A poor breakfast from Lord Baths team!

Sat 2 Aug ‘25. DH, DL, JB, CH & Albus

It was team Winky again this week as we headed up the A303 & A350 to Shearwater as the lakeside cafe has reopened under the management of the Longleat estate, after being closed for a good year and the only way to see how it compares to the previous is to give it a go. With a late call off from my Grandson, Chris kindly conveyed us all to the car park opposite the lakeside eneterance. As we stepped out of the car, a VW T4 campervan just a couple of spaces down caught our eyes with the very appropriate decal on the side window. It was just too good an opportunity to miss and so for the first time ever we gathered for a pre walk groupie alongside it.

The logo on the far side of the van was slightly different but showed that this was just a novice group compared to our long established one. Once we had realised that we had been cloned and we had selected the appropriate clothing for the bright summer morning we set off in a new direction for all of us by heading up a path at the back corner of the car park. No sooner had we passed around the initial barrier, the track ramped up steeply and certainly got the blood pumping quickly.

At the top of the rise was a four way track junction with a signpost indicating there was slight legal difference in the type of right of ways. There then followed a short discussion about the differences and although I’m sure Johns explanation was 100% correct, for those who didn’t hear it, here is chapter and verse from a government website.

A restricted byway is a highway over which the public is entitled to travel on foot, horseback and with non-mechanically propelled vehicles (such as pedal cycles and horse-drawn vehicles). There may also be a right to drive animals along a restricted byway – waymarked in purple. A Permissive Bridleway is not a public right of way but is a bridleway for use on foot, horseback and on a pedal cycle (including mountain-bikes), which the public is allowed to use it with the permission of the landowner. Waymarkers vary in colour.

We continued on along a narrow path through some wonderful mature trees, both deciduous and coniferous and reached the edge of the wood which provided a wonderful view over a typical Wiltshire valley. Not only was it full of sheep but whilst John and myself were chatting with another dog walker, Deryck and Chris a bit further back were almost eye to eye with a large hare in the field. We continued dropping down through Foxhole plantation and were surprised to see three pyramidal WWII concrete ‘dragons teeth’ tank obstacles blogging a small path. Further down were a few more, probably acquired from the nearby Warminster garrison to stop vehicles moving around the woods. At the end of the track we came out on the Shearwater access road off of the A350 and into a small hamlet from which the plantation gets its name. There was just a short walk on a pavement alongside the main road before we turned right and back onto another bridleway.

This path was pretty overgrown and so we had to knock away the nettles and brambles as we slowly climbed again, to view the valley from the opposite side. A fallen tree provided a near perfect arch for the path to pass underneath and at the far side as we quietly moved forward we spotted a buzzard sat on the top of some branches, no doubt long after he had spotted us. We stood still for a few seconds whilst I tried to grab a photo of it, but I’m afraid the iPhone camera definition was quite sharp enough to pick it up. As we moved forward it took flight and we continued on the path alongside a field full of more sheep and their young. Deryck kept Albus on the lead just to ensure he didn’t get too close to them, although it’s doubtful he would engage with anything bigger than him.

The narrow path eventually turned into a vehicular track and at track junction we paused by an open field to appreciate the view to our south, over as far Whitecliff Down and the fir clump on Brims Down. With the sun on the hills and the blue skies above it really was a view across the Wiltshire countryside well worthy of a couple of minutes of our time. The temperature was now on the rise and we were greatful for the shade provided by the trees and hedges on the south side of the track as we made our way cross to Shute Farm and then down the farm track to the Shearwater road from Maiden Bradley.

We had been making good progress so I opted to cross the road onto the Longleat estate where we followed a grassy track round to the east. There was a short water stop in some shade for Albus and an opportunity to try and identify some bird calls and we then picked up a more substantial stone track which took us further into the woods. A Y junction allowed us to turn almost back on ourselves and we continued along until the track met the edge of the lake. Recent changes have restricted any vehicles from this area and so it was a quiet walk along the banks to the sailing club and then over the new large diameter pipes under the road and across the top of the new spillway.

As we approached the cafe it was obvious it had been refurbished and tidied up a bit, and with new gravel and parasols at the tables it looked pretty inviting. Previously we have had a couple of good breakfast here and so were expecting more of the same today, but it was clear that the new cafe was not a patch on the old with the very limited menu on offer. In fact there was no mention of any breakfast related and so we queued and asked the question, to be told that it was limited to just bacon or sausage baps, using pre cooked items being kept warm in a heated glass cabinet. The staff certainly didn’t look up to the job, with four of them needed just to serve one customer. I gave everyone the option to move down the road to the Crockerton garden centre, but it was a unanimous decision to stay put. And so with hot drinks in paper cups and a bacon roll in a paper bag we returned to the table to ’enjoy’ our breakfasts. John decided there was nothing vegetarian enough for him, whereas Chris opted for bacon bap and a slice of courgette and avocado cake to finish off with.

To be honest we all agreed we don’t need a full English every week, but it would be nice to be able to make that decision ourselves. Hopefully this is just a temporary blip whilst they get up and running again, train the staff and expand the menu. If not they will struggle to attract back the likes of the cyclists who used to use this as a midway stop off and also the many locals who come up here for a morning waterside walk.