🥾 Walk 66 - Mortimer Mystery Walks

Sunday 1st September saw a collection of 20 walkers of varying experience, waiting with anticipation for the start of a very different kind of walk. Lee, the Chairman of the Berkshire Walkers 20s & 30s group, had come up with a challenge for us. He had designed a pleasant figure-of-eight walk around Mortimer but was not going to lead it. Instead he had prepared a set of clue sheets for us and we were going to navigate ourselves around the walk!

The clue sheets contained a set of photographs taken at significant points along the route, but the photos were not in chronological order. The clue sheets also contained set of instructions describing each turn and junction on the route, but these had been jumbled up and mixed with some instructions for a different walk!! We split up into four groups, each with a mix of map reading and photographic observation skills to take on this challenge.

After a bit of head-scratching the group I was in set off from Mortimer Station and headed up to the roundabout at the end of Station Road. In amongst the jumbled instructions there was an instruction to turn right at this roundabout, but we also found an instruction to turn left! Hmm...!

We could see two of the other groups ahead of us and they had turned right, although one of the groups had now stopped and were in a huddle over the clue sheets. Should we follow them or use our heads? Following other groups is cheating and there's no guarantee that they know what they're doing anyway, so we used our heads. After looking at the other clues we realised that the walk must be mostly around Mortimer village, and turning left at the roundabout would be the most direct way of getting there, so that's what we did.

In the meantime, Lee was riding his bike around the route, checking up on the groups to make sure none of us were seriously off course. We got as far as the church at Stratfield Mortimer before Lee called us on the mobile phone to ask where we were. A short conversation soon revealed that we were in the wrong place and therefore the instruction to turn left at the roundabout was one of the false clues!

Retracing some of our route and taking a small short-cut back on to the correct route, we were now last in the running order. The remaining clues began to make a bit more sense and we followed the route to Wheat's Farm. We took a wrong turning at a crossing of footpaths in the farm, but soon realised our error and were back on track heading toward Mortimer village.

On route we saw a path across a field that looked very similar to one of the photographic clues. All of my group stopped and studied the landscape and the photo. They were very similar, but something wasn't quite right about the telegraph poles crossing the field. Our suspicions were confirmed when we saw one of the other groups coming toward us along the path we were about to take. They had obviously tried it after looking at the same photo and it had turned out to be incorrect.

At the same time, one of our group excitedly exclaimed that she could see one of the other photographic clues at the entrance to some woodland further along the path we were already on. Result! We were on track and weren't at the back any more. We continued following clues and spotting photos with varying degrees of confidence and doubt, but mostly following the intended route around Wokefield common, and frequently coming across the other groups on the way.

Around 12:30pm we were feeling peckish and decided to take a lunch stop. Finding a dell by the woodland path we were following, we sat down and started on our packed lunches. As the other groups passed us, they looked at us and then at their maps with puzzled expressions. One group followed us into the dell only to head back out again after checking their map. This didn't make sense to us until later...

After lunch we continued interpreting clues and making our way along the route until we came upon all the other groups eating their picnic lunches together with Lee. He asked what had kept us. When we said we'd stopped for lunch he pointed out the clue that the other groups had obviously seen, which mentioned a location for the lunch stop. That explained the quizzical looks we'd had earlier.

In pole position, we continued navigating our way to the pub stop while the others finished their lunch. The route took us through Mann's Farm and back to field with the telegraph poles that we'd studied earlier. From this side of the field the photo was a perfect match!

We were the first group to reach the pub, where we found Lee waiting for us. The other groups weren't far behind and once we'd all got our drinks, there was much discussion between the groups. Most people said that they found it quite difficult to start with but it became easier and more enjoyable as they got into it.

Drinks finished and notes compared, we left the pub for the last section of the walk. This took us south of Mortimer and then east to Stratfield Mortimer, passing the church that my group had passed going the other way when we'd taken our first wrong turning. It was a straightforward journey back to the start point at Mortimer Station.

It was interesting to see that different groups had made different mistakes through the day. This shows how meticulously the planning of the whole exercise had been. (If there had been flaws in the clue sheets then we'd all have been making the same mistakes!) This enjoyable day out has helped many of us improve our navigation and teamwork skills.

Our thanks must go to Lee for putting in so much effort into the planning of this instructive walk and let's hope that people who haven't led a walk yet will now have more confidence in navigating country footpaths, getting lost and getting un-lost again. I would also like to thank Claudia for providing the photographs.

I've been experimenting with using Bing Maps instead of Google Maps for a change. This allows you to see the route on an Ordnance Survey map. See my group's route on Bing maps. Try zooming in and out to change from Landranger to Explorer OS maps. Also try the Bird's Eye and Aerial views.

📸 Back to Volume 5

Return to volume index