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A few short weeks since our last visit to Henley we were back again but the weather was kinder this time and we enjoyed lovely late summer sunshine rather than the persistent drizzle and monsoon shower. We met up at the same spot, Henley railway station for a slightly later time of 11am. This was ideal for one or two of us who perhaps over indulged a little in the previous day’s social at Ascot races! Hard luck or good luck stories were shared by those attending the Races (some of us were fortunate enough to come away with a small profit although I will try not to gloat too much!).
Anyway, the group, bolsterd by a couple of members of the Chiltern’s 20-30’s group, headed off through the town centre and picking up the footpath to the east passing Matson House and through Rememham Court, taking a small ascent through the woods and into the open. Unlike last week on our trip to Dorset when we saw hardly anyone out walking, we bumped into several other walking groups on our travels today. It was certainly a good day to be taking the fresh air.
We zigzagged our way a little bit and quite unsually our 8 miles covered quite a condensed area. It included a rather lovely field that opened out with views over the valley containing a large a number of deer.
Before long, we headed towards Aston where we were maybe thirty minutes earlier passing the Flowerpot pub. Yes, that’s right, you heard me correctly, we passed the pub and carried out through to Hambleden lock where we took our picnic lunch. There were a number of seats conveniently located which the group, by and large, made good use of. Nearby, a ice cream van was on hand. For most of us, resistance was futile and headed our way to provide the chap with our custom.
The final two miles or so was completed alongside the River Thames and the Thames path itself , a stretch of path that is popular with ramblers and dog walkers alike. As we made progress, a Jazz band broke into full swing at a private club next to the Thames. Sadly, we had no invites to the event so had to continue along to Henley where most of us took to a local hostelry to quench our thirst.
A very satisfying eight mile walk was therefore completed. A final note to say thank you to Mark who was leading a walk for us for the first time today. Look forward to the next walk maybe!
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Today’s walk started from Wallingford Bridge on the east side of the town at the Riverside Car Park. This was a walk I had reccyed earlier in the year but was unable to park at the chosen car park due to the floods. This area of the Thames was quite badly affected by the floods in the early part of the year. Thankfully no flood issues to contend with today. The eleven of us met up, most of us having driven but one person make use of the good bus service that connects Reading to Oxford. The ticket machine was not in use so we were afforded the opportunity to park for free.
The ramble today took us started out on flat footpaths that ran parallel to the River Thames although not the Thames Path itself as that runs the other side of the river. We walked under the A4130 , passing a golf driving range on route and about two miles into the walk we arrived at the village North Stoke. This quite village would be familiar to those who attended my Woodcote walk in 2013 and like then we headed past the church in the village and then arriving for a quick drink stop next to the River Thames.
We left the footpaths for a short period and picked up a quite lane passing Littlestoke Manor and crossing over the B4009 Wallingford walk. We picked up the footpaths again and welcomed by a couple of small inclines. At this point we were greeted by a few runners who claimed to have been “lost”. As I was the “man with a map” then came to me to enquire as their precise whereabouts comparing where they thought they were on their map with mine. It turned out they were not lost at all and everyone was happy and we moved on.
We soon took our picnic lunch on top of one of the small inclines at Watch Folly having completed half the walk at this point. We took the opportunity to observe a small lightweight plane that was circulating overhead us practising taking off and landing on a nearby field. Not sure if I fancy having a go at doing that.
Lunch done (thank you to Naomi for providing the sweets!), we headed to our next stop, the pub! We crossed a few fields as well as the A4074 taking great care with the passing traffic. At one point we looked back and could see the cooling towers of Didcot Power Station but with three less standing than we saw on my Didcot walk a few weeks ago. At one point we anticipated a potential collision between the group and a tractor going full pelt harvesting the land. Quite wisely, we held our ground and let him go ahead. Soon enough, we arrived at the pub stop in Hailey for a refreshing pint. Interesting (or perhaps not) I had never been to the King William pub on a walk with the group until this year and this was the third time in maybe a few months. No complaints from me though.
We left the pub heading in a northerly direction past a couple of farms and through Wicks Wood. Following a short descent, we headed west eventually picking up the Ridgeway for maybe a mile or so, perhaps slightly under. The completion of the walk was in sight. We walked through a corn field just to the north of the village of Mongewell before eventually arriving back at our cars. For a few of us we would meet up again later in the day for the evening’s social at the Horse and Groom at Hare Hatch. All in all a very fine day indeed.
One final note, when submitting this walk I was undecided whether to pick the Sunday or the Bank Holiday and as I write this blog up, one look outside my window tells you I made the right choice. It is throwing it down!
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Much was talked in the metrological world of Hurricane Bertha and the possible impact the remnants of it would cause the United Kingdom in the week preceding today’s walk. Quite naturally, I was keeping a close eye on the forecast in the days leading up to this walk and hoping beyond hope that our walk would not be affected too much. Thankfully that proved to be the guess as the six of us that attended today had some persistent light rain to contend with in the morning but the weather otherwise held fine with the notable exception of a monsoon like showers shortly before our arrival at the pub.
We started the walk from Henley railway station, heading through the town, crossing the bridge and then picking up the Thames Path to the east of the town passing the Leander Rowing Club, the fourth oldest rowing club in the world. As we made progress, I noticed a plaque on the ground which marked the finish line to the London Olympic Rowing Regatta that took place along this stretch of the River Thames in 1908. Only moments later, someone else in the group spotted a similar plaque to mark the same event in 1948. We carried on for two miles or so until we reached Hambleden Lock. The rain had relented a little at this point, so some of us decided to remove some of our waterproof gear. Unfortunately, that was the signal for it to start raining again, although never that heavy.
We crossed the road at Mill End and headed towards Hambleden itself although we turned off before we arrived at the village up a short incline and through some woods which gave us some light relief from the precipitation that continued to fall on us so it seemed a good spot.
Lunch completed, which included us having a deep and meaningful conversation (!) on crisps and unusual flavour of crisps. We strolled on to the village of Fawley where we stopped to have a look at St Mary’s Church which dates pack to the 12th century and had a rather impressive stained glass window.
In the graveyard stood two rather impressive mausolea. There is the Freeman Mausoleum that dates back to 1750 and built by the then owner of Fawley Court, William Freeman. Fawley Court is a grade 1 listed country house which we saw earlier on the walk overlooking the west bank of the Thames and dates back to the 11th Century and the Doomsday book. There is a second mausolea at the graveyard which dates back to 1862 and is an equally impressive tomb.
We picked up the Oxfordshire Way shortly after leaving the church and headed to our next destination, the pub! However, our progress was halted by a sudden downpour of monsoon proportions that lead us taking emergency cover in the nearby trees. To add to the mix, we also heard a couple claps of thunder as well. Fortunately, the rain soon relented and stopped completely by the time we took our seats outside at the pub in Lower Assendon and in fact the sun came out to greet us.
Fully refreshed, we crossed the A4130 and picked up the footpath and short incline to Lambridge Hill where we spotted a few deer nosing about. The walk took us through woodland before coming out near Henley golf course. Navigated without any alarm, we made our way back to start point in Henley.
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This walk was submitted specifically to pay homage to the cooling towers of Didcot A Power Station which were due to be demolished in a weeks time. For those, like me, who have lived in Berkshire all there lives and even those who haven’t but have frequented many of our South Oxfordshire walks over the years, they have stood out on the skyline numerous times and in a funny kind of way, I think we will miss them. For me, whenever I headed north as a youngster I always knew we were nearing home on the return journey as soon as we could see these towers. A bit like the water tower in Tilehurst when returning from a westward bound journey.
As soon as I heard about the imminient demise of these towers I thought it only apt to repeat a walk I did several years with the group, only altering the route slightly so that we could get closer to the towers.
A week or so before, we were approached for the second time this year by the Oxfordshire 20-30’s group to make this a joint walk with them in order to help assist in filling there programme. I was delighted to do so although most of the group today was made up of Berkshire Walkers with just one solitary person representing the Oxon group. It was also nice to welcome a member of the Berkshire Weekend Walkers who wanted to have a final view of the Towers. We even had one person who was on the previous time I had led this walk.
Fourteen of us gathered in the car park opposite Didcot station with a few making use of the excellent train service from Reading and others drove. I was not as organised as I should have been and took my car rather than use the public transport. The walk took us past the housing estate to the north of the town, with the towers in almost constant view to our left. Stopping briefly to look at some wildlife on a pond and then waiting for a member of the group to make use of a local grocery store, we made steady progress through some long grass after Hopkins Bridge and then past Ladygrove Farm, leaving Didcot behind us and, for a while the cooling towers as well.
I was not certain where we would be stopping to have our sarnies. Ideally, I wanted to make it to the viewpoint at Wittenham Clumps but I was not sure if that may have been too soon (I always aim for at least midday before we sit down). However, we got to the summit in perfect time although one person noted it was two minutes early! We sat down enjoying the panoramic view of South Oxfordshire countryside including those cooling towers – how many times am I going to mention them in this blog?!.
After lunch we walked through the peaceful village of Little Wittenham and across Neptune Wood which is managed by Earth Trust who also look after the clumps where we had our lunch. Moving along on reasonably easy terrain we arrived at Long Wittenham for a quick stop at the pub to take on liquid refreshment. Unexpectantly, a music festival was being held here which meant we had to take on board our liquids from a plastic pint glass, a probably first for me with the group. A few of us tried to escape the humid air and stay inside while the others settled down to enjoy the music for the 30 minutes that we were there.
We left the pub to make our return journey back to the start, going past Pendon Museum which houses a number of miniature railway sets and featured in James May’s Toy Stories in 2010. It wasn’t long before those cooling towers were back on the horizon again. I made sure we stopped a view times during the walk so that those that wished could stop and take a picture.
The last bit of the walk, after navigating a small tunnel and then a footbridge over the railway line just south of the A4130, was soon completed having gone past an Industrial Park and a Sewage Treatment Works. Soon after, I asked the group to see if they wanted to get a closer look of the towers that, at time of writing, were due to be demolished in a weeks time. A few headed off but most came with me to say farewells to the towers that have stood since the late 1960’s.
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Todays walk stated from Goring railway station, in time for the 10am arrival from Reading. Numbers today were low perhaps partly due to yesterday’s exertions on our social in Oxford and also it is peak holiday season so perhaps folk were elsewhere. We were joined by a couple from the Henley and Goring Walking group, we are always delighted to be joined by visitors from other groups.
We left Goring, went over the bridge to Streatley and then picked up the Thames Path. It was a rather pleasant stroll along the Thames, heading north towards Moulsford a distance of approximately two miles. I had noted that I had not yet frequented the pub in this small riverside village so it may help inspire me for a future walk, perhaps a linear one from Cholsey.
We left the Thames Path behind, crossed the A329 and through past the local park and out into the open fields. It was noted in the group how humid it was but I think we would settle for the that as some threatening black clouds developed overhead. Thankfully, they did not disperse their load on us today. We heading towards Aston Tirrad, taking in the view of Didcot Power Station. In two weeks time three of the cooling towers are due to be demolished so it was perhaps the final chance for some to view the iconic landmark. (Although one of our walks next week pays homage to them as we walk past the cooling towers).
We walked past a herd of white cows sitting down in a group together minding their own business and then to the left of Lollingdon Hill we soon arrived at Aston Tirrod, passing a few impressive thatched cottages en route. Having reached our northern most part of the walk, we returned south over the A417 before a short climb up the other side, taking in the lovely views of the South Oxfordshire Hills on the way. As we made our way, we came across foliage covered virtually entirely in chalky mud, perhaps as a result of some dirk bikes digging up the ground. It was most unusual site and not something we had really seen before. The group tried its best not to get covered by chalk, some had more success than others! We then took a slightly later lunch than usual (1pm) but no one seemed to mind.
Sandwiches ate, we carried along the footpath past the Fair Mile but not taking it. Instead we branched left past Lowbury Hill and then onto the Ridgeway. A couple more miles further along too us to the Goring and Streatley Golf Club. No plans for anyone to get out their clubs, we instead strode through the course, ringing the bell to warn the golfers of our existence. On the second occasion, I think we scared the living daylights out of anyone in the immediate vicinity such was the din. The walk through the course was a steep climb but I wanted to make sure that everyone on the walk today had earned that drink at the end of the walk! We descended to the pub in Streatley via the edge of Common Wood. We said cheerio to the Henley and Goring couple while the four of us that remained enjoyed a much refreshing drink.
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