# 🥾 Walk 235 - Fleet Pond and Pyestock Hill

We had nine people and two dogs on our walk on Sunday 31st July. This included three newcomers. Accessing the footpath via the car park, we followed this path as it squeezed between the northern edge of Fleet Pond and the railway station car park. Along the way were several jetties, some of them populated by anglers.

The path widened as the curve of the pond edge diverged from the railway and we entered the Fleet Pond nature reserve. We stopped to get a good look at the pond while one of our members fed a few ducks with some pieces of bread. Passing through the nature reserve, we entered the MoD access land.

![A view of Fleet Pond from the northern edge.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume17/images/fleet_pond.jpg)

Our route ran parallel to the railway before turning south and then west through mixed scrubland. Next we headed south-west and then south-east through a forestry plantation until we reached Pyestock Hill, where we had to cross the main road at an odd shaped roundabout built over the Basingstoke Canal.

We continued our route through more forestry plantation until we reached an open clearing where we stopped for our picnic lunch. A fallen tree provided seating. After lunch it was a short walk to The Foresters pub where we had a drink in their pub garden. The pub was quite dog-friendly, with water bowls outside and free dog treats available at the bar.

![Entering the Fleet Pond nature reserve.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume17/images/fleet_pond_walk.jpg)

Suitably refreshed, we left the pub and followed a wide track through the forest, emerging by the Basingstoke Canal. We walked along the towpath for about half a mile, dodging the many cyclists, before leaving it for a path that followed a stream back to Fleet Pond. This path took us through forestry plantation and more natural woodlands on its way.

We took a slight detour to what the locals jokingly call The Beach - a sandy strip at the edge of the pond. The dogs had a quick paddle but seemed unimpressed. We then followed a path that took us around the southern and eastern edges of the pond, back to the railway station. See our route on Bing Maps.

![Stopping for a drink at <i>The Foresters</i> pub.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume17/images/the_foresters_pub_garden.jpg)

## 📸 Back to Volume 17

Return to volume index