There is something 'pilgrim' like about walking the sections of the Ridgeway which culminate near Avebury. For people who may not be up to or inclined to do the entire length there are options to walk from Barbury Castle or, alternatively, up the White Horse Trail from Broad Hinton to walk the final section (there is a good bus service to Broad Hinton).

Good luck with it!

I have a book written in I think the 50s (at home, I'm at work) which describes walking the ridgeway. Apparently the largest material difficulty is water. As in you have to come off the ridgeway, in some cases several miles off the ridgeway, to find an available source of water.

I wasn't going to mention this on forum as I feel ambivalent about it. May be helpful for people walking or riding the entire length of the Ridgeway though.

Swindon Borough Council's plans to finance the proposed new visitor centre at Barbury by selling off adjoining land for development have moved another step forward with the submission of a planning application for the northern site (both sites are to the east of the Barbury access road; the southern site is the one on which the ruined bungalow now stands). The proposed development on the northern site consists of a B&B block with 8 rooms; a bunkhouse with 24 bunks; a stable block for 6 horses; a camping meadow; a horse paddock; and a site manager's house. The buildings are a mix of single and two-storey and are arranged around a courtyard which will have 12 car parking spaces. The various uses are in line with the planning brief. The site entrance is proposed to be almost opposite the Barbury car park entrance.

I find the idea of pilgrimage intriguing, especially as the Ridgeway is used in many other ways. The practicalities of walking a long distance either on one's own or with a group has to be broken down though. Camping along the way, could cause litter, availability of food and water is sparse as has been pointed out, so are we talking about organised groups, who can meet up with a land rover at specific points or even a coach, or (my preferred option) could we take a pack horse ;).
Pilgrimage would be to the prehistoric sites I suppose, and the guide book would give a practical outline of their histories and the good thing about The Ridgeway is you would'nt get lost.......

Forgive my ignorance but does it sit on the same Jurassic escarpment that goes through Leicestershire and Lincolnshire? Belvoir Castle and Lincoln perched on its edge? If so, fuck the Pennine Way...

I'm likely getting 5 out of 2 + 2 but having trouble reading the geological maps I'm pulling up on the internet. It would fit with my admittedly rudimentary British geography and what I understand the (pre)historical start and finish points to be. Afraid everything gets a bit hazy for me around the Cotswolds.

For anyone that missed it Radio 4's 'Excess baggage' 11 Feb 2012 featured some interesting discussions on the pilgramage theme around standing stones. Podcast here;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/excessbag