The first Sunday in September was a bit cooler than our recent weather, only peaking at 19 degrees Celsius instead of last week's 30 degrees! Nineteen was also the number of people on this walk, an extended version of a walk that Ann and Kathy had led before.
We set off from the car park on Finchampstead Road, headed along Nine Mile Ride and turned off into Wick Hill Lane. The lane gradually became a footpath through woodland and eventually back into a lane emerging on the B3348, which we crossed into Dell Road. After some descent, we left the road for a footpath through the woodland of Finchampstead Ridges. This winding path eventually brought us out on Lower Sandhurst Road, north of Moor Green Lakes.
A footpath took us south, between two of the lakes and onto the Blackwater Valley Path, which we followed westward, crossing the B3016 and then northward into Finchampstead. We stopped at the Finchampstead Sports Club, where we were able to use their benches to stop and have our packed lunches. (There wasn't a cricket match taking place, so we weren't in anyone's way.)
After lunch, we followed a footpath to St James's Church by the Queens Oak. This name refers to a tree in the green and is the name of the local pub. The oak tree that stands in the green now was planted in 2002 on Queen Elizabeth II's golden jubilee and replaces a tree that was originally planted in the same green in 1887 on Queen Victoria's golden jubilee.
We didn't stop at the pub this time, but instead continued our walk to California Country Park, where we stopped to tea, coffee and cake at the cafe. We did a loop around Longmoor Lake while we were there. Suitably refreshed, we left the cafe and the park and followed the road back to the car park from where we'd started. See our route on Google Maps.
Thank you to Ann and Kathy for leading the walk.
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