🥾 Walk 652 - River Kennet and Sulhamstead Bannister

On Sunday 4th August, the weather was a bit cooler than of late, only around 18°C at 10 o'clock when fifteen of us assembled on the outskirts of Theale for a short walk around Sulhamstead Bannister, featuring a section of the St. James' Way.

We started by crossing the railway and following the River Kennet to a weir on the Kennet & Avon Canal. We crossed the weir on a footbridge and followed the canal for a short while, passing two locks before leaving it for a footpath passing fishponds. A short bit of road and a footpath then brought us to the hamlet of Whitehouse Green.

Another short bit of road walking took us to Home Farm where we joined the St James' Way, which we followed as far as Sulhamstead Bannister. Here we stopped in the grounds of St Michael's Church for a short break. The church no longer exists - all that remains is the porch, which is fully in tact, complete with benches at the sides and an oak panel door. But there is nothing the other side of it other than grass!

Next came a footpath through Folly Farm. This path was very overgrown with brambles and nettles, so Jane and myself - armed with secateurs - cut back anything that blocked the way. The path got so bad, we had to take a diversion along the edge of a field.

A short bit of road and a footpath across meadow brought us back to the Kennet & Avon Canal at Sulhamstead swing-bridge. We crossed it and joined the same bit of towpath that we'd used earlier. The rest of the walk was a matter of retracing our outward route over the weir, along the River Kennet and over the railway, back to where we'd started. See our route on Google Maps.

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

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