On the Downs

Today, on one of the hottest days of the year, we went on a long walk with  MH, a former colleague of mine, and his brother. We had  arranged the date ages ago so didn't  want to postpone. First, we drove to Marlborough, left the  car there, and then took a bus to Avebury, from where we walked back  to Marlborough via the Pewsey Downs and West Woods, following parts of several long distance trails, including Mid Wilts Way, White Horse Trail and  Wansdyke Path. My main blip is from our lunch stop on Knap Hill (on the Pewsey Downs) looking towards the Vale of Pewsey. Here we saw lots of butterflies: Marbled White, Common Skippers, Ringlets, possibly a Marsh Fritillary, and Meadow Browns.
The extra was taken  when  we were on the  last leg, looking towards the  Marlborough Downs. 
MH had said it would take  3 -4 hours (he has walked it before, but I think  his memory on distances/timings is questionable !) but we were out walking for six hours. Later, when I measured the distance on the OS map it looked ( and felt !) to have  been nearly 12 miles that  we had walked. However, it was a great day out, and afterwards, on our  way home from  Marlborough, we enjoyed  a very pleasant meal, seated outdoors, at the Red House  pub, at Marsh Benham near Newbury.