Length: 20.3km (12.6 miles), or 15.6km (9.7 miles) with a lunch time short cut T=3.117
Toughness: 5 out of 10
9.30 (Bristol Temple Meads) train from Paddington to Reading, changing there (arrive 9.55, depart 10.12) for Aldermaston, arriving 10.25
From Ealing Broadway get 9.05 stopping service to Reading, arriving 9.50.
Buy a day return to Midgham (which is the station at the end of the walk, though it is situated in the village of Woolhampton).
For walk directions click here. For GPX click here. For a map click here.
Most of our Aldermaston/Newbury/Woolhampton walks explore the area to the south of the railway line: this one covers the area to the north. Other than that and that it has not had outing since March 2018, I don't know much about this walk, but the blurb says that passes through "an undulating landscape with some fine views over unspoilt countryside - the West Berkshire Downs, which are part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and consist of a mix of ancient woodlands, commons, fields and pretty villages with pleasant, historical pubs". Mention is also made of ancient water meadows which might be starting to have a nice display of buttercups by now.
There seem to be various options for lunch - read the walk's introduction page for more details. At the end of the walk if you have tea at the very nice canalside Rowbarge, leave good time to get to the station, as the barriers on the level crossing have an annoying habit of going down and staying down at just the wrong moment, usually because of a passing express to the West Country. This is not a problem if you stop at the Angel Inn, which is on the right side of the tracks.
Trains back are at 27 past the hour until 19.27, then 20.19, 21.16, 22.12
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I counted us and promptly forgot the number (8 or N=9 ) on a day that w=started-ominous-and-brooding-but-turned-sunny-later A pretty walk with spring in full swing and bluebells, stitchwort and buttercups in flower. Also, in the woodland approaching Bucklebury Common, orchids still to flower. Navigating through the reserve was a little unnerving. The hillocks are not that easy to see through all the verdure and, despite being open access, I think the directions could have led us along defined paths (there are some, as I discovered later) to avoid disturbing any ground nesters. That said, they were meticulous and did get me through. This walk has more than its fair share of large impressive oaks. You can’t walk far without bumping into one (metaphorically). I was slower than the others and might have taken a teensy shortcut or two, missing out the lunch pub. I understand that those that went there liked it. At the end, I went to the Angel which was OK, if a little unremarkable. The others went the Rowbarge which they must have liked because some missed the first train and stayed there, gassing. Did I mention the little baby lambs? There were some.
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