Sunday 11th November was a gloriously sunny autumnal day; just perfect for our 9-mile hill and valley walk. Our party of twelve comprised nine regular members plus three locally-based walkers from the Goring ramblers.
Leaving the car park at the top of Streatley Hill, we immediately crossed Lardon Chase, taking time to admire the stunning views across the Thames to the Chilitern Hills, whilst dodging the grazing cattle. We descended Lough Down to reach the outskirts of Streatley where the group respectfully held two minutes’ silence for Armistice Day.
We crossed the Thames into Goring High Street, then over the main railway line to pick up the Chiltern Way before heading eastwards across the large Sheepcot Recreation Field. It was here we had a short coffee stop before ascending our first hill up into Great Chalk Wood, full of autumn colours.
A short downhill stretch followed towards Gatehampton before reaching Hartslock Nature Reserve and a steep stepped climb to its summit. The sunshine and wonderful views up and down the Thames made this the ideal stop for a relaxed lunch.
The second half of the walk started by following the muddy Thames Path back to Goring. We crossed the river back into Streatley and headed south through Common Wood to reach the National Trust land known as the Holies. A somewhat testing hill followed - with yet more grazing cattle - to get us back to the high ground on top of Streatley Hill with more glorious views, this time towards Reading.
A brief stretch of walking through the upper sections of Common Wood then saw us back to our start point. See our route on Google Maps. All in all a great walk, made all the better by the perfect weather conditions.
Thank you to Colin and Sue for leading this walk and to Colin for writing it up.
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