# 🥾 Walk 155 - Kintbury and Hamstead Marshall

Seventeen of us went on Sue's walk on Sunday 26th April, which started from the car park between the canal and railway at Kintbury. We started by briefly following the canal tow-path to the west and then crossing the first bridge over the canal, heading south into Kintbury.

Crossing through the church yard and over the High Street, we left the village, heading south along a footpath through Titcomb, toward the hamlet of Inkpen. Passing a field in Inkpen, we were met with an unusual sight - a six-foot high walking boot in the middle of a field. I wouldn't want to meet the rambler that wears this boot!

From Inkpen, we headed east through farmland, woodland, and over many stiles. Sue had warned us that there were a lot of stiles in the first half of the walk. I counted twelve of them, but I may have missed one or two. We also saw quite a few bluebells and wood anemones along the way. The brief but colourful bluebell season was just starting.

![An unusual item to find in a field. A giant boot on Willow Farm.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume12/images/willow_farm_boot.jpg)

Soon we were in the woodland of Great Holt Copse, where we found a suitable spot to stop for our picnic lunch. Leaving the wood we crossed a couple of fields and arrived at Hamstead Marshal where we stopped at the White Hart for a drink. A very pleasant pub with flagstone floors and a log fire burning merrily.

Having slaked our thirst and warmed up by the fire, we set off in a north-easterly direction from the pub and were soon skirting Hamstead Park on our way back to the Kennet & Avon Canal. After a mile we arrived at the canal, crossed it at Hamstead Lock and then joined the tow-path, going west.

We followed the tow-path for a couple of miles until we reached the car park at Kintbury, where we had started the walk. See our route on Bing Maps.

![Walking through Hamstead Park on our way from Hamstead Marshall to Hamstead Lock.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume12/images/hamstead_park.jpg)

The public toilets at the car park provided a welcome relief for those of us affected by the combination of cold weather and beer!

![Crossing the Kennet and Avon Canal at Hamstead Lock.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume12/images/hamstead_lock.jpg)

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