Ascent/Descent:
250/242 m; Net Walking Time: ca. 4 ½ hours
Toughness:
4 out of 10
Take
the 10.12 Reading train from Paddington (Ealing B’way 10.20),
change at Twyford (11.00/11.08) arriving Henley-on-Thames at 11.20
Return
trains: xx.16
and xx.48 (change at Reading)
Buy a Pangbourne Return.
A
lovely walk, starting and finishing by the Thames, and passing through many
woods and pubs en route.
The
walk starts beside the Thames in Henley, goes down one of Henley's most ancient
streets, out into a broad valley, to the church and first pub at Rotherfield
Greys. It then goes to the church at Rotherfield Peppard, and thereafter it is fields,
beech woods and small villages.
This
walk does not suffer from a shortage of refreshment stops and includes three
pubs ideally located for the lunch stop, plus others. The walk also includes an
alpaca farm just outside Whitchurch where you can watch hundreds of alpacas
grazing in the fields, towards the end of the walk.
The
walk then carries on to the Whitchurch parish church beside the Thames, to the
toll bridge over the Thames, and finally into Pangbourne for a last refreshment
stop.
Lunch: The Red Lion
(6.9 km/4.3 mi, food to 15.00) in
Peppard Common, The Unicorn (7.9
km/4.9 mi, food to 15.00) in Kingwood, The Reformation (10.5 km/6.5 mi, food
to 14.30 ) in Gallowstree Common/Kidmore End.
Tea: see the webpage.
For
walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files
click here.
T=1.51
1 comment:
trouble and strife. were rife. on the henley train...
The ticket inspector on this branch line demanded (perfectly justified) that punters were buying a Twyford to Henley single (£2,00) on top of their Pangbourne return. One or other SWC-folk were having none of it. The ensuing verbals continued all the way to Henley, so that the inspector could not inspect anybody else's tickets. Taking one for the team...
The weather was w=warm-and-pleasant, near-perfect walking conditions, so much so that plenty of fairweather walkers were in attendance. 16 got off the train, one was already waiting on the platform and another had also taken the earlier train but walked ahead to get back to London early. n=18 therefore.
Some very pretty valleys on the route, many (mostly) enchanting woods, but also some drab bits along country lanes and field boundaries. In all, still a very good walk. The undersigned passed on the first two designated lunch pubs to find the third (and last) closed, despite 'Under New Mgmt' and 'Now Open'-signs outside, so strode on. The promise of a Thai restaurant a few paras further along kept the spirits up, but that restaurant is now history: half torn down already and to be replaced by the inevitable 'Luxury' accomodation. So I had my lunch (and a very tasty Blacksheep) in Whitchurch, very near the end of the walk! A first for me.
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