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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.

Saturday, 18 February 2023

Saturday Walk - Cholsey to Goring or on to Pangbourne (via Wallingford)

Length: 20.4 km (12.7 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 144/141m
Net Walking Time: ca. 4 ½ hours
Toughness: 3 out of 10 
 
Take the 09.57 Didcot Parkway service from Paddington (Ealing B’way 10.05, Reading 10.52), arriving Cholsey 11.08. [You can also take the 10.07 to Theale and change at Reading.] 
Return trains: xx.18 & xx.48 (4 mins later from Pangbourne). Change at Reading to shave off 25 mins! 
Buy a Cholsey return.

Start with a 2 km stretch through the village of Cholsey to reach the riverside Thames path where you turn left and continue all the way to the bustling market town of Wallingford and your riverside lunch-time pub The Boat House. After lunch you leave the river Thames and take paths around and across fields in the gently rolling Oxfordshire countryside with some fine and expansive views before visiting the attractive village of South Stoke and some refreshments at the Perch and Pike pub. From South Stoke the short, last leg of the walk is along the Ridgeway and Thames Path to Goring where you are likely to be too late for tea and cakes at Pierreponts café. But there are some excellent pubs in the village before a short walk to the station.

Like any walk finishing in Goring, this walk can easily be extended by following the Thames Path to Pangbourne (adds about 7 km).

Lunch: Plenty of options in Wallingford, recommended is The Boat House (Greene King) (6.5 km/4.0 mi, food all day). 
Tea: Perch & Pike in South Stoke (open all day), and plenty of options in Goring (a little beyond the station) and in Whitchurch/Pangbourne. For details see the pdf.  
 
For summary, walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. t=swc.242

1 comment:

Mr M Tiger said...

N=6 on a w=cloudy-breezy day. 5 for Goring, 1 for Pangbourne.
Wallingford was reached without incident. A few feathers were ruffled in the BoatHouse. Although chips were advertised with some meals, you had to know to say “is it in the deal?”, otherwise you didn’t get none. Luckily, being such a good-natured bunch, there was no chip envy. Not that any of this bothered Mr Tiger who doesn’t normally eat but had been fed a few chips and sweets by a kindly benefactor.
Then inland for the long exposed stretch to South Stoke. Maybe it’s better in summer, but I can’t say I enjoyed these long unvaried sections.
Poor Mr Tiger fell behind in the afternoon and, get this readers, at one point he observed those ahead cheating by continuing along the road to cut off a big corner. (Something Mr Tiger would never ever do).
There was another stop at the Perch and Pike. Quite pleasant.Then on into Goring. No pub visit there. Just home.