Dogging in Wiltshire: area guide

The lie of the land in Wiltshire

Trowbridge is the county town, but Swindon in the north-east and Salisbury in the south are the best-known places. Chippenham, Devizes, Marlborough, Melksham, Warminster, Calne and Corsham are the other main towns. The county is large, thinly populated and mostly farmland.

Chalk shapes almost everything. Salisbury Plain is a wide, open upland, much of it used for army training. Cranborne Chase lies in the south, the North Wessex Downs rise around Marlborough, and the Cotswolds reach the north-west corner near Corsham and Malmesbury. The south-east tip touches the New Forest. Rivers such as the Avon and Kennet run through shallow valleys between the hills.

Visitors come from Bristol, Bath, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Dorset. On a county with this much open space, you can still find a quiet turning that is oddly crowded after dark.

Getting about safely

The M4 crosses the north past Swindon and Chippenham. The A303 runs across the south past Stonehenge and Mere, and the A36 links Salisbury with Bath and Southampton. The A350 runs north to south through Chippenham, Melksham and Warminster, and the A419 and A420 serve Swindon. Summer weekends bring slow traffic on the A303.

Swindon is on the Great Western main line to London Paddington, and Chippenham is close behind. Salisbury has trains to London Waterloo and to Exeter, and Westbury links Wiltshire to Bath, Bristol and Weymouth. Many smaller places have no station. Last trains leave earlier than many people expect, so check yours or book a taxi home.

Much of Salisbury Plain is army land with live firing. Signs and red flags mean stay out, and some roads and byways close without notice, so do not drive onto them. The downs are exposed, fog and frost come early, and the lanes are narrow, unlit and winding. Signal fades in the valleys. Keep your phone charged and tell a friend where you are going.