🥾 Walk 91 - Aldworth and the Ridgeway

Saturday 1st March saw twenty of us, including three newcomers, attend this short walk from Aldworth. In common with many walks this year, this one was thought up quickly to replace the scheduled walk at Aldermaston Wharf, which was still flooded. Nonetheless it was a very pleasant walk, helped in part by the fine weather, which gave that extra impact the local scenery.

Setting off from outside the Bell Inn, we headed north-west along Ambury Road, which led us out of Aldworth and up to the Ridgeway via Streatley Warren. The track crossing the top of Streatley Warren afforded fine views of the valley with a section of the Ridgeway on its northern edge.

Joining the Ridgeway, we headed east in the direction of Thurle Down and Streatley. This chalky track had frequent views into the valley and gradually descended until we reached a car park at the end of Rectory Road, leading to Streatley.

A signpost in the car park informed us how far we were from Overton Hill, near Marlborough, and Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire; these points being the start and end of the Ridgeway National Trail. Of the 86 miles of this ancient trackway, believed by some historians to be the oldest road in Britain, we only covered about 1½ miles on this particular walk, but other parts of the Ridgeway feature in many of our walks.

Turning off the Ridgeway before we reached Thurle Grange, we headed south-east along a well-established track that took us to the village of Westridge Green. This track had a gentle incline until we passed Kiddinton Cottage (farm) and then got considerably steeper as we approached Westridge Green. Stopping to regroup after the climb, we were able to see Streatley in the distance - for the only time on this walk.

After a short section of road walking through Westridge Green we were on a footpath that took back into Aldworth, where the walk ended, next to the Bell Inn. See our route on Bing Maps.

Needless to say, most of us stopped off at the pub for a post walk drink and the weather was still fine enough for us to sit outside, although now we'd stopped walking we needed to put all our layers back on!

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