Gerrards Cross to Cookham Book1 walk 40
9.6 miles 15.4 km
Difficulty 2/10
Across Bulstrode Park, past woods and lakes, through Egypt Wood and Burnham Beeches to a pub in Littleworth Common. An optional 1.5 mile diversion would take you deeper into Burnham Beeches with its ancient trees.
In the afternoon, there are more woods, then a stretch along the Thames into Cookham. Cookham is associated with the artist Stanley Spencer and there is a small Spencer gallery in the town.
Travel
Get the 10:12 Oxford train from Marylebone arriving Gerrards Cross 10:37.
Return from Cookham at xx44. Change at Maidenhead for Paddington.
The out and back journeys are on different lines and require different tickets. (Marylebone to Gerrards Cross and Cookham to London). You should be able to buy both at Marylebone, but, if not, don't forget to buy your return ticket at Cookham.
A Travelcard plus singles from and to Zone 6 may be cheaper.
Freedom Pass holders can return free from Maidenhead on the Elizabeth line (3 an hour) but still need a ticket for the stretch from Cookham.
Lunch The directions recommend the Jolly Woodman, 01753 644350. Advisable to phone
The optional diversion would also take you past the Blackwood Arms 01753 645672.
There is an earlier temptation, the White Horse in Hedgerley (01753) 643225. Renowned for its real ale, errant walkers have been known to linger there for too long. (There'll be none of that today, will there?😠)
Tea: There are a few places in Cookham High Street
The Teapot tea shop. There are pubs too - the Kings Arms 01628 530 667, the Bel and Dragon 01628 521 263 and two more on the way to the station.
It is still 15-20 mins to the station from the High St so allow time for that and to get yer ticket.
Walk directions here t=1.40
Sunday, 3 September 2023
Sunday Walk: Gerrards Cross to Cookham
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3 comments:
Chaos at Marylebone with no ticket machines working so big queues . N=5 still reached Gerrard’s Cross at the appointed time. 3 sped off 2, slightly slower, held back to let a n=6 th late starter catch up. The front 3 weren’t seen again. A w=hot-sunny day
The back 3 succumbed to temptation and stopped at the White Horse. (The excuse being that we could let any more late starters catch up. Not that we’d have seen them behind the hedge but hey ho). Readers, the beer was good. Especially the porter. Can definitely recommend it as a stop. We didn’t linger long, though, we were soon off again. Didn’t do the detour. After a picnic in Egypt Wood, the next stop was the Woodnan (hic) where the choice was more prosaic. Then on to Cookham. We stopped again at the Swan Uppers (hic hic).
There was some talk of the walk being posted in reverse with the White Horse being a late lunch or early tea stop. But I don’t know, do I?
Hi Ian - glad you had a good day on Sunday.
As I am one of the main "Backwards Walking " researchers / promoters in the SWC, I can advise there is no merit in doing this walk in reverse. Whilst the White Horse pub in Hedgerley makes for a very pleasant Elevenses stop, the two pubs on Littleworth Common are good, particularly the atmospheric Blackwood Arms . And methinks finishing the walk by the River Thames in Cookham is much nicer than concluding the walk at Gerrards Cross railway station !
Ooh! You could make some Gerrards very cross! One of our number spoke of an experimental figure of eight that had included somewhere near GC station. But it’s not my axe and I’m not going to grind it. Happy with the existing direction.
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