Length: 21.7 km (13.5 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 276/245m
Net Walking Time: ca. 5 hours
Toughness: 5 out of 10
Take the 09.05 Newbury train from Paddington (Reading
09.33), change at Newbury (09.54/10.11) onto the Bedwyn train. Arrives Kintbury
10.18.
Return trains from Bedwyn: xx.41 (change
at Newbury, 78 mins journey time).
Buy a return to Bedwyn.
This walk has a decidedly West Country feel, far removed from the more
manicured charms of the Home Counties. In the morning, it passes through an
idyllic series of woods and pastures, with largely gentle gradients.
It then climbs up to Inkpen Hill (290m), and follows a long ridge,
giving views as dramatic, but even more unspoiled, than any on the South Downs.
The rest of the walk follows the Test Way, a broad track along the top
of this ridge, before descending to the valley and the pretty village of Great
Bedwyn.
Lunch: Picnic.
Tea: The Three Tuns (no website).
4 comments:
Hi just checking in to ask if anyone might be doing the Kintbury circular instead of the main walk post Christmas. Currently not being able to walk at the pace of the ‘unofficial’ walk leader’, if there are any other walkers thinking about doing the circuit then I would join them rather than slow trudge through on my own. Festive wishes 🎄
Yes I'd be prepared to do the Kintbury circular.
Mud? Plenty. Puddles and water-filled ruts? Loads. Wind? Quite a bit on the ridge, at times. Rain? Not initially, then on-and-off, at times more on than off, but always in short-ish bursts (1 of the walkers never put any jacket on). Views? Surprisingly aplenty despite the low and driving clouds. Pheasants? A few. Nature? Some rosehip, loads of ivy berries, some Scots pines. Dog walkers? A few. Walkers? Not many. Train delays? Quite a few small ones, but not all in amounting to much. Invigorating and a good day out? Very much so.
n=6 on this walk, with 2 doing the circular walk back to Kintbury, and one of those deploying the shortcut within that option (I quote: "Canal towpaths are for cyclists.").
All of us reached the bottom of the final ascent onto the ridge after 2 hours of walking and paused there for lunch out of the wind and rain (with the 2 dissenters walking on who would have a pub lunch later), and we got to Great Bedwyn with a few minutes to spare to the 15.41 train. w=plenty-of-rain-in-squalls
1️⃣ did the Kintbury circular. Additional details: Lunch stop at Inkpen (Crown & Garter) is highly recommended though food is only served till 2:30pm. This walk can also be done in reverse as a pub (The Blue Ball) was near Kintbury post the last having been walked. Failed to convince anyone I am injured by surging up Inkpen hill but injuries are a real mystery. A fun last walk of 2023 for me. Group cohesion 0 (solo) post lunch 😂
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