There was a rail strike on Saturday 25th June, which prevented or deterred many people from attending Ian's 10 mile walk from Bedwyn station. We only had four people on the walk. Ian doesn't have a car and all his walks start from railway stations, so I took a detour into Reading to collect him and drive him to the walk.
Apart from one heavy shower just before the walk started, the weather was kind to us and we had a very enjoyable walk in some lovely countryside.
Heading east from Great Bedwyn, we crossed fields and woodland, passing through the Polesdon Estate to the hamlet of Bagshot. Here we found a house that had recently been converted from a chapel.
Now heading south-eastwards, we cross more farmland and woodland of the Prosperous Estate, stopping at Mount Prosperous - a country house with beautifully kept walled gardens. The owners of which have kindly built a small publicly-accessible viewing platform to show off their efforts.
Next stop was the tiny village of Ham. Here we stopped at a picnic table on the green to have our packed lunches accompanied by a cups of tea from the local pub. After lunch we had a look inside the little church next to the manor house in Ham.
It was short distance to Shallbourne, where we have stopped on past walks at the Post Office and Bakery for tea and cake. We didn't stop this time, but pressed on to Newtown Farm, where we met a fellow teacher from Ian's school, who was marshalling a Duke of Edinburgh event. A short while later, we met some of the pupils who were taking part in the event and helped them with directions.
Returning to Great Bedwyn via Bedwyn Brail and Brail Farm, we crossed the canal and the railway line to emerge behind St Mary's Church. We popped in to this impressive church and had tea and cake, being sold to raise money for the church fund. Visiting churches, and finding places to stop for tea and cake are regular features of Ian's walks, but here is an example of us doing both at once.
Suitably refreshed, we finished the walk in the centre of Great Bedwyn. See our route on Google Maps. The 11.3 mile walk included 525m (1700ft) of ascent in total, so there was no guilt about our consumption of tea and cake. Some of us also went to The Three Tuns pub for a quick drink before heading home.
Thank you to Ian for leading this walk.
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