Net Walking Time: ca. 3 ¾ hours, Toughness: 3 out
of 10, for the 16.0 km version.
Take either the 10.15 Didcot Parkway stopping service from Paddington (Ealing B’way 10.23, Reading 11.13) or the 10.33 Cardiff Central service and change at Reading (11.06/11.13), arrive Pangbourne 11.22. Return trains: xx.19 (from Tilehurst: xx.24). Shave off 15 mins by changing at Reading onto a fast train. Buy a Pangbourne return (but buy a Goring return if you are finishing there).
Take either the 10.15 Didcot Parkway stopping service from Paddington (Ealing B’way 10.23, Reading 11.13) or the 10.33 Cardiff Central service and change at Reading (11.06/11.13), arrive Pangbourne 11.22. Return trains: xx.19 (from Tilehurst: xx.24). Shave off 15 mins by changing at Reading onto a fast train. Buy a Pangbourne return (but buy a Goring return if you are finishing there).
Starting
on the West Berkshire side of the Thames, this short walk links three pretty Thames-side
villages via wooded ridges with splendid views. From Pangbourne you cross the river
on the delightful Whitchurch toll bridge into Oxfordshire and ascend through Whitchurch-on-Thames
and then some pastures to the highest point of the walk, with first scenic views
down some pretty combes. The route follows the part-wooded ridge above the
Thames Valley, with occasional splendid views of the valley and the Goring Gap
between the Chilterns and the Berkshire Downs, before descending through a
wildflower nature reserve and then leading along the valley bottom to
Goring-on-Thames for lunch.
In the
afternoon you return along the Thames Path Long Distance Trail, mainly through
the river meadows, occasionally framed by wooded hills, then up through Hartslock
Wood, and back down through Whitchurch and Pangbourne with its many tea
options.
A finish
in Goring-on-Thames, a modest extension in the morning, and a longer extension
at the end of the walk along the Thames to Tilehurst station are possible.
Lunch: 3 pubs and 2 cafés in Goring (8 km/5 mi), and one more pub
across the river in Streatley; check page
2 of the pdf for details.
Tea: plenty of options in Whitchurch-on-Thames and Pangbourne; check page 2
of the pdf for details.
For walk directions, map, photos, height profile and gpx/kml
files click here. T=swc.170
2 comments:
Intend going.
n=4, one of which bailed out at Goring to meet a friend, in alternating w=drizzle-and-rain-with-brief-dry-periods. Not many far views from the hills in light of the weather. A fully booked Miller of Mansfield, so much so that in the bar area only bar food was served, cue us ordering one of each food stuff on offer, tapas-style. There then ensued a long wait for coffees, as the machine was troubled, which eventually cost us the 16.19 train (at least the charge for the coffees was waived). Having time to kill until the next train, some went to The George, one other to The Swan...
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