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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Tuesday 7 March 2017

Tuesday Walk: The River Thames, Whitchurch and Pangbourne

Book 1, Walk 4 - Pangbourne Circular

Length: 13.6 km (8.5 miles)
Toughness: 3 out of 10

Option to extend walk at end by 3.5 miles along Thames tow path

London Paddington: 10-15 hrs (Cardiff Central train)
Arrive Reading: 10-39 hrs
Leave Reading 10-53 hrs (Oxford train)
Arrive Pangbourne: 11-01 hrs

Ealing Broadwayers: 10-05 hrs (connecting with Oxford train which left Paddington at 09-57 hrs)

Return: Pangbourne 17 & 51 mins past the hour - journey length 1 hrs 11 mins. Change at Reading to cut journey length by 22 mins.
Tilehurst: 21 and 55 mins past the hour
Goring: 12 and 46 mins past the hour

Rail ticket: if planning to do the circular walk or the extension to Tilehurst, buy an off-peak day return to Pangbourne. If planning to walk on to Goring, buy an off-peak day return to Goring.

Today's easy walk straddles Berkshire and Oxfordshire and in addition to your water feature for the day - the River Thames - you have a nice mixture of woods, parks, farms and fields, plus some good views.
Your lunch stop is the homely Sun Inn at Hill Bottom - best 'phone ahead with numbers 0188-984-2260.
On your return to Pangbourne via Whitchurch you find at least one cafe and several pubs for tea.
For those in need of a longer walk, you can treat yourself to a relaxing stroll beside the Thames on its tow path, either heading east to Tilehurst via Mapledurham, or west to Goring, both circa 3.5 miles.
T=1.4
Walk directions here: L=1.4

Next week, Thursday 16 March: Book 1, Walk 8 - Bures to Sudbury

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a break with tradition !! well done Marcus. may do this walk or Thursday one. both sound better than hertfordshire one but am probably biased. Thank you.

Marion said...

Fab weather forecast. I'm on my way. Hoping for some great company especially as the forecast tomorrow look dire.

JohnL said...

N=9, W=Warm_and_sunny, with a late start due to signalling problems at Maidenhead and the Sun Inn being closed on Tuesdays we all decided to take the short cut and return to Whitchurch / Pangbourne for lunch. Fortunately the Swan serves food all day and five of us enjoyed an excellent if slightly pricey late lunch in pleasant surroundings. The Swan is beautifully situated on the Thames and arguably worth the extra. The early part of this walk is along one of the most unspoilt parts of the Thames Path leading to superb views over the Thames Valley, overall an enjoyable day out.

Marcus said...

My apologies to our group of walkers for not realising the Sun Inn does not open for lunch on a Tuesday: I should have read the Sun's own web-site more closely. Despite my snafu we managed to have an enjoyable day in lovely Spring sunshine.