Thirteen of us met up on Sunday 9th June to do the second part of the Wokingham Way. The weather was not quite as warm and sunny as the forecast had led us to believe, but quite pleasant weather for walking.
The walk started at Know Hill, where we had finished part one. We headed south across a golf course and then through farmland to the picturesque village of Waltham St Lawrence. After a quick stop in the village to divest ourselves of fleeces and coats, for it was warming up a little, we left on a footpath going westerly.
In less than a mile we were heading south again, through West End Farm and Bluey's Farm Polo Club. We caught a glimpse of some activity going on in a hedged field, which we assumed was some kind of practice event as there weren't any spectators.
Our route joined the B3018 heading east into the village of Shurlock Row, where we stopped at the Shurlock Inn for a pre-lunch drink. This is slightly unusual for us as we don't normally have a pub stop until later in the walk, but as we wouldn't be passing any other pubs on the route, and the pub had just opened, we went in.
On leaving the pub, we continued south, crossing farmland and the M4 motorway to Billingbear Park were we stopped in the shelter of some oak trees by a polo field for our picnic lunch. After lunch, we continued through Billingbear Stables and past the golf course, out of the park and on to the Straight Mile road.
Further road walking took us past Binfield Dog Rescue. It was open to visitors so some of us went in for a look and had a chat with one of the volunteers working there. I'm not really sure whether this was such a good idea, as I was quite saddened by the experience. All these dogs need new homes because they're unwanted or have been abandoned by their previous owners. Some had clearly been neglected or mistreated in the past and would need very patient care by responsible new owners, if they can be found.
Anyway, on with the walk. We followed a bridleway and then roads into Binfield, where we stopped briefly by a pond in a fairly modern housing estate. Moving on, we followed more roads out of Binfield and then a narrow footpath that passed a huge garden full of interesting sculptures. A dolphin, a crocodile and a hippopotamus are in and around the pond. Other parts of the garden contained a splendid statue of a stag, a miniature stone circle and various unusual wood-carvings. The garden was hedged in, but with occasional gaps where we were able to look in. (Don't worry. There was no one about to have their privacy spoiled by our curiosity.)
After the narrow footpath, we crossed a wide field to join a footpath that ran parallel to the slip-road off the A329(M) onto the roundabout with the B3408. Motorway signposts look enormous close up! A short walk along the dual carriageway of the B3408 took us to the end point at Coppid Beech.
The Wokingham Way was created last year by the Loddon Valley Ramblers group. It follows the boundary of the borough of Wokingham as closely as practicable, and is divided into ten sections. We have been doing two sections at a time and today we did sections three and four. You can see our route on Google Maps.
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