🥾 Walk 632 - Pinkneys Green, Hurley and Temple

On Saturday 6th April, seventeen of us, including a couple of people trying us out, met up in the NT car park at Pinkneys Green, near Maidenhead. Our leader for this walk was Neil, who explained that he may have to modify the route if the paths by the River Thames were still impassable. These paths had been flooded a few weeks earlier.

We set off across a grassy field full of cowslips before crossing the A404 dual carriageway on a footbridge on our way to Maidenhead Thicket. Passing Stubbing's House and garden centre, we arrived at Burchett's Green.

We walked through this pretty village and into the grounds of Berkshire College of Agriculture, firstly crossing their playing fields and then following a footpath through the maze of college buildings. This path used to pass through the BCA Zoo, but has been moved in recent years, so we didn't get a look at the animals this time.

Leaving the Berkshire College of Agriculture, we headed through fields and uphill to High Wood on Prospect Hill. A steep downhill path the other side brought us to Hurley.

We walked along Hurley High Street to the River Thames, where we crossed onto an island separating the river into two branches, one passing through Hurley Lock and the other through a weir. We stopped by the lock for lunch.

After lunch, we walked along the previously flooded paths by the Thames, which were now quite passable. These took us too Temple and then on to Bradenham Lane. A permissive path took us alongside the A404 to Temple Golf Course, where we passed under the A404 in a pedestrian tunnel.

We followed Dungrove Hill Lane uphill and entered Dungrovehill Wood. Here Neil showed us a small war memorial, consisting of a deep trench and a number of allied airforce flags. On 18th July 1944, a Halifax heavy bomber aircraft on its way to bomb enemy gun positions in France caught fire after takeoff. The pilot changed course to avoid populated areas before it crash-landed, fully laden with fuel and bombs. Only the Canadian rear gunner managed to parachute to safety. All other crew members were lost without trace, such was the power of the explosion.

Leaving Dungrovehill Wood, we followed the old Henley Road back to Pinkneys Drive and to the car park where we'd started. See our route on Google Maps.

Thanks go to Neil for leading this walk. (Photos and write-up by Rob C)

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