Sunday Walk – Burnham Beeches and the River Thames (Gerrards Cross to Maidenhead)

Book 1 Walk 40¦24 – Gerrards Cross to Maidenhead
Length: 21.2 km (13.2 miles). Toughness: 3/10

10:43 Banbury train from Marylebone, arriving Gerrards Cross at 11:02. If you just miss this there's a stopping service to Gerrards Cross three minutes later, arriving at 11:19.

There are half-hourly fast trains from Maidenhead to Paddington until 18:10 (at approx. xx:10 & xx:40), plus stopping services; on the latter it's usually quicker to change at Slough.

There are engineering works on the Marlow branch line so if you choose to finish at Cookham you'll need to take the hourly rail replacement bus at xx:06.

You can't get a day return for this walk as the two stations are on lines operated by different rail companies. You may find it cheaper to get an All Zones Travelcard plus singles from/to the Zone 6 boundary.

The standard Walk 40 from Book 1 is a nicely varied stroll through parkland and the extensive woods of Burnham Beeches to the riverside village of Cookham, and if you take the suggested extension to Maidenhead (from Walk 24) you'll finish the day along one of the most attractive stretches of the Thames. The suggested lunch stop (after about two hours' walking) is the Jolly Woodman on Littleworth Common, but the directions include a small detour to the nearby Blackwood Arms if you want to try somewhere different; as usual on a Sunday, call one of these in advance if you want to be sure of a table inside. Cookham has several nice places for a mid-afternoon refreshment stop and you could also visit the Stanley Spencer Gallery.

You'll need to bring Book 1 or print the directions from the Walk 40 and Walk 24 pages. You don't really need the latter for the riverside extension, of course, but it describes a route to Maidenhead station which enables you to bypass the large town centre. T=1.40