Walk 726 - Curridge and Towards Newbury

On Sunday 17th August, a lovely group of 16 ramblers met in the village of Curridge for an 8½ mile circular walk. One new rambler joined us and will hopefully return to our group again.

After a welcome chat and some interesting historical facts about Curridge, with clear blue skies overhead, we headed off towards Newbury on a footpath flanked by farmland and pastures with fine views across the countryside.

Crossing the B4009 at Shaw, on the outskirts of Newbury, we made our way up towards Stone Copse. Halfway up the hill we stopped at the edge of Messenger Copse in some shade to enjoy the view and were treated to some homemade cakes.

Refuelled we carried on to the top of the hill and took in the fabulous views towards the south where we could see Newbury Racecourse, Greenham Common, Watership Down and Beacon Hill.

Following footpaths towards Henwick Manor we were relieved to find that the cows and bull were nowhere to be seen so we continued as planned to the hamlet of Ashmore Green.

Just past Ashmore Green Farm we found suitable shade to stop for lunch by the side of a field dotted with sunflowers. The sunflowers were looking a little weary in the heat of the midday sun but a pleasant place to stop nonetheless.

After lunch we crossed the vast field of sunflowers towards Fishers Lane and crossed the B4009 again at Fishers Crossing.

Heading back towards Curridge on a Bridleway with open fields and a view of Beacon Hill (again!) in the distance, the option to cut the walk short was declined by all and we headed on towards Marsh Lane.

We passed Lanolee Farm where it is rumoured Oliver Cromwell stayed during the 2nd Battle of Newbury in 1644.

Our walk then took us around the perimeter of Oakland Deer Park. This is a game processing plant and also a deer conservation reserve. The usual large herd of various species of deer were elusive, possibly taking shade in the woodland enclosed in the reserve. However, we did spot a few.

Back in Curridge we said goodbye to a few of the group as they headed the short distance back to the start while the rest of us went for a well deserved drink in The Bunk. Anne and I thoroughly enjoyed leading this walk with such a great bunch - thank you.

Thanks go to Anne and Hazel for leading this walk, and to Hazel for the write-up.

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