Short walk 9.5 ml 15.25 km 1/10
An easy scenic ramble through the Thame valley on the Ox/Bucks border, partly following the Oxfordshire Way and, later, the waymarked Thame Valley Walk. The shorter version - suggested for today - descends to the Thame and follows it, partly along a dismantled railway line, to lunch in Shabbington. The full walk heads north to lunch in Worminghall or Ickford. There is a short bus ride (frequent service) at the start and finish of the walk.
Travel: Get the 09:42 Oxford train from Marylebone, arriving Haddenham and Thame Parkway 10:32.
Then catch a 280 bus to Thame (Oxford direction) from outside the station. There's one at 10:48 arriving about 11:05 (buses are two an hour, later three an hour – a return costs about £4.10)
Trains return at xx:14 and 42 with buses from Thame (Town Hall) at xx:58 and 28.
Get a return to Haddenham and Thame Parkway.
Lunch: For the full walk the recommended stop is The Clifden Arms,/Worminghall (01844 338 429), or, later, The Rising Sun, Ickford (01844 339 238).
On the shorter walk you have The Old Fisherman, Shabbington, (01844 201 247).
Tea: Thame has numerous pubs - see notes. Treacles Tea Rooms 12 High Street, 01844 260 840) is open till 16:00. Rumseys Chocolaterie is open till 16.30.
Directions: here t=swc.190
Lunch: For the full walk the recommended stop is The Clifden Arms,/Worminghall (01844 338 429), or, later, The Rising Sun, Ickford (01844 339 238).
On the shorter walk you have The Old Fisherman, Shabbington, (01844 201 247).
Tea: Thame has numerous pubs - see notes. Treacles Tea Rooms 12 High Street, 01844 260 840) is open till 16:00. Rumseys Chocolaterie is open till 16.30.
Directions: here t=swc.190
1 comment:
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Three energetic walkers gathered at the station and took a very punctual bus to Thame on a mostly sunny and warm day, with gentle breeze, and only a short spell of rain at the end.
We passed through the pleasant town of Thame with cafes bursting with local residents and their (fancy) dogs. Soon we were in the fields and forests, on mostly well marked route. We picked and mixed various shortcuts and extensions, with the goal of doing a shorter version of the walk but with more picturesque options. We first passed through a golf course, with two lovely lake, and then Rycote Estate where multiple ‘private land’ signs kept us on a straight and narrow, through a lovely forest full of free ranging pheasants. Lovely church on the way but not open on Sundays until 13:30.
We stopped for lunch at The Old Fisherman. It’s a chain pub but quite pleasant. Service was quick and prices acceptable (whatever that means nowadays). Worth noting that child portions are available for adult walkers of smaller appetites or statures. Still, a child portion was enough to power your rapporteur through the rest of the walk.
And energy you need as after a short pleasant spell you have to go through freshly plows fields, on a badly marked route (will be muddy after rain), on a path punctuated by numerous wobbly stiles, overgrown with brambles. There is also a newly marked right-of-way path not mentioned in written instructions. GPS directions proved very useful.
Shortly before Thame the group split, with one of the walkers returning to Thame in search of a mythical chocolate shop. The other two decided to walk back to the train station, through an industrial estate, corn fields, a grassy hill, and a busy road. A few minutes before 16:14 train they were reunited with the chocolate lover who recommends the shop, but found the selection of dark chocolate options disappointing.
Plenty of sheep and cows on the walk, with buzzards circling overhead and many a pheasants darting through the forest. A few friendly dogs with a large and furry malamute winning the day.
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