed. It is not open to the public, so don't be disappointed if you see it on the map and can't get to it .

Recover afterwards At the Royal Oak pub, where you may have parked your car. Don't worry about the ducking stool: it's only used on May Day, and the stream is only a few inches deep. There are a number of other pubs in the area also to enjoy, as well as pubs in Newbury as well as other areas across West Berkshire.