{"id":"69847934533dbb4b731186be","title":"Walk 578 Bedwyn Common And Savernake Forest","path":"walks/scrapbook/by-year/2023/volume-44-apr-to-jun-2023/walk-578-bedwyn-common-and-savernake-forest","contentMarkdown":"# 🥾 Walk 578 - Bedwyn Common and Savernake Forest\n\nSaturday 20th May was sunny and warm, with a light breeze. Eleven of us met up in Great Bedwyn for a twelve mile walk. This walk had been designed so that people wanting a shorter walk (eight miles) could join us slightly later (and leave us earlier) at St Katharine's church, which we would pass near the start and end of the walk.\n\nStarting from Bedwyn station, we walked through the village along church lane, turning west onto a footpath soon after passing St Mary's church. Soon we were crossing fields of wheat and one of crimson clover before reaching Stock Common.\n\n![Leaving Great Bedwyn, heading through wheat fields toward Shawgrove Copse.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume44/images/great_bedwyn_wheat_fields.jpg)\n\nFollowing a path along the edge of Bedwyn Common, we arrived at St Katharine's church, where another one of our members was waiting to join us for the shorter version of the walk. From here, we doubled back into Bedwyn Common. Ian, in his inimitable style, decided to take a different route to the one he knew, just to add a bit of jeopardy.\n\nCrossing a road and a field, we entered the eastern edge of the Savernake Forest. Following an overgrown path, we soon reached The King of Limbs, one of the many named trees in the forest. This oak tree is thought be be 1000 years old and had split down the middle, with many of its branches now resting on the ground. Ian pointed out that the Abingdon-based rock band Radiohead named one of their albums after this tree.\n\n![Making our way through Bedwyn Common.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume44/images/bedwyn_common.jpg)\n\nContinuing our walk through the forest, we passed several other named oak trees, including the Crockmere Oak, the Pointing Oak, the Big-Belly Oak, the New Queen Oak and the Replacement King Oak.\n\nWe stopped for lunch, sitting on some large oak branches lying on the ground at the side of a track called The Gallops. Some of us spotted a couple of rope swings, hanging from trees nearby, so we tried them out. Well, it would be rude not to.\n\n![Stopping at St Katharine's Church.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume44/images/st_katharines_church.jpg)\n\nAfter lunch, we continued our walk by heading further into the forest, looping around in a partial figure-of-eight. As well as the various named oak trees, we also visited the Ailesbury Column - a 27m tall stone monument, erected in 1781 by Lord Ailesbury, one time resident of nearby Tottenham House.\n\nAlthough there is a clearing in a straight line from the column to Tottenham House, this is not a public footpath, so we took a parallel route via the tiny village of Durley into Tottenham Park. At one point, we could look back at the Ailesbury Column.\n\n![Stopping for a break by The King of Limbs oak tree.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume44/images/the_king_of_limbs.jpg)\n\nLooking the other way, we could just see Tottenham House itself, half a mile away. After crossing the open grassland of the park, we followed a path through a strip of woodland that brought us back to St Katharine's church.\n\nHere we said goodbye to the one of us that started from here, while the rest of us began to retrace our steps back to Great Bedwyn. Although most of the route was just the reversal of the outward route, we took a detour along an old bridleway called Hatchet Lane. See our route on Google Maps.\n\n![Crossing through the grassland of Tottenham Park.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume44/images/tottenham_park.jpg)\n\nEnding the walk, back in Great Bedwyn, we said goodbye to some of the group while a few of us popped into The Three Tuns pub for a post walk drink.\n\n![Looking back at the Ailesbury Column from Tottenham Park.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume44/images/ailesbury_column.jpg)\n\n*Thank you to Ian for leading this walk.*\n\n## 📸 Back to Volume 44\n\nReturn to volume index","contentHtml":"

🥾 Walk 578 - Bedwyn Common and Savernake Forest

\n

Saturday 20th May was sunny and warm, with a light breeze. Eleven of us met up in Great Bedwyn for a twelve mile walk. This walk had been designed so that people wanting a shorter walk (eight miles) could join us slightly later (and leave us earlier) at St Katharine's church, which we would pass near the start and end of the walk.

\n

Starting from Bedwyn station, we walked through the village along church lane, turning west onto a footpath soon after passing St Mary's church. Soon we were crossing fields of wheat and one of crimson clover before reaching Stock Common.

\n

\"Leaving

\n

Following a path along the edge of Bedwyn Common, we arrived at St Katharine's church, where another one of our members was waiting to join us for the shorter version of the walk. From here, we doubled back into Bedwyn Common. Ian, in his inimitable style, decided to take a different route to the one he knew, just to add a bit of jeopardy.

\n

Crossing a road and a field, we entered the eastern edge of the Savernake Forest. Following an overgrown path, we soon reached The King of Limbs, one of the many named trees in the forest. This oak tree is thought be be 1000 years old and had split down the middle, with many of its branches now resting on the ground. Ian pointed out that the Abingdon-based rock band Radiohead named one of their albums after this tree.

\n

\"Making

\n

Continuing our walk through the forest, we passed several other named oak trees, including the Crockmere Oak, the Pointing Oak, the Big-Belly Oak, the New Queen Oak and the Replacement King Oak.

\n

We stopped for lunch, sitting on some large oak branches lying on the ground at the side of a track called The Gallops. Some of us spotted a couple of rope swings, hanging from trees nearby, so we tried them out. Well, it would be rude not to.

\n

\"Stopping

\n

After lunch, we continued our walk by heading further into the forest, looping around in a partial figure-of-eight. As well as the various named oak trees, we also visited the Ailesbury Column - a 27m tall stone monument, erected in 1781 by Lord Ailesbury, one time resident of nearby Tottenham House.

\n

Although there is a clearing in a straight line from the column to Tottenham House, this is not a public footpath, so we took a parallel route via the tiny village of Durley into Tottenham Park. At one point, we could look back at the Ailesbury Column.

\n

\"Stopping

\n

Looking the other way, we could just see Tottenham House itself, half a mile away. After crossing the open grassland of the park, we followed a path through a strip of woodland that brought us back to St Katharine's church.

\n

Here we said goodbye to the one of us that started from here, while the rest of us began to retrace our steps back to Great Bedwyn. Although most of the route was just the reversal of the outward route, we took a detour along an old bridleway called Hatchet Lane. See our route on Google Maps.

\n

\"Crossing

\n

Ending the walk, back in Great Bedwyn, we said goodbye to some of the group while a few of us popped into The Three Tuns pub for a post walk drink.

\n

\"Looking

\n

Thank you to Ian for leading this walk.

\n

📸 Back to Volume 44

\n

Return to volume index

\n"}