🥾 Walk 354 - Silchester and Pamber Forest

On Sunday 28th October, seventeen of us met up in the English Heritage car park near Silchester for an easy 6½ mile walk. There was a good mix of regulars, not-so-regulars, visitors from other groups and a couple of newcomers. We set off on a footpath that took us down to the remains of the city of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum.

Taking the footpath that runs along the top of the wall, stopping at the North Gate to look at the ruins and its information board, we continued until we reached East Gate. Here we stopped to look at the Roman Amphitheatre.

Next we passed the 12th century church of St Mary the Virgin, which is believed to have been built on the site of a Roman temple. There was a service taking place, so we passed straight through the grounds and into Manor Farm, where we saw some Alpacas grazing in a field.

Striking off through the centre of the site of the Roman town, we stopped to look at another information board, with an artists impression of what the place may have looked like in Roman times. In previous years, we've seen archaeologists from Reading University working away in these fields, but they've all gone now.

Leaving Calleva Atrebatum through the West Gate, we headed south, through Dicker's Copse, then south-west along quiet lanes to Early Bridge Copse and into Pamber Forest. We found an arrangement of logs to sit on for our picnic lunch stop before heading further into the forest.

Then we picked up the Brenda Parker Way, parts of which feature in many of our walks. This we followed through the forest until it emerged in Silchester village, by the Calleva Arms pub.

At this point, some of the group decided to head back to the car park along the Brenda Parker Way while the rest of us popped in for a swift drink before following on. See our route on Google Maps.

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