🥾 Walk 649 - Newbury and Hamstead Park

On Sunday 14th July, we had a joint walk with the Pang Valley Ramblers, led by one of their members, Pete. There were 20 of us in total, mostly BWWs with a few PVR members and a member of the West Berks Ramblers. It was a pleasant day for walking, reaching 20°C in the afternoon with some cloud and sunshine.

We set off along Moor Lane and followed the Lambourn Valley Way to Speen, passing through the grounds of St Mary's Church. The original route of this walk would have crossed under the A34 but this was flooded, so we had to take a diversion and follow the A4 over the A34 before taking a footpath through Benham Park.

Pete knows the area well, and would often give us a bit of background information on each significant point of the walk. For instance, he told us that the 18th century landscape of Benham Park was designed by Capability Brown.

Leaving the park through pasture, we came across farmer was trying to heard a calf that had escaped from an enclosed field. We tried to help, but were unsuccessful.

Crossing the railway line, the River Kennet and the Kennet & Avon Canal at Marsh Benham, we entered Hamstead Park. This 700 acre park was for 300 years the seat of the Earls of Craven. We followed a tarmacked driveway through the park, passing some fishponds and a motte that would once have supported a wooden fortification.

We stopped for lunch in the park, using a couple of large fallen trees as benches.

Leaving the park, we passed through Avery's Pightle nature reserve before crossing the A34 on a bridge to Wash Common. Here our leader told us a bit about the First Battle of Newbury, part of the First English Civil War, which took place here in 1643. He also mentioned the Second Battle of Newbury, that took place in Speen, which we had passed through earlier on the walk.

We skirted the common before following Bonemill Lane over the railway line and down to the canal. This we followed into Newbury, crossing it at Monkey Bridge. No explanation was offered as to how this bridge was named. It was then a short walk across Northcroft Park back to the car park. See our route on Google Maps.

Thanks go to Pete for leading this walk and Rob for writing it up.

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