🥾 Walk 606 - Donnington, Bagnor and Snelsmore Common

After a fairly wet week, Saturday 14th October was a dry and sunny day. A good day for a new walk leader to lead her first walk, which is what Anne was doing. Sixteen of us (including a couple of newcomers, trying us out) turned up at a small car park in the village of Donnington for this eight mile walk.

We started off by crossing a field, picking up a footpath that passed by Donnington Castle (we would visit the castle later in the walk) and a golf course before crossing the A34 Newbury bypass on a footbridge shared with the golf course.

Now we were heading into Bagnor, a picturesque village on the banks of the River Lambourn. It is also home to the Watermill Theatre, which we stopped at for quick look around.

We left Bagnor on a footpath that passed over Mount Hill and into Boxford Common. After a short bit of road walking, we were on another footpath that took us through Borough Copse, Borough Hill and Lower Farm to Winterbourne Manor. Here we stopped to look at the church and have our packed lunches.

After lunch, we headed uphill through fields to Winterbourne Holt and then into the mixed heathland of Snelsmore Common. More uphill took us through the common, passing Black Ditch on our way to The Snug - a small café. Here we stopped while most of us got tea, coffee, cake and even ice cream!

After a short break, we continued to explore Snelsmore Common, some of us still carrying our cups of drink, and finally leaving it via Hill's Pightle.

We crossed the A34 on another bridge (not far from the first one we'd crossed) which got us to Castle Farm. A footpath brought us to Donnington Castle from the northern side. This time we stopped for a look around. The ruins of this 14th century castle include the twin-towered gatehouse and the footings of the main building. Both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I are thought to have stayed here.

Being built on a hill, there were some commanding views from Donnington Castle. Much of Newbury can be seen, with Speen and Donnington in the foreground. In the distance, we could also see Watership Down and the Hannington transmitter mast at Cottington's Hill.

A long, downhill path took us back to Donnington village and the car park where we'd started. The walk had finished. Some people went home while the majority of us stayed for a drink in the village. We walked down Shop Lane to Castle Lane and The Hartley Arms pub. Some of us bought drinks here while others popped into the Honesty Café next door for more tea, coffee and cake. We all sat together in the seating area by the River Lambourn and had a good old chat.

For a first walk, this was a really nice one. Well planned, with a variety of terrains, good views and two refreshment stops. The weather was kind to us, too.

Thank you to Anne for leading her first walk for us.

Social Event - Ten-Pin Bowling in Bracknell

The evening of Friday 13th October was dark and wet, but our social event this month was in the dry. Ten of us meet up at Hollywood Bowl at The Point in Bracknell for two games of of ten-pin bowling.

We split into two teams of five on alleys next to each other and bowling commenced! Some of us had bowling experience, but more often than not, it was just bowl and hope for the best.

Lots of fun and laughter was had by everyone and Friday the 13th was not unlucky in the least.

Huge thanks go to our Social Events Co-ordinator Richard for organising another enjoyable social event.

Thank you to Richard for organising this social event and to Emma for the write-up.

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