Ascent/Descent:
383m; Net Walking Time: ca. 4 ¼ hours
Toughness:
5 out of 10
Take
the 10.15 Cardiff Central train
from Paddington (change Reading
10.40/10.51), arrives Goring
& Streatley 11.05. The train from Reading is the 09.57 stopping
service from Paddington to Didcot Parkway (Ealing B’way 10.05 etc.).
Return
trains: 15.43,
16.13, 16.40, 16.44, 17.12, 17.40 …. (from 49 minutes journey time, if you change at Reading onto
a fast train). Buy a Goring & Streatley
return.
Leave
Goring with a pretty vista over the
Thames, before following the
Ridgeway path up on to the Downs. Lunch is at the excellent and cosy Bell
Inn. The route back ends with a steep climb and a lovely view over the Thames, before a steep descent, and re-crossing
the Thames into Goring.
The
posted (slightly longer) route goes via Streatley
Warren with its sensitive wildlife, access to it is only possible from November
to February.
Lunch: The Bell Inn in Aldworth [“The
Gateway to the Downs”] (Grade II listed, family-owned for over 250 years, Real
Ales only on the pump, accompanied by plain simple warm rolls, soup and
traditional puddings heated in the Aga; 8.6 km/5.3 mi, food to 14.30). There is
also The
Four Points Inn a little
off route in the same village.
For
walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml
files click here.
t=swc.17.a
2 comments:
Hope to see you there jfk
n=13 walkers in w=sunny-turning-overcast-to-some-degree weather. But no sign of jfk...
10 were tempted by the walk poster into exploring an alternative to the start: over and across Lardon Chase/Lough Down and thoroughly enjoyed it. Grand views back along the Thames Valley through the Goring Gap and then ahead towards Dorchester-on-Thames.
All 13 walked the long version as posted, up to and along the rim of Streatley Warren, then through the seasonal Open Access land at the top of the valley, again with superb views back down into the Thames Valley.
The lunch stop at The Bell Inn, stuck in a timewarp as it is, was a very convivial affair. Good to experience it mid-week, being far less busy than on a weekend.
4 took an unofficial shortcut in the afternoon, following Reading Road to cut out the lower end of the walk, some quiet and atmospheric woodlands. The rest encountered en route a shoot in full flow, and later saw the van carrying away their quarry, plenty of pheasants. A few more steep ascents followed and Streatley finally came back into view where - after a final steep descent from a magnificent viewpoint - 6 of us dived into The Bull Inn, a very cozy Marston's Pub, with a large fireplace, where we whiled away the wait for a convenient train. 1 of the shortcutters went to Pierreponts Cafe in Goring apparently, the rest went directly to the station.
The various parts of the group thus were spread out across the 16.13, 16.40 and 17.12 trains.
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