Six of us, (five regular members of BWW and a new member trying out the Ramblers for the first time) met by the village green in Finchampstead for this short 5.25 mile walk. Heading south from St James' Church, we soon came across our first woodland with a wonderful carpet of bluebells; these were looking even more spectacular than they were on the pre-walk.
After crossing over the main road through Finchampstead, we went west, walking along the edge of Fleet Copse and enjoying much birdsong on the way.
We then made our way north to California Country Park; the route taking us along well defined paths, the majority of which were bordered by a pretty mix of bluebells and stitchwort.
During the pre-walk, a pair of swans had been spotted building their nest on a small pond just by the main lake at California Country Park and it was wonderful to see that two cygnets had recently hatched. We spent time admiring the young family before walking round the lake where there were plenty of Mallard Ducks, Coots, Moorhens, Canada Geese and a Great Crested Grebe.
On leaving the lake, we headed south back towards the village of Finchampstead to enjoy refreshments in the garden of the Queen's Oak pub and make the most of the glorious sunshine. Originally called The White Horse, the pub was renamed after Queen Victoria planted an oak tree on the village green opposite the pub. It is apparently the only pub in the country to be called the Queen's Oak.
The weather forecast for the morning had looked somewhat miserable with a 98 percent chance of rain, but we were extremely fortunate and only saw a very light shower throughout the walk.
Thank you to Sue from leading this walk, for writing it up and for providing the photos.
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