Just when the ground was starting to recover, the rain is back! This walk on Saturday 16th March came after a night of heavy rain. In fact it was still raining hard as I left home and there were a few flooded bits of road on the journey.
There was a certain look on the walk leader's face as we turned up to the empty car park. I think Jude was hoping no one would show up and she could go home! Instead there were five of us, clad in waterproof jackets and over-trousers, ready to go.
The walk first followed Streatley Hill down into Streatley village where we made our way to the towpath on the west side of the Thames. This wasn't as easy as it should have been as the footpath was underwater in places.
After some wading we got to the tow path, but that wasn't exactly dry either.
The rain had stopped by now and the sun was peeping through as we set off alongside the Thames on our way to Moulsford. This part of the Thames is quite picturesque and features a couple of locks (one at Goring and one at Cleeve). We stopped off at Cleeve lock for a quick snack and drink.
After our break, we squelched along the tow path to Moulsford. On our way we saw a hugh number of geese and also a heron. The towpath on the west side of the Thames stops at the Beetle and Wedge Boathouse restaurant - a rather up-market place. Needless to say, we didn't stop there in our bedraggled state!
We headed west, through Moulsford and out into countryside and farmland, where we stopped for our picnic lunch. A thoughtfully placed bench meant we didn't have to sit on the wet ground. From where we sat, we could see Thurle Down and Unhill Wood, both of which would be included on the second half of our route.
After lunch we continued west, crossing the A417 Wantage Road and through another farm before entering the plantations of Unhill Wood and Harcombe Wood, with their wide variety of different trees.
The rain started again but luckily the route through the plantation was mostly paved and gave a good grip for this uphill stretch of the route. The rain didn't last long. We emerged from the wood at Town Copse and turned east onto the ridge way path on the top of Thurle Down.
We followed the ridge way almost all the way into Streatley before turning off south, though the golf course, and back to the car park at the top of Streatley Hill.
After peeling off our wet and muddy over-trousers and changing into dry footware, some of us went to The Bull in Streatley for a post-walk drink.
This was quite an enjoyable walk despite the amount of paddling involved at the start. See our route on Google Maps.
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