Blog
We have created a page which brings together our short videos of some of our walks!
These videos give you an idea of what to expect when you come walking with us! You will see we walk in all weathers from warm sunny days to wet wintery walks.
Our videos showcase us at our best! Walking (and drinking with a good pub stop!)
You will see our walks vary in size, some walk we may only have 8-10 people but on some occasions we have had walks with nearly 40 people.
This is a great way for you to meet like minded people or if you are just starting out on your walking adventures.
If you want to watch these videos, they can be found on the ‘VIDEOS’ option on the menu.
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In the middle of July, a group of nine of us (including members old and new and associates from the Berkshire Weekend Walkers and the Oxon 20s & 30s Walkers) took a trip well beyond our borders to Pitlochry in Perthshire, organised by Claire B. Most of us stayed as a group in the very nicely-located Hostelling Scotland hostel in the town with other options nearby for those preferring an alternative.
We were extremely fortunate on both of the usual uncertainties on a Scottish trip: the weather and the midges. We only had two days out of six of poor visibility on the summits – one of which many of us spent on a very pleasant visit to the nearby Edradour Distillery, and the other of which we successfully climbed a munro in the mist anyway! On several of the other days we were on the tops in our t-shirts, and there was barely a midge to be found except on our first summit when there was hardly any wind…
Although mountains were a common element, the days were quite varied: a challenging walk over three of the Ben Lawers range on Sunday, our first full day, with some scrambling on the final ascent of An Stuc. We took the next day slightly easier, following the well-trodden path up Shiehallion. Tuesday was a more “interesting” ascent from a navigational point of view, and brought the warmer clothes and waterproofs out in force, as we were walking inside cloud from about 850m!
On the remaining days, the group divided according to different preferences, with some choosing longer multiple-summit routes and others preferring something less demanding. On Friday, our last in the hills, we were all able to meet on the descent having taken two different routes which was a nice way to finish.
As has become traditional on these kind of trips, we cooked and ate as a group at the hostel, with one or two people volunteering a recipe and cooking each evening. As well as avoiding everyone trying to cook at once, this meant we got to enjoy a wonderful variety of meals after each day’s walking! Amongst the many dishes, beetroot, risotto and crumble seemed to be common themes…
All in all, another thoroughly enjoyable BW trip away, only a little over a year since my first! Thanks to Claire for all her work organising this, and to everyone else who volunteered to lead walks and help in a variety of other ways to make a fantastic week. I’m already looking forward to the next trip (a weekend in the Wye Valley in September)!
— Zak (Membership Secretary)
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On Saturday 20th April 2019 we took part in our 2nd Berkshire Walkers litter pick. Our first one was back in October 2018 around Theale and was a great success. So we decided to host another one in conjunction with the ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ campaign which is currently running from 22nd March 2019 to 23rd April 2019 and being run by the ‘Daily Mail’ newspaper.
We were lucky enough to be joined by a Photographer from the Daily Mail newspaper too – he must have taken hundreds of pictures! So keep your eyes open as some of our photos which may appear in their articles.
This time I decided to hold our litter pick event around the village of Spencers Wood near Reading to help battle the problem of discarded litter we find on our walks and along footpaths.
We are seeing more and more litter being discarded along our footpaths these days. Firstly it’s unsightly and secondly it’s dangerous to animals. Why can’t people just put their litter into bins or even take it home with them…
On this very sunny Saturday morning we had 8 eager litter collectors part take in our walk from the Park and Ride in Spencers Wood. Amazingly we nearly filled 2 bags of rubbish even before we left the car park! We could have done our litter pick just in the car park but we headed out to the local footpaths!
Some of the litter that we collected ranged from empty drinks cans, plenty of plastic bottles, discarded food packaging (plenty of single use Coffee cups), cigarette butts and even items of clothing! (We found a jumper, leggings, socks and even someone’s discarded underwear…) All stuff that should be put into a bin (or kept on) and not chucked into the nearest hedge or verge!
As we meandered our way along our walk we were picking up discarded dog poo bags. You have spent the time picking up…why not take it home instead of throwing it into the nearest bush.
The further away we got from the built up areas we noticed the quantity of litter decreasing but as we headed back towards civilisation we noticed the quantity of litter starting to increase again unfortunately. We could have been out all day collecting discarded rubbish and still not have picked it all up!
I’m very pleased to say there are now parts of Spencers Wood which is a little bit clearer of litter thanks for the efforts of all these wonderful people who took their time and effort into helping to tidy up a small part of our countryside.
Always remember to take your rubbish home with you. As a regular member of our group always says ‘You should leave the countryside as you found it!’
I’m pleased to say that 7 full bags of unthoughtful peoples discarded rubbish has been collected today and safely deposited to my local dump to be disposed of in the correct way.
Jason Owen
Publicity Officer
Berkshire Walkers
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In November we were asked by The Ramblers if our group would like to participate in a festive publicity photoshoot…
Of course we jumped at the chance and said YES! We love an excuse to go for a walk wearing Christmas jumpers in November and to have our photo taken!
Below are just some of the photos from that fantastic walk around Pangbourne! It was a truly great walk with lots of laughs.
You may even see some of these photos on the Ramblers festive publicity material!
Keep an eye out on social media, press or the Ramblers website for our faces!
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On Sunday 21st October 2018 I had organised the Berkshire Walkers first litter pick walk. I wasn’t sure how many people to expect as this isn’t one of our usual walks but I was pleasantly surprised to have 16 lovely people attend.
After issuing litter pickers, gloves and big blue litter bags to the keen walkers, we started off on our 5 mile walk around Theale. With the beautiful autumn sun shining on us we weren’t sure what we would find ahead of us.
Our competitive streaks were starting to show as soon as we started, people were dashing off in different directions looking for anything that had been discarded by thoughtless individuals.
Shortly after leaving the train station we came across our first haul of discarded litter. We could have spent ages here picking all this discarded rubbish but had to admit defeat and continue otherwise we would have filled up all our bags!
As we meandered our way through the streets of Theale picking up litter which had been discarded at the roadside or under hedges. We were starting to realise the scale of the problem we had ahead of us. We were less than a mile from the start and we had picked up the equivalent to 2 big blue bags of rubbish.
We were picking up the usual rubbish like empty drinks cans, discarded food packaging, cigarette butts and even household items. There was even a discarded shower cap (how did this become discarded beside the road!).
When we stopped for lunch in a field beside the M4 the main topic of conservation was to do with the quantity and variety of rubbish we had already collected. Bearing in mind we had already left 2 full bags of rubbish by the roadside for me collect with my car. We then left another 6 bags in a strategic place for me to collect after the walk.
We are only half way round on this walk by now! This scale of the litter problem was starting to become apparent now. Some parts of the walk we didn’t find any litter which was quite relieving to see but this wasn’t until we were further from Theale and deeper into the West Berkshire countryside.
As we started to approach civilisation again the litter started to appear along the sides of the paths. We were coming across the usual discarded items which could easily be recycled or put into a bin! Why don’t people just take this rubbish home with them!!!
Once we reached our final destination (a pub in Theale – we do like to refresh ourselves at a local pub). We were all shocked at the quantity of litter we had collected; by now it was 11 bags of rubbish.
Everyone was commenting at how much a success our first litter pick walk was. I think I’m unanimous in saying that we will be doing this again in the future! Our efforts across our 5 mile route around Theale have now made this small part of West Berkshire a little bit clearer of litter!
My thanks goes out to everyone who attended this unusual walk to make this the success it was!
Jason Owen
Publicity Officer
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After nearly 2 years walking with the BW’s, this weekend I was finally brave enough to lead my first walk.
After waking up on Saturday morning and finding it raining, I thought this may put people off coming walking. Little did I know the weather would ease and 17 people (including myself) would join me on my first successful walk from Midgham Station as a walk leader. It was great to see some new faces on my walk.
We negotiated a short sharp hill at the start which got people’s heart rates up!
We meandered our way along some beautiful (some slightly muddy) footpaths through the Berkshire countryside and made our way up to Chapel Row near Bucklebury.
Once we arrived at Chapel Row the group had a choice….Pub or Cafe!? (Giving options is always a difficult decision for some people in the group). Here the group were to split with some enjoying a cold pint while others enjoyed a hot chocolate and a slice cake!
Once fully refreshed with beer and cake we started heading towards Bucklebury Common to start our trek back.
Strolling through the woods we could see the bluebells starting to arise from their winter sleep. If this walk was in a couple of months time the woodland floor would have been a carpet of beautiful blue flowers.
As usual for one of our wintery walks we came across some wet and muddy areas which this group of hardy walkers negotiated excellently! There was a couple of screams and squeals as a boot or two disappeared for a second into a black muddy whole but overall sucessfully negotiated with not too many wet feet.
Finally, once arriving back at the start, in great BW tradition we headed off to the pub (again). After saying goodbye to a couple of people we headed off with our muddy boots to The Rowbarge pub for another well earned drink. Here we all huddled near the open fire and chatted about the walk and discussed about the exciting activities/trips the group has coming up this year.
I have learnt so much over the last couple of years as a Rambler with the BW’s. Listening to other walk leaders and how they lead walks, I didn’t realise how much information I had taken in. With having the leadership days, map reading walks and map social events these all helped me with gaining my confidence on how to lead my first walk.
I’m now busily scouring OS maps looking for where to lead my next walk! If you haven’t led a walk yet…speak to other walk leaders who have and they can help you with organising your first walk. They will even help you reccy your first walk!
It’s such a great sense of achievement knowing that these people on your walk have come along firstly because they want to go walking, meet people and socialise (and likely go to a pub or 2).
Thank you to everyone who came along and I’m sure I will be leading a walk in the not to distant future!
Jason Owen
Berkshire Walk Leader (I can now say that!)
Publicity/Website Secretary
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Maharajah’s Well, Stoke Row – Walk Leader, Dan Harris.
As usually is the way, as walk leader I tend to spend quite a bit of time in the day or two leading up to one of my walks checking the forecast. In my latest venture, I saw that there was outside chance of some sleety/snowy stuff and high probability of some rain. It was therefore to my complete utter surprise I woke up on the Sunday, pulled back the curtains and saw a complete blanket of snow covering the streets of Caversham where I live. As the walk leader I had to make a judgement call whether to cancel the walk or not, especially having seen the forecast it was very probable there would be lot more snow on the walk, starting from Stoke Row to the north of Reading. In the end I went with it and so glad I did.
Nine of us gathered outside Maharajah’s Well having carefully negotiated our way slowly along the Stoke Row road. On arrival we started speaking to a local who had informed us that the village was out of power. This was apparently due to branches from a number of trees falling down due to the pressure by the amount of snow that had fallen in the preceding few hours. Although I had offered the walk to the Berkshire Weekend Walkers the entire attendance was
made up of our group.
Numbers would be increased later in the walk to eleven as a couple of people travelling in same vehicle were making steady progress but somewhat delayed and knowing that they had a map we agreed to start the walk, with their agreement as soon as possible.
Marharajah’s Well itself is an incredibly ornate structure built in the nineteenth century to supply the villagers with much needed water. It was funded by the Maharajah himself having somehow got wind of the plight of the desperate need for the village to have running water. It is a story well worth checking out if you have the time.
With a few of us taking a photo or two of the well, we were off. This 7-8 mile circular hike headed off down Coxs’s Lane and Stoke Row Farm before branching off to open fields. It was quite noticeable from this early stage that we would have a few obstacles to overcome; principally fallen down branches and small trees. This was a very rare experience for us of walking in thick snow; it enabled us to stop and pause briefly for something us BW’s don’t partake in too often, a snowball fight! It was quite tiring so we didn’t stop for long. The route took us up to English Lane and then we headed westerly at English Farm. At one point it was noted that not a soul had walked these fields that morning as the snow fell was completely unbroken.
Despite one or two minor navigational alarms we continued along occasionally pausing for a prerequisite photo opportunity. Having progressed though Little Common and Bixmoor Wood we soon stopped for what turned out to be lunch stop number one. I was aware the other two people were planning to meet us a little further along the route so did not want to pause for too long. I had hoped we would be rewarded with pleasant views of the valley but alas the mist was not being kind to us. Not to worry, we carried on and as we made a descent towards Well Place, we saw the other two coming towards us in the opposite direction.
Pausing briefly, they joined us and retraced some of the footsteps they had already made. According to my OS Map there is a “Zoo” at Well Place but all we saw was a donkey. Given the snowy weather you would have thought it to be ideal conditions for a penguin or a polar bear?!
I had warned the group we had a steapish climb to overcome and without complaint we tackled it including saying a hello to a few friendly cows. Yes, they do exist! The route got slightly trickier at this point as the footpath was briefly quite hard to pick up. Indeed, on my reccy I went in the wrong direction for a brief moment or two. No alarms on the day. However, what I didn’t expect us to have to deal with is potential hazards from above. As we traverse the footpaths in Braziers Common we heard the eerie sounds of a branch breaking from way above us maybe ten metres ahead of us. It stopped us in our tracks. Although the branch itself did not come down there was a plume of snow which we just avoided.
Before long we arrived at the pub, one
of my favourites, the Black Boy in Checkendon. On arrival we were greeted by darkness in the pub with people supping their pints over candlelight. Power had still not been restored to the village. Unusually for us not only did we stay inside for our drink there was sufficient availability for us to sit down in the room at the back, a room I was not aware that had existed. It was slightly unusual scene with us sitting in a circle, a couple of toddlers walking in to say hello and the lights flickering on an off.
It was not long before our epic snowy walk concluded and certainly one which I will remember for a very long time to come.
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From time to time it is nice to try out different ideas when planning a walk other than the regulation circular walk. One issue we find at times is trying to satisfy the wishes of all our membership; some people prefer shorter walks, others longer and some like to have a lie in on their Sunday morning! These boxes can all be ticked by planning a double loop hike whereby we return to the start point of the first loop meaning people have the option of bailing out if they wish and as I submitted the two loops as separate walks others could opt in. I like to encourage this idea and so offered the walks to our friends and neighbours the Oxon 20-30s Ramblers group to see if it may inspire people in that group as well as our group to replicate the idea.
My choice of starting point was the popular location of Goring, situated right on the Oxfordshire Berkshire border. To be precise Goring is in Oxfordshire and the first loop would be in this county. The weather was pretty much as perfect as could be for a winters day; cold, fresh and very still with unbroken sunshine. It remained cold enough for the mud to remain frozen over which was perfect early on as it would have otherwise been rather muddy. My route took us past the dwelling of a sadly recently departed celebrity, the floral tributes were plentiful and on to the Thames Path. For some in the Oxon group this bit of the walk would be familiar as their group have been tackling the whole Thames Path in its entirety, completing this stage fairly recently.
Numbers in the walk were naturally very high due to the good weather and the fact we had two walking groups. If memory serves we were at around forty two for the morning loop. During this Thames path stretch I was prepared to let the group spread out with me leading, at times, from within the group rather than at the front. Before long were to leave the national trail behind us and up a short climb for our first drink stop overlooking the Goring valley. The regulars in the Berkshire group would be familiar of the view here as it always makes for the perfect lunch stop for walks leading out from Pangbourne.
We carried on steadily making a gradual incline passing Upper Gatehampton Farm and a field of impeccably behaved cows – we like that! – And on into Great Chalk Wood. Come here in late spring then you would witness the majesty of bluebells in full bloom. It wasn’t too long that I temporarily forgot my bearings and had to pause to establish the precise route. It turned out I had veered slightly off the path in the woods but it was not too long before we were back on the track.
The morning loop was heading to its conclusion. We were rewarded with more nice views as we left the woods and took to the footpath that runs parallel to the Reading Road and back to the start point via a recreation ground. The only snag of having the second walk was that I was slightly weary of the time. We were going to be late, I knew that, but I didn’t want the delay to be unreasonable for anyone waiting for us. We were slightly delayed in starting the walk but we arrived back at 12.15pm, some fifteen minutes later than planned. Not too bad I thought.
I didn’t want to delay the afternoon walk so without further ado we said cheerio to a few people and hello to a view others. Numbers were now at 40. I made an amendment by ensuring back marking duties were carried out by someone else. At this point I had received a few requests for a visit to the restroom so progress was slowed by a passing visit to a nearby car part. Not so bad if there are a few of us but naturally with high numbers we had to be patient.
The route this afternoon (7 miles) would be mainly in Berkshire, initially starting in the same direction as loop number one and passing the flowers again. However, rather turning left along the Thames Path we carried straight on over the bridge and into Streatley. At the t junction we could see damage to a building as lorry and got “wedged” some time last year causing a significant damage to the property.
I had another of my minor navigational missteps as failed to locate the path. I had initially thought it was next to the other side of the Youth Hostel. It had meant that I had got the whole group – the whole forty of us – to cross the road unnecessarily! Ah well. Before long progress was being made as we climbed the steep hill. My original plan was to stop for lunch at the top overlooking the views of the valley but as that was entirely in shade we paused for photos only and headed on to a sunnier spot. In fact, the location we picked was perfect as we parked ourselves onside of a hill overlooking the views of the rolling fields. Although it was not warm, it was not that cold either and for me it was a quite perfect moment to relax, reflect or chat for twenty minutes or so.
Before we continued on we said goodbye to a couple who retreated back the way we had come bringing numbers back down to thirty eight. It was hard to gauge which group was better represented but possibly Berkshire edge it in the morning with the Oxon ahead in the afternoon. There wasn’t much in it.
We descended down the hill where we ate our lunches past a small farm, soon picking up a frost heavy footpath and then carefully picking up the path that took us through woods briefly and onto the quiet country lane. This tarmac stretch would last two or three kilometres. One person pointed out the whereabouts of a rather lovely hostelry located not too far away but I was not be deterred from my planned route!
Eventually we arrived at the hamlet of Westridge Green, pausing for a drinks stop as soon as we left the road. The next mile or so was rather lovely as we traversed through the Berkshire countryside with everyone seemingly enjoying themselves. This particular bit can be shortened to make for a rather splendid evening walk as I can recall from a couple of years ago.
The final leg of today’s adventure was slightly tedious as it was over the road that took us back into Streatley and then Goring. Indeed at one bit we had to take care as the surface was rather slippery. Thankfully there were no accidents.
I brought the walk to a conclusion in Streatley providing details on how to return to start point; it was maybe a half mile walk through the villages. As we walked through the villages those that wished then split to head for refreshments via either one of the pubs or cafes. I myself took the opportunity to have second pint while I waited for the train home however it has to be said as the sun begun to set it was getting a bit nippy as we sat outside in the pub garden.
Interesting factoid, the afternoon seven mile loop required the use of three 1:25000 OS Maps. This is quite unusual for a relatively short walk. Anyway, here’s to more double (maybe a triple?) loop walks in the future. We reckon we managed to get least fifty people out walking today proving it could be successful format.
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The Berkshire Walkers said farewell to 2016 with much to look back on with no less than three trips to Wales; a week in the north with enough attendees (sixteen) to occupy two cottages; a cold weekend to Brecon in April, while our group was represented by a lone Berkshire Walker to the Young Ramblers Weekend Away in Cardiff. All trips were well organised aided by unexpectedly decent weather in each trip. Not only that, we had an extensive range of walks spread across our region and on occasions slightly beyond. Perhaps a couple of the highlights for us were “Cow Parade” in the Surrey Hills in August and a joint picnic with neighbouring Young Ramblers Groups in June. To add to all that we had our usual range of socials from pub meets to quizzes, punting, wildlife safari and culminating with the Christmas Ceilidh at the end of the year.
So what will 2017 have in store for us? Who knows? The programme is slowing filling up with a Film Festival, games afternoon, pie night, Laser Quest, a few walks now on the programme with one or two weekends away now in the planning stages.
It is up to the members of the group to decide what to include on our programme so please get involved if there is something we should do or need to be doing. Although we are guided by the elected Committee to represent the group there is nothing to stop any individual from getting involved in some small way. Have a chat to any of the Committee on any walk or social with any ideas or suggestions.
We have started the year in fine style with well attended walks on all three weekends so far which has included new members turning up in all instances. Fourteen of us enjoyed the winter sunshine on our first walk of the year from Wargrave. A record breaking 39 attended our designated “New Members Walk” from Twyford despite the dreary weather. A further 21 showed on our Maidenhead to Eton stroll that included a café stop en route and culminated in with a pub social at the walks conclusion. We said cheerio to half the group but the rest of us relaxed and socialised into the early evening and tucked into some group.As the days start to become longer, we start to anticipate the arrival of the daffodils, the bluebells and of course the return of the warmth.
Enjoy your walking.
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Our latest expedition with the Berkshire Walkers came a day after our Christmas Ceilidh celebrations. Although not much drinking was necessarily done the night before, the issues we had was whether our limbs would be in full working order after a nights barn dancing. The answer was that thirteen of us turned out for the walk of which ten of us had indeed fully (ish) recovered from the previous night’s excitement.
The morning did not start too well as some delays on the trains had a knock on effect on our departure from Reading meaning we were ten minutes late or so at the meet point at Newbury station. Warning of our delay was forwarded to our walk leader today, our cheerful and newly elected Membership Secretary, Naomi. Naomi likes to make it known she likes wearing pink and loves penguins. We saw the pink today but not the penguins. However the penguin jumper was worn the previous evening!
Once we had gathered outside Newbury station we headed off through the town centre. We stopped briefly for one person to buy some lunch but with out too much delay we headed out along the Kennet and Avon canal. The initial stretch repeated what we did back in September, picking up the Lamborn Valley Way but where that walk took us towards Speen and Bagnor this time we were heading further west. I must admit there were several bits today that I hadn’t traversed before so I was especially pleased to have made the walk. Naturally throughout the early stages much of the conversation centred on the previous nights celebrations. It was a struggle for me to try and remember who I partnered up with during the evening I have to say as I managed to dance with a different partner each time.
We soon had the make our way under the busy A34, a major road artery of England. Thankfully there was a suitable underpass which made navigation trouble-free for us. Striding on, we did have a slightly hairy bit of footpath that ran alongside the A4, another industrious road which connects Central London in the east to Avonmouth in the west. We took care in single file and before long ensuring our safety was never compromised we crossed to over to the welcome sanctuary of the woodland to the west of Benham Park.
A few of our tummies were starting to grumble at this point so as soon as we left the woods behind us and entered open countryside there was no hesitation in settling down what was to become lunch stop number one. The views here were dazzling, aided by the autumnal sun that was beating down. For me, when it is sunny November is possibly one of the most rewarding times of the year to be out walking and we certainly were not disappointed today.
Our brief stop completed, we descended down through Benham Stud and then the hamlet of Marsh Benham classified as being within the civil parish of Speen. Before long we stopped at the peaceful Hamstead Lock for lunch stop number two. Having two lunch stops can be a good choice for any would be walk leader especially if you are spoilt for choice for where to pause to eat (as in this instance) or if a walk is off a high mileage maybe.
Snacks eaten our walk leader took us through a stretch of a walk that we had done a year or so earlier, the beautiful Hamstead Park. On that occasion we had arrived at this point from the starting point of Kintbury. A previous blog of mine will tell you on that walk one of the members in our group had rescued an upside down sheep, if she hadn’t done the sheep would have suffocated. Whilst that walk took us west, we carried on here pausing briefly at a stone which had been laid as a tribute to 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment; they had set up camp here in June 1944 in preparation for the D-Day Landings at Normandy.
As we continued on it was noted that at this fairly exposed spot one or two of the trees had taken a battering by the weather gods over the years. As we arrived at Enborne, another quick stop was had as we had a peek inside the 12th century parish church. Okay, it is 12th century in origin. A few of us donated a few coins before we continued on with our walk to its conclusion.
The final stretch took us through some more rolling countryside with care being taking to avoid treading in various animal deposits along the way. Before long we approached Newbury with the walk leader wrapping up proceedings near the railway station where the day’s adventure began several hours earlier. A few people left us, while the others stayed on for a couple of drinks in two different hostelries making sure we could make the 4.30pm departure back home.
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