# 🥾 Walk 243 - Pangbourne and Sulham Wood

We had twenty people (plus a dog) for our walk on the first Sunday of October, including several newcomers and a few who'd come back for their second or third walk with us. That's always encouraging, but before I start blethering on about how popular our group must be, I should give credit to the weather. Saturday's weather had been wet and windy but today we had a crisp blue autumn sky with no wind and plenty of sunshine. Maybe that is what attracted everyone today.

We set off from the village hall car park in Pangbourne, making our way past the Co-op and down a narrow lane that opened out into fields by the River Pang. Turning away from the Pang, crossing some fields and a quiet lane, we headed for Sulham Wood and our first bit of ascent.

![Do I know the way - or does the dog know better?](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume18/images/further_moor_copse.jpg)

The path up into the wood was very steep (1 in 4) but steps had been provided and we stopped for a little rest at the top before taking the level path, north-east to Mosshall Wood. Following the curved edge of the wood, we then headed south across open fields and more woodland before turning sharply north-west and heading back into Sulham Wood.

We found a good spot to stop for lunch, where there were many fallen trees to use for seating. After lunch we headed out of the woods and westward into Tidmarsh, where we stopped off for a drink at The Greyhound. It was warm enough to sit outside - provided you got a seat in the sun. Luckily only one table was in the shade.

![Crossing a field between Sulham Wood and Tidmarsh.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume18/images/tidmarsh.jpg)

Fully refreshed we continued on our way, crossing the A340 to Pangbourne. We were only about a mile by road to Pangbourne, but that route would have been boring and too quick. So we went the picturesque way, around the edges of fields and through tree-lines footpaths and lanes that led us to Pangbourne College (an independent day and boarding school).

Crossing through the college, we then followed a quiet road before taking a footpath through fields and woodland, emerging onto the B329 Shooters Hill. We followed this busy road back into Pangbourne, walking along the pavement which is also part of the Thames Path at this point. See our route on Bing Maps.

![Stopping for a drink at <i>The Greyhound</i> in Tidmarsh.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume18/images/greyhound_tidmarsh.jpg)

*Thank you to Julia for providing the photographs for this write-up.*

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