Length: 16.46 km (10.23 miles)
Toughness: 3 out of 10
London Paddington: 09-34 hrs Great Western service to Didcot Parkway (does not stop at Ealing Broadway) Slough 09-51 hrs
Arrive Twford: 10-07 hrs Change trains
Leave Twyford: 10-15 hrs Great Western service to Henley
Arrive Henley-on-Thames: 10-27 hrs
Or For Ealing Broadwayers, and Freedom Pass holders:
London Paddington: 09-17 hrs Elizabeth Line service (underground platform) from Abbey Wood to Reading
Arrive Ealing Broadway: 09-25 hrs
Arrive Twyford: 10-04 hrs. Change to GW service to Henley, leaving at 10-15 hrs (as above)
Travel tip: if travelling to Paddington or Ealing Broadway by TfL Underground please allow extra time for your journey - on some underground lines on New Year's Day morning there can be gaps of 15 minutes between trains.
Return
Henley to Paddington via Twyford: 15-30, 16-00, 16-30, 17-00, 17-35 and so on
Rail ticket: Buy a day return to Henley-on-Thames, if travelling on the Great Western service from Paddington, as should our younger walkers without Freedom Passes. Our senior colleagues with Freedom Passes can travel on the Elizabeth line service from Paddington or Ealing Broadway as far as Twyford without charge. They just need to buy a day return from Twyford to Henley-on-Thames.
It's back to Henley for our New Year's Day walk West this year, after a gap of three years (during which we have ended our walks in Cookham). And as in previous postings we will do the walk "backwards" (in reverse) in order to make best use of winter daylight.
I'm putting up the walk on our website early to enable those who would like lunch at the usually excellent Stag and Huntsman pub (01491 571227) to make a reservation before the pub is fully booked (by early December). Your e.t.a for reservations (assuming a 30 min champagne stop - see below) is 13-15 hrs.
This walk makes for an enjoyable introduction to the New Year, particularly if the weather is kind to us. We usually celebrate the New Year by stopping for a champagne break shortly after leaving the town, on the Oxfordshire Way, when up in Henley Park (para 8 in the Reverse Walk Directions). If you wish please, bring along food and nibbles - and some of you champagne - to share with your fellow walkers as we toast in the New Year (and don't forget your disposable champagne flute).
As for the walk, most of you will be familiar with it, but for those not: after walking the length of Henley Park above the town of Henley, you cross some fields and then have some road walking (a usually quiet country lane) as you head for the Great Wood, which you walk through, gently downhill, before dropping down and continuing along the edge of woods before descending to the village of Hambleden, where you can stop for lunch, or refreshments. If stopping here try to be away by 3 pm. Your post Hambleden leg starts by crossing fields to Hambleden Lock, after which you join the banks of the River Thames for a relaxing riverside path walk all the way back to Henley. Pub lunchers are likely to be walking in the dark on the riverside leg but it is usually perfectly safe in the failing light if you take appropriate care.
Finally, this is not a long walk and having stopped for nibbles and snacks with your champers early in the walk above the town, it is perfectly feasible to skip lunch (although you might like to stop briefly for a pint) before continuing beside the river back to Henley, where you can recharge batteries with tea and cake at the Chocolate Cafe, or have a good value meal at the nearby Wetherspoons. But whatever you decide to do, I hope you enjoy this introduction to walking with the SWC in 2025.
T=1.1
Walk Directions are here: L=1.1
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