# 🥾 Walk 562 - Old Burghclere, Sydmonton and Ladle Hill

Saturday 25th February didn't look too promising. It was windy, grey and only 4°C, with a 25% chance of rain. Nonetheless, eight of us gathered in the car park by Beacon Hill near Highclere for a walk that promised hills, views and snowdrops, even if it didn't promise good weather.

I made up this walk from footpaths I knew, footpaths I didn't know and a few quiet lanes to join them all up. I'd pre-walked the route on the previous weekend but found the last part of the walk to be very uninspiring, so I decided to modify the route.

Not having had time to try the new route, which now contained paths I hadn't recced, I asked the group if they were happy to risk doing the new untried route. They were - and as it turned out, the new route was much nicer. A risk worth taking.

![The valley between Ware Copse and the dismantled railway.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume43/images/ware_copse.jpg)

Starting from the car park, we crossed the A34 and followed a footpath into Old Burghclere where the churchyard was carpeted with snowdrops. Turning north, we took a path that ran alongside a dismantled railway and then through a small valley.

Crossing a couple of farmer's fields, we continued on a path lined with drifts of snowdrops on our way to Earlstone Manor. The footpath goes through some of the grounds, where there were ornamental ponds with wooden bridges and a treelined driveway with a sprinkling daffodils.

Crossing a few more fields, we came to Woodside Farm as a few spits of rain started to fall. Luckily it didn't come to anything and the sun came out later. Leaving the farm, we crossed the road into more woodland with more snowdrops, before heading south on a quiet lane - with frequent patches of snowdrops.

![Drifts of snowdrops near Woodwalk Gully.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume43/images/drift_of_snowdrops.jpg)

Now on the edge of the Sydmonton Estate, we followed Laundry Track, past a row of houses called Laundry Cottages. We discussed what these might once have been used for. Any ideas?

The footpath led us through the impressive grounds of Sydmonton Court, where we were under constant surveillance from cameras, swivelling round to track our progress through the estate.

Heading south toward Nuthanger Down, we stopped at the bottom of the hill to eat our packed lunches. Despite the sunshine, it was still cold and we didn't sit for any longer than needed before heading up the hill.

![Passing through the grounds of Earlstone Manor.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume43/images/earlstone_manor.jpg)

Halfway up the hill, the path forked. My route used the left-hand fork, which is a picturesque and winding path with views of Watership Down. The right-hand fork, according to my map was a short-cut to Ladle Hill that crossed a lot of contour lines in a short distance. Two of our group split off to try it, while the rest of us took the longer but easier route and enjoyed the views. We met up again at the top.

It was distinctly cold when we reached Ladle Hill. Grey clouds obscured the sun, the wind had picked up and there was the suspicion of rain in the air. Nevertheless, we marched around the circular earthworks of the Iron-age hill-fort. Hats and gloves went on to protect us from the chilling wind.

Leaving the hill-fort, we descended along a tree-lined path back to Sydmonton. The path ended at a road junction by the entrance to Sydmonton Court. Through the great wrought iron gates, we could see the long driveway was lined with crocuses. (There were snowdrops as well, but I suspect you're now tired of hearing about them!)

![Shadows on Well Street by the edge of the Sydmonton Estate.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume43/images/shadows_on_well_street.jpg)

A walk along a lane brought us back to Old Burghclere and then it was a matter of retracing our steps back to the car park. From the footpath, we could see Beacon Hill. Each of us was trying to decide whether we wanted to climb this hill after the walk. (I'd included this as an optional extra in the walk description.)

Egging each other on, and applying a little peer pressure, more than half of us decided to do it. The route up the hill was steep, but not too long. It added an extra mile to the walk and another 400ft of ascent. See our route on Google Maps.

From the top, we could see Highclere Castle and many other local landmarks. Needless to say, it was very windy at the top, so hats and gloves went on again.

![Ascending from Sydmonton to Nuthanger Down.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume43/images/nuthanger_down.jpg)

![Exploring Ladle Hill Fort, with Beacon Hill in the background.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume43/images/ladle_hill_fort.jpg)

![Climbing up Beacon Hill. It's steeper than it looks.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume43/images/climbing_beacon_hill.jpg)

*Thank you to Emma for providing one of the photos for this write-up.*

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