🥾 Walk 136 - Crowthorne and Finchampstead Ridges

Eight of us gathered by Crowthorne station on Saturday 13th December for a nine mile walk around Crowthorne and Finchampstead Ridges. The weather was cold but sunny, with some frost lasting all day in shaded areas.

We set off on a footpath that followed the railway line to the south, and then crossed the railway line into some woods. We walked up the short but steep path to the top of Ambarrow Hill, a natural hillock once thought to be an ancient burial mound.

Our leader, Sue, had brought along some mince pies and mulled wine, in which we indulged at the top of the hill - a very pleasant form of refreshment on this crisp, cold morning.

This walk was a repeat of the first walk that Sue led for us, except that we weren't able to follow the intended route the first time due to flooding. This time we were able to follow the part of the route that took us along the Three Castles Path, past Horseshoe Lake and along the banks of the River Blackwater.

We stopped briefly to admire the Egyptian Geese that were congregating around Horseshoe Lake. Then we headed west on a footpath between the river and Moor Green lakes, with its sand and gravel works. Crossing the B3016 Longwater Road, we continued to follow the path that had been totally submerged when attempting this walk last February.

Passing through the outskirts of Finchampstead we arrived at the church on the hill, by which was a small green and a pub. We stopped on the green to eat our packed lunches before popping into the pub for a drink. There was a log fire with an vacant leather settee next to it. It wasn't vacant for long!

Suitably warmed and refreshed we continued north-east across fields and along footpaths, eventually looping round to the south again. Crossing the busy B3348 we followed a quiet lane down into a dip before heading up a footpath onto the pine-wooded Finchampstead Ridges, where we stopped on another hillock.

Here we finished the remaining mince pies and mulled wine while sitting on a bench in the afternoon sun. We continued our route, crossing Wellingtonia Avenue and taking another footpath north again, through woodland to Heath Pond.

Following the edge of the pond around, we completed our walk on a very slushy footpath (Heath Ride) that headed south-east back to Crowthorne followed by a short bit of road walking to the Railway Station. See our route on Bing Maps.

The sun was just setting as we finished and we all agreed that it had been an excellent walk. Opinion was possibly swayed by the mince pies and mulled wine - something we don't often get on our walks - but the winter sunshine definitely helped make the landscape look impressive.

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