Distance: 11km/6.6 miles around
Car Parking: Rye Farm Car Park
Public Transport: Didcot Parkway Station then Oxford Bus service 32 or 35A
Suitability: Difficult for wheelchairs or pushchairs as narrow bridges
Map Reference: OS Explorer 170 / SU 500 966 GB
Nearest Postcode: OX14 3XH
There’s a walk around the perimeter of Berkshire taking place next month in aid of Age Concern called Beating the Bounds. HRH Duke of Edinburgh and the High Sheriff of Berkshire will start it in Winsdor on 2nd May and it will end on 10th May, with walks each morning and afternoon. The walk is based on a custom for parishioners to walk the boundaries of a county, beating each of its corners with birch twigs, exchanging stories, sharing knowledge of where the boundaries lay and praying for protection and blessings for the lands. The Shire of Berkshire, which was once part of the Saxon Kingdom of Wessex, used to extend all the way up to the Thames source at Lechlade in Gloucestershire. In 1974, Prime Minister Ted Heath and Minister of Housing and Local Government, Michael Heseltine instructed County Councils to review their boundaries and recommend administratively efficient proposals. Berkshire agreed to transfer the whole of North Berkshire, one-third of the County, to Oxfordshire County Council in exchange for Henley. In the end, Berkshire lost Wallingford, Abingdon, Wantage and Faringdon and Didcot, but never actually gained Henley.
To mark this, this month’s walk starts in Abingdon, now in Oxfordshire, following the Thames to the east, before circling around and picking the river back up by Culham to return to Abingdon. Park in Rye Farm Car Park, just off of the A415 near Abingdon Bridge. Parking costs £2.30 for 4 hours which should be sufficient. From the car park, cut across the field to pick up the Thames Path on the south of the river. Follow the path to the east, passing where the Abbey once stood on the opposite bank.
At the weir, stay south of the river when the Thames path crosses to the north by the weir. The path hugs the river for the next mile or so, passing disused barges against the opposite bank and where the path veers away slightly to the right. There’s a small road bridge next to an information point in front of the remains of Swift Lock, the first pound lock, making the shallows of the Thames passable to larger craft, rather than flash locks.
Soon after this, you’ll need to cross two narrow footbridges. The second has been rebuilt under a tree trunk, but the first has planks missing so please be careful. Continue about another mile along the river to the edge of the field, where you’ll be able to see the railway bridge over the Thames through the foliage. Turn right and follow the path uphill along the field parallel to the railway lines, making sure you stay on the path rather than picking up the road.
After half a mile there is a footpath on the left which crosses the tracks. You can take this route, but be careful as the trains that use this line are the fast ones from London. It’s safer to talk to the sandy track signposted at the end of the field. Turn right here and you’ll pick up Thames Lane as the track turns into a tarmac road, where the distinctive chimneys of Didcot Power Station come into view on the left. The road turns left as it passes around the school into the village of Culham.
At the T-junction, turn right on the A415 and walk a short distance along the road to the Waggon and Horses pub on the corner. They sell Thai food and Sunday lunch if you want to stop there. Otherwise, walk down this road towards the car park by the bridge and pick up the Culham Cut here at the weir, which leads back down to the Thames again. You could choose to cross the cut opposite Manor farm and walk over the footbridges to the pubs in Sutton Courtenay, but don’t be tempted to walk into Culham to the Lion, as it’s closed.
From the footbridges, follow the Thames Path as it bends right around ninety degrees, heading north back to Abingdon. From here it’s a two miles stretch back along the river to the start. After a mile the path bends to the right towards the road and an old bridge. We were kept entertained by people trying to load a full-size Labrador into a rowing boat (not something I’d like to try with Chocky), argumentative canoeists and narrow boaters trying not to fall out as they feed the ducks.
Past the marina on the left, the town starts to build up on the opposite bank, but we stay in fields all the way to the bridge on the Thames Path side. Back at Abingdon Bridge you can hire a boat, go on a trip or buy an ice-cream from the Abingdon Boat Centre. Alternatively, you can drop into the Nags Head pub on the bridge, which has a lovely garden right on the river, and serves food from the BBQ hut outside in the summer. Or you could just stop and admire the view down river from bridge.
You can read more about the Beating the Bounds county walks at www.beatingthebounds.co.uk
Shireen Walker, 27th April 2009
