🥾 Walk 57 - Wargrave and Bowsey Hill

Ten people came to Ian's walk on Thursday evening 4th July. It was a warm and pleasant evening with clear skies – ideal conditions for an evening walk.

We set off from Wargrave at 6:45pm and headed north along Dark Lane to the edge of the village. We followed the road past Wargrave Manor and then crossed a number of wheat fields and a golf course on our northward route.

We re-joined the road at Worley's Farm and followed it east until the next footpath, which took us south-east through a hedge-lined grove towards Crazies Hall, a large white manor house in the hamlet of Crazies Hill.

Back on quiet roads again we headed north-east to Cockpole Green and then on footpaths through a big stud farm on Knowl Hill Bridleway Circuit, where we turned south toward Warren Row.

Passing through the village of Warren Row, we headed south-west through woodland towards Bowsey Hill.

As the light faded, and with the extra cover of the trees sporting their summer foliage, the woodland took on a new character. It is quite easy to see why our ancestors didn't like travelling through woodland at dusk or at night. All sorts of creatures and sinister figures could be imagined when looking at the silhouettes of fallen branches and other woodland debris.

Every so often, there was a break in the tree cover and the evening sky seemed surprisingly bright. We got a glimpse of the sun setting over Lower Shiplake before we disappeared back into Boles Wood.

Finally emerging from the wood, we crossed familiar wheat fields and passed Wargrave Manor again on our way back to the car park where we'd started. We finished the walk at about 9:40pm, which was slightly later than the leader had anticipated, but the sky was still glowing with a navy blue.

With a choice of pubs in Wargrave, we stopped off at the Bull for refreshment before heading home. See the route of this walk on Google Maps.

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