Length: 16.3 km (10.1 miles) to include tour of Colleges - without tour and today's suggested walk - circa 7 miles
Toughness: 1 out of 10 ( no hills today, but toughness rating more if you have to wade through flooded or muddy sections)
Either
London Paddington: 10-20 hrs Great Western service to Oxford Slough: 10-34 hrs Reading: 10-48 hrs
Arrive Oxford: 11-12 hrs
Or
London Paddington: 09-43 hrs TFL Rail service to Reading Ealing Broadway: 09-51 hrs Slough: 10-14 hrs Reading: 10-43 hrs
Change at Slough or Reading to Oxford train as above
Return
Oxford to Paddington: direct service at 15-32, 16-02, 16-31, 17-01, 17-32, 18-02 hrs and so on
Changing at Didcot Parkway: 15-36, 17-07, 17-16 and 18-16 hrs
The rail service from Marylebone to Oxford is not recommended today as the journey time exceeds 90 minutes.
Rail ticket if travelling on Great Western trains you will need a day return to Oxford. Seniors travelling on TFL Rail services may user their London Councils Freedom Passes as far as Reading "free of charge" and purchase a day return from Reading to Oxford. But please note you only have a 5 minute connection at Reading and it might be prudent to change trains at Slough, for a more relaxing connection (but you will need to purchase your onward ticket from Slough). The choice is yours !
The suggested walk today takes you over Port Meadow to the village of Binsey, then on to Wolvercote for an early lunch at the Trout Inn with its attractive riverside setting (the alternative pub on Wolvercote Common - the Plough - is closed until 06 January).
After lunch I suggest we omit the walk to the start of the colleges tour, then the tour itself, and instead walk back to the city centre along the Oxfordshire canal - making today's walk a short post Christmas leg-stretcher, rather than a full blooded SWC walk. But do take all or part of the colleges tour if you wish - and if this walk is new to you. You should get to the start of the SWC walking tour, as detailed in the Walk Directions, before you lose daylight and it is safe to walk through the city streets as darkness descends.
This walk does not get posted very often - so enjoy !
T=1.13
Walk Directions are here: L=1.13
2 comments:
Thank you, Marcus, it was a lovely walk .
Valerie
We set off from Oxford railway station as a small group of 5, then later in the afternoon we met up with a later starter who had walked the route alone behind us and was having lunch in the Anchor pub, so that is n=6.
As per last Wednesday, we started today's walk in w=drizzle-and-steady-rain-turning-pleasantly-sunny-after-lunch. There was some standing water on the paths between the two rivers at walk start, but no flooding, and the route over the meadows to Binsey and Wolvercote was muddy, but we made good progress in the drizzly rain towards a lunch stop. The Trout Inn could not accommodate us due to Covid restrictions but their manager kindly directed us to a pub in Lower Wolvercote - Jacob's Inn - a new find. Here we were made welcome in the pub's comfortable surroundings and although the food was pricey it was delicious: their pizzas were excellent, as was my pasta. I will add this watering hole to the lunch options in the Walk Directions.
After lunch we crossed Wolvercote Common and joined the Oxfordshire Canal for our return leg towards the city centre. The surface of the canal's tow path has been upgraded since I last did this walk, from a muddy earthen path to a surface dressed springy way, making it very pleasant to walk along - particularly in the afternoon sunshine. At the point on the path where we cross the canal to start the leg towards the colleges, one of our group stayed on the tow path and headed for the city centre for some retail therapy, leaving the four of us to find walker number six in the Anchor pub. Continuing on the TO Book route, we got as far as Wolfson College, only to find the River Cherwell down below had burst its banks, flooding the onward paths. We had a wade for a while but when water levels were over boot tops we had to abandon the route. Retracing our steps towards the canal we first stopped for tea in the Anchor pub before we returned along the canal to the railway station, where we were just in time to catch the 17-01 hrs fast train back to Paddington.
An enjoyable day out in very good company. Nice clean walking boots, too, after our paddle.
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