Walking in Berkshire
Walking in Berkshire
Price
£9.00
9: Streatley
Distance: 10½ miles/17km
Time: 3hr
Map: OS Landranger 174/Explorer 158 and 170
Start: Central car park in Goring (Grid Ref 600807)
Refreshments: The Bell Inn, Aldworth; various pubs and cafes in Streatley and Goring
Streatley and Goring are two riverside villages at cross-roads both ancient and modern. In prehistoric times the Ridgeway and Icknield Way converged at the Thames here as this point was the safest crossing point for miles either side. Today the Ridgeway Path and Thames Path cross at this point (the traveller walking the Ridgeway Path leaves the North Wessex Downs and heads north-east along the Chiltern escarpment here). The walk leaves Streatley and climbs up onto the Downs via the Ridgeway path before heading south-east to the villages of Aldworth and Ashampstead. The climax of the walk is the ascent of Streatley Hill, rewarded with spectacular views across the Goring Gap.
START: The central car park in Goring. The car park is pay-and-display. There is also limited free parking in a lay-by alongside a side road on the western edge of the village. Goring and Streatley station (on the eastern side of the village) is on the Reading to Didcot line. There is additional parking at the station too. There is no obvious parking available in Streatley. Streatley is reached from Reading by proceeding west along the A329, then turning right along the B4009, crossing the river into Goring.
From the car park in Goring, turn left to reach the High Street, then left again down to the river, crossing into Streatley (and Berkshire).
Goring and Streatley are popular in the summer months with day trippers strolling down to the bridge to admire the view of Goring Lock and to walk along the towpath for a few yards. The bridge provides you with the best view of the two villages with the wooded slopes of the Chilterns/Streatley Hill as a backdrop. At the main cross-roads in Streatley is the Bull Inn, an old coaching inn on the road between Reading and Oxford. There are various pubs in Goring, although as the walk is nearly 11 miles/18km long it is perhaps advisable to postpone sampling these hostelries until the end of the walk! St Mary’s Church, Streatley, has a fifteenth-century tower but the rest of the church was rebuilt in the 1870s.
Turn right along a track signposted ‘The Thames Path’ passing to the right of the church. Fork left at a public footpath sign, passing a recreation ground. Turn left along a drive to reach the main road. Turn right along this road, then left along Townsend Road, an unmade road with some large houses. At the end turn left along the A417 for a few paces, then sharp right along Rectory Road, joining the Ridgeway Path.
Rectory Road is a long but quiet lane leading towards the Downs. There is some local traffic, though, as there are some isolated cottages further along the lane. After passing the entrance to Goring and Streatley Golf Course you get your first glimpse of the Downs.
Ignore two footpaths going off to the left. At Warren Farm (the end of the bitumen) fork right, climbing steadily towards open downland.
If you look back as you reach the top of the rise, there is a fine view across the Thames Valley back to the Chilterns.
(A) At the top of the rise turn left along a track. Follow the track round to the right, to reach a lane. Turn left along this lane to reach the village of Aldworth. On entering the village fork left by the former Methodist Chapel (now a private house).
Aldworth is a pretty Downland village with some old cottages, a green with an old well and the Bell Inn. The church is to the south of the village. The well is still complete with its old cog wheels. It is 372ft/113m deep, the deepest in Berkshire, and was sunk in 1868 funded by the villagers. The Bell Inn is a superb back-to-basics pub. It serves a selection of beers. Inside, the decor is simple but there is an open fire in winter and a notice ‘No Smoking – You must be joking’ sign. That scourge of modern living, the mobile phone, is banned here!
On leaving the pub, head south along the lane signposted to Compton and Hampstead Norreys, past the village shop to reach the church.
The church is one of the finest in Berkshire on account of its fourteenth-century effigies. The church itself dates from the fourteenth century although the tower was built earlier. The effigies are monuments to the de la Beche family who lived in the manor house nearby until the fourteenth century. The effigies are known as the ‘Aldworth Giants’ due to their scale and the stature of some members of the de la Beche family. They lie either along the aisles, under elaborate canopies or upon tombs in the nave. They are unique in representing so many of an ancient family in such a small parish. In the churchyard is the tomb of Emily Sellwood’s parents. She was the wife of the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. Tennyson loved the village so much he named his Sussex cottage after the place. The churchyard also contains an old yew tree, of which only the base remains after the rest of the tree was blown down in a gale in 1976. King Alfred is reputed to have made bows from its wood.
Fork left at a grass triangle to reach the B4009. Turn left along this road, then right along a by-way when the road bends left. At the end of this track turn right along a lane. At the end of the wood on the right (just before the road bends left) turn right along a track into the woods. Further on, continue straight on at a cross-tracks across a clearing. A yellow waymark post confirms you are on the right of way. Later the track bends round to the right. Turn left down some steps to reach a lane. Further on, turn right up a track into the woods. (B) Follow the track round to the left at the top of the rise (there is a cross-paths here). Ignore a public footpath sign on the right and continue straight on past some pretty cottages in the village of Ashampstead Green. Where the lane bends right, turn left by a public footpath sign.
A short detour, continuing straight on along the lane, will bring you to St Clement’s Church. Inside are some thirteenth-century wall paintings showing the Annunciation, the Visitation (where an angel told Mary she was going to give birth to Jesus) and the Nativity (including the angels appearing to the shepherds).
Pass through the kissing gate and continue along the right-hand edge of a field. Turn right along a lane, then left at a T-junction. At a public footpath sign turn left into the woods. Turn right at a further public footpath sign along the top edge of the wood. The path later turns left and makes its way downhill to a lane. Turn right along this lane. (C) Turn left along a metalled track, climbing out of the valley. Continue straight on at the top of the rise. Where the track bends right turn left across the field to a waymark post. Follow the left-hand edge of the field for a few paces, then bear right across the field to the opposite side. Follow the right-hand edge of the field then cross the field to a wooden barrier at the entrance to a wood. Follow the path through the wood.
The earthwork alongside the path is Grim’s Ditch. These were marked boundaries in Celtic times. The name Grim’s Ditch is given to many such earthworks, which are associated with the Devil. These earthworks crop up all over the place in the nearby Chilterns.
On leaving the wood continue straight on along a lane. Where the lane bends left continue straight on along a smaller lane signposted to Southridge. Where this lane bends left turn right down the right-hand edge of the field to the wood ahead and on through the wood. Turn left by a public footpath sign in the dip. At the top, on leaving the wood, continue along the left-hand edge of the field to reach a lane. Turn right along this lane. Further on, the lane starts to descend. Ignore a by-way going off to the left. Where the lane bends right at the bottom bear left along a narrow path (by a public footpath sign). On leaving the trees turn left along the edge of the field to a lane in the valley bottom.
The scene ahead is a tranquil English landscape, the houses in the valley complementing the view. Ahead, however, is Streatley Hill, the challenging finale to the walk. The way ahead is visible – going straight up the hill!
Turn right along this lane, then left by a public footpath sign, alongside a fence on your right. The path then bends right (still between fences) to a stile. Bear left over this stile, following the well-worn path up Streatley Hill. At the top continue straight on along the right-hand edge of the field and over at a cross-tracks.
The top of Streatley Hill is owned by the National Trust as part of the Holies, an area of downland with walks and superb views. Along the top are some seats from which to admire the spectacular views of the Goring Gap – the villages of Goring and Streatley alongside the Thames, sandwiched between the North Wessex Downs and the Chiltern Hills.
After admiring the view continue straight on downhill. It is a steep descent and a trekking pole may come in useful. At the bottom turn left along the A329. At the crossroads by the Bell Inn turn right along the B4009, down the main street of Streatley, back over the Thames into Goring, retracing your steps back to the start.
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