We will meet outside the Three Tuns Pub on the Wokingham Road by the number 17 bus stop. The number 17 bus comes from Tilehurst via Friar Street in the centre of Reading. The 13.40 bus from Friar Street arrives just before the start of the walk, see https://www.reading-buses.co.uk/ for further details. Alternatively you can take the 1.24 train from Reading train station to Earley station which is about a 20 min walk from the start of the walk. Parking is in the local roads off the Wokingham Road or on University of Reading campus- there are no parking restrictions on a Sunday.
This short walk will take in the residential suburb of Earley. Once quiet agricultural land, the past century has seen Earley’s population increase from 438 people in 1901 to over 33,000. This walk will include 2 lakes and some of the quiet residential roads in Earley. We will start by heading into Whiteknights Park, the main campus of the University of Reading. We will head past some of the halls of residence towards Whiteknights Lake. We will then head through “the Wilderness” and down Beech Lane towards the Maiden Erlegh Nature Reserve. We will head round the lake and through the nature reserve. We will then take a different route back to Whiteknights Park and then back to the Three Tuns where we will pop in for a post walk drink.
This walk is on a mixture of pavement and gravel paths. Boots are not needed although the paths may be muddy depending upon recent weather.
Sat Nav: RG6 1LT or 51.4425 -0.9316
Grid Ref: SU743720