9.28 (Cheltenham Spa) train (which might be a bit crowded, it being a summer Saturday...) from Paddington to Reading, arriving 9.51, changing there for the 10.01 train to Blackwater, arriving 10.19.
OR
9.00 train from Waterloo to Guildford, arriving 9.32, changing there for the 9.45 to Blackwater, arriving 10.09, in which case please be nice and wait ten minutes for the Paddington crowd to arrive
Buy a day return to Wokingham (or Crowthorne as applicable) if coming from Waterloo, or to Blackwater if coming from Paddington. From Waterloo a cheaper "via Ascot/Guildford" ticket is possible, but from Paddington you need "Any Permitted" (ie a normal off peak return).
This walk, which has not had an outing since 2018 (and then on a wet day in winter), has a bewildering array of options, some of which seem to have been added since I last did it (eg the ending in Wokingham?). I know how you SWC types hate making choices, so I have distilled them down to two - finish the main walk in Crowthorne after 10.8 miles, or carry on to Wokingham (15.8 miles). But by all means study the introduction to this walk for other possibilities.
The walk description promises a riverside section, pine woods, heaths, ponds and a nature reserve or two. Mixed scenery, in other words
For lunch there are two pubs in Finchampstead after 6.8 miles, both of which seem to be open (ie, having functioning websites...). Tea options are as outlined in the walk introduction, with Wokingham having the better choice.
Trains back from Crowthorne are fastest (49 minutes) to Paddington with a change at Reading (though might involved squeezing onto a crowded long distance train...), or you can go back to Waterloo via a change in Guildford (1hr 16 minutes).
From Wokingham trains go at 23, 27, 42 and 57 past the hour to Reading, changing there for Paddington (44 to 57 minutes depending on connections), or there are direct trains at 26 and 56 past to Waterloo (1 hour 8 minutes). There are also other change at Guildford options to Waterloo, but it is hot and I am getting a headache...check the planner on the day is my suggestion.....
5 comments:
Crowhurst -> Crowthorne in the title, unless I am making a buffoon of myself.
Thanks. Corrected. It was kind of a hot day yesterday…..
Walker's ticket advice is quite correct, but those studying for an advanced degree in Britain's arcane rail ticket system might like to read the walk's Transport section. If you want to travel out (or back) via Reading a return from Boundary Zone 6 to Blackwater (in conjunction with a Travelcard or Freedom Pass) is valid on any of the possible routes and would be my choice.
Eight off the train from Waterloo via Guildford, who very nicely waited for the six off the train from Paddington via Reading ten minutes later. Then off we set into the sunshine.
The riverside walk from Blackwater was pleasant but the longish street walk through Sandhurst a bit of a drag. (Another time I might be tempted to start at Sandhurst to at least cut some of this out). But once we were in the woods and hills of Fitchampstead Ridges all was delightful, the trees giving nice shade and the scenery interesting. There was a little bit of heather at one point, just starting to come out.
Seven of us arrived at the Queen’s Oak for lunch and found the experience delightful. Their shady garden was not over-busy and they had created a special hatch for those ordering in the garden. The food arrived very expeditiously. I seem to have had a good run of lunch pubs recently. Long may it continue.
Two sandwichers were also with us when we left the pub, but we puzzled over the whereabouts of the missing five people. Had some gone to the Greyhound? But no, there was no sign of them there. A closed permissive path across a lavender farm was a minor nuisance on the next section, but the road alternative was not unpleasant.
Somewhere in the afternoon we came to a lake. There was a dog bathing area and inflatable buoys in its middle with the words Swim Secure on them, but locals said actual human swimming from this place was not permitted and promised that a speedboat would come and tell us off if we did. Inspired by our outgoing prime minister, two of us ignored this advice and had a dip in the lake. Signs by the lake warned of deep water, but in fact pondweed tickled our legs. The water temperature was very pleasant. No speedboats appeared. The weather by this point was cloudy, so w=sunny-in-the-morning-and-cloudy-later
In Crowthorne the walk author mentions The Hive as a possible refreshment stop but admits he has not tried it. Well, eight of us did and it met with universal acclamation. Craft beers (including taster “bats” with four small glasses), tea in pots, gins and tonics, etc. A nice place.
We met two late starters here - so N=16 on the walk in total. The two had started from Ealing Broadway but missed their connection at Reading. Getting a train 20 minutes late, they hatched a cunning plan to start at Sandhurst, expecting the group to overhaul them. They walked to the Greyhound and met three of our group there, and had a good lunch. They looked in at the Queen’s Oak but did not find us there.
After some disentangling it became clear what had happened. The correct walk route is rather convoluted, coiling around and back on itself. But unless you have the written directions (only one in our group did) or the printed map (which has direction arrows on it) this is not apparent. Using the GPX alone the obvious route seems to be to do the main loop of the walk backwards. This is what both the late starters and the three they lunched with had done.
There are also two routes indicated between the Greyhound and Queen’s Oak and they did one and we did the other, which is presumably why we missed each other.
Most finished the walk at Crowthorne, but four of us carried on to Wokingham (as possibly did the two walkers missing from this account: we have no idea where they went). There was a very nice pond on this section and some more woods, and Wokingham is certainly a pleasant town, but otherwise it was more of the same, really. Following the walk author’s advice we went up Peach Lane (or some such) to a modern square and had drinks and chips at a bistro called Hamlet something.
Getting on the 7.56 train, we settled down for a peaceful ride back to Waterloo. Alas, it was race day at Ascot and a raucous crowd invaded the train there. Still, it was nice to see the train being well used - as indeed was Waterloo when we got there. Who are all these people and where are they all going at 9pm on a Saturday? Maybe I am getting old….
Four took the 17:18 train from Crowthorne. We met one of the two missing walkers who did the long walk and got on the train from Workingham. The other missing walker got the train at Crowthorne.
Post a Comment