Meeting up with friends there as it is a vaguely mutual location. Can anyone recommend a place round there that does decent grub and that is kiddy friendly?

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not a million miles from Avebury and 110% worth a visit Guy & Britt are great hosts

ooh yes, as MrNutt. Got to be the Redlion (and its haunted)!! In amongst Ancient stones and lovely walks for the kids too.

Gotta be the real red lion in Avebury surely??

Didnt realise there were two. I was only thinking of this one —->

http://www.red-lion-pub-avebury.co.uk/

Agreed. This is the Red Lion you want

Red Lion Avebury

yes, red lion.very friendly people too 🙂

oh how little you know.

Really mrnutt? I’ve been there dozens of times, with kids, and without. Never had a bad experience. Pretty good mix of people and a properly safe atmosphere. Personally if I was going with friends and kids I’d either take a whopping great big picnic and sit on the banks or have a bite to eat at the museum and a few beers afterwards.

I find that Avebury tends to amplify the attitude you take with you.

So mr nutt, someone asks about a pub close to Avebury, and you suggest one around ten miles away. Do you go out of your way to be really unhelpful?

yes, that’s what I was doing. The Red Lion at East Chisenbury is a fantastic pub, amazing food & drink and a brilliant atmosphere; Guy was awarded UK Pub Cherf of the year and also has a Michelin Bib Gourmand, they do a prix fixe menu that is also very reasonably priced. To me 10 miles is no distance and well worth the effort.

Alternatively I hear the Bell at West Overton does a fantastic steak so perhaps that would be worth a trip as then you could park up at the Ridgeway after lunch and walk from the woodhenge up on the hill along the Ridgeway and then down to Avebury and back, or drive along to west kennett longbarrow & silbury hill?

I have nothing against the Red Lion in Avebury (except for the ludicrously high parking charge!) I was just suggesting alternatives to the obvious!

Avebury’s Red Lion does not do too well in the online pub guides. General opinion seems to be that it is not as good as once it was.

I never use any of the village car parks, so have no issues with the charges, which are refunded with the first £5 spent in the pub anyway. While I’m certain other pubs are better, the Waggon and Horses at Beckhampton is a nice little pub, for example, I’d rather assumed that as Avebury was the meeting point travelling from there to a pub several miles away was rather defeating the point of using Avebury as the focus.

the red lion @ west overton ( a4 towards marlborough ) is very good – and not to far from avebury –

Plenty of Red Lions in that locale, it seems.

A little way off, try The Outside Chance in Manton. Very good, indeed.

Plenty of good pubs in town, too, The Lamb is my pick.

Polite question for the Wiltshire folk (now they’ve stopped arguing :wink:: )

Anywhere to park in or near Avebury that’s free?

As always, thank you so much. 🙂

It’s a good question CG, that car park makes cycling the Ridgeway an expensive bike ride! Drive through Avebury a lot at the moment, and I think I’ve seen somewhere you can maybe park near a monument to the S of Avebury…. going that way again tomorrow, will have a better look, am sure someone around here will have better info though!

Just succumbed to the Shecycles sale……. I need more merino so thanks for that tip!

Anna – it is cheaper in Winter though! I guess there’s always the Bath Road.

My Icebreaker has arrived – it’s pink but half price so I don’t mind. Well, not really. 8) Hope you’re pleased with your shopping!

CG what about parking at Hackpen hill and riding over to avebury

Hello saladdodger 🙂

Good suggestion, thanks.

your welcome CG I hear you have moved !! where to ?

CG what about parking at Hackpen hill and riding over to avebury

Or at the Sanctuary (end of the Ridgeway at the A4)

As for pubs when I used to live in Wroughton the check Inn was a cracking pub

Barbary Castle has ample car parking.

The Outside Chance is pretty good my best mate is executive chef there, another pub worthy of mention is the Seven Stars at Bottlesford, Micky was voted in the top 10 uk burgers by Esquire magazine, but he’s way better than just burgers!

(its the Bell at west overton, not the red lion)

The Red Lion at East Chisenbury is a fantastic pub, amazing food & drink and a brilliant atmosphere

+1

I bought pink Icebreaker too!
To ride from Avebury I would park in Winterbourne Monkton. It’s 1 mile up the road from where you get onto Ridgeway(presuming thats what you want!) and I spotted somewhere that would be fine just driving past on the main road. There is quite clearly no monument to the south where parking might be ok that I thought I’d seen…

Polite question for the Wiltshire folk (now they’ve stopped arguing :wink:: )
Anywhere to park in or near Avebury that’s free?

Why not just park in the NT car park and contribute towards the upkeep of one of the most important Neolithic sites in the world?

Fair point if you’re going to look round the stones I think, perhaps not if you’re just going for a bike ride that starts from Avebury. I have presumed that is what CG is after.

😆

I dunno why I opened this thread but the first 6 or 7 posts did make me giggle.

Fair point if you’re going to look round the stones I think, perhaps not if you’re just going for a bike ride that starts from Avebury. I have presumed that is what CG is after.

I think it’s a fair point either way tbh. If you baulk at paying for parking then start the ride elsewhere.

If you baulk at paying for parking then start the ride elsewhere.

lol! if you say so 🙂

🙂 that sounded a bit harsh, didn’t it.

A little, but I like your username so I let you off 😉

🙂

If I was riding that section of the ridgeway I’d park at Barbury castle. Great start point.

Why not just park in the NT car park and contribute towards the upkeep of one of the most important Neolithic sites in the world?

Jeez stone me, they’ve been there for thousands of years, before the bloomin’ National Trust took ‘ownership’. I’m sure they can survive a few more millenia without ripping off Joe Public. 🙄

Jeez stone me, they’ve been there for thousands of years, before the bloomin’ National Trust took ‘ownership’. I’m sure they can survive a few more millenia without ripping off Joe Public.

Actually until the early 20th century all of the stones had been buried and the locals would smash one up each year as a celebration. Bloody moonrakers, I blame the proximity of Swindon personally. And yes you have a point about the NT. I’m not a fan, but they have and do work hard at Avebury to mitigate against the damage, litter etc of tens of thousands of visitors each year. Just checked and its only a fiver for the whole day FFS!

What work exactly do the National Trust carry out at Avebury, apart from fleecing serving the braying middle-classes with overpriced tat in their wee shoppe?

Yes, it’s a fiver in Summer but the barrier comes down at 6.00 pm. I’ve had a few rides spoiled by racing back thus completely obliterating my mesmeric state. 🙁

Can I apologise to the OP for taking his thread off at a tangent? 😳

What work exactly do the National Trust carry out at Avebury, apart from fleecing serving the braying middle-classes with overpriced tat in their wee shoppe?
Yes, it’s a fiver in Summer but the barrier comes down at 6.00 pm. I’ve had a few rides spoiled by racing back thus completely obliterating my mesmeric state.

Picking up the litter, cutting the grass, clearing the broken glass and other debris….that’s just in the car park.

Basically if you want to park at a world heritage site expect the people that maintain it to charge you for the priviledge. Otherwise head up on the ridgeway from another point, and maintain your mesmerity (if that’s not a word it should be).