Eight of us decided to brave the gloomy weather on Sunday 27th November and met up in Finchampstead for an 8 mile walk. As happens quite often, the gloomy sky didn't turn to rain, except for a very brief sprinkle toward the end of the walk.
We set off along Nine Mile Ride, but very soon switched to Wick Hill Lane, which turned from a lane into a muddy track before long. This we followed until it joined another lane call Goose Green. This led us to Dell Road, which took us into the autumnal woodland of Finchampstead Ridges. There were some useful board-walks over the more soggy bits of ground, which had been installed many years ago by volunteers, one of whom was on our walk. We much appreciated Neil's handiwork.
Leaving The Ridges via Drift Lane, we then followed Lower Sandhurst Lane before entering Moor Green Lakes nature reserve. We headed south to join the path that runs parallel to the River Blackwater, which we followed westward for about a mile.
After crossing the B3016, our path curved northward back toward Finchampstead. A wide and muddy track took us to Longwater Lane, where a narrow footpath took us north to Finchampstead Sports Club. Here we stopped for our picnic lunch, using some of their benches that faced an empty cricket pitch. After lunch, we followed a footpath up the hill to St. James' Church.
Our leaders, Ann and Kathy, pointed out an oak tree planted 20 years ago for the golden jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and told us of another oak that had recently been planted nearby to commemorate her death. We continued northward to California Country Park, where we stopped at the café. Being such a mild day for the time of year, we sat outside with our hot drinks and cake, before circumnavigating Longmoor Lake.
A number of new paths have been laid in the park since our last visit. Elizabeth, who lives locally, said she would lead us through the new paths. We emerged on Gorse Ride near the junction with Nine Mile Ride and it was a short walk along these roads back to the car park. See our route on Google Maps.
Thank you to Ann and Kathy for leading this walk and Elizabeth for leading the final section.
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