Walk 1: Hambleden Circular via Henley

Date: 9th January 2011
Route: Hambleden to Henley via the Great Wood, Fawley and the Oxfordshire Way, then back along the Thames and over Hambleden lock
Distance: 9.8 miles


Of all the walks we do, this is the one that we call "The Walk".
If ever we can't decide where to go, this is the walk that wins.

It's the very first walk in the Time Out Book Of Country Walks, Volume 1 - although rather than starting and finishing in Henley, we find it's better to park up on the road to Hamblden, because:
- there's a free car park (with a loo!)
- it means you get a choice of places to have lunch in Henley
- the only two steep uphill bits come really early in the walk, so you get them out of the way, then you have a nice leisurely (and flat) stroll back alongside the river

9th Jan was a perfect date for this - cold but with sunshine and a clear blue sky that was perfect for the red kites flying overhead, cold underfoot too (the mud on the floor of the wood was mainly frozen). The river was high but not so high as to have flooded the path, which was the usual mixture of walkers, families and rowing coaches on bicycles all the way down to Temple Island; the recent rain meant that the view of the swirling water below the narrow path over Hambleden Lock was even more hypnotic than usual.