Walk 7: Henley againly

Date: Sunday 6th March
Distance: 9.5 miles
Route: Hambleden to Henley via Alton and Remenham Hill, back via Fawley Court and Temple Island Meadows

After weeks of grey days, today was the best walking weather we've had in ages - clear blue skies, lots of sunshine - plus a walk that we couldn't remember having done for a long while, combining familiar locations (Henley, Hambleden, the Thames), but making us see them in a different light.

Although this one had lots in common with Walk 1 (below), it took a totally different route, including open fields and the much quieter and less manicured west side of the Thames. Full walk details are in the Time Out Book of Country Walks Volume 2, where it is also Walk 7. Rather than getting the train to Henley, we parked up in the car park on the road to Hambleden, so that we had a choice of pub lunch in Henley.

The route led into the village of Hambleden, up onto the hillside, down to Hambleden Weir (scene of some pretty dangerous kayaking today), over the lock and up the hill to Alton (and the piglets in the photo above), then over more hillsides and open fields (plus a very large private garden) to Henley.

After lunch we headed out of town then into the marshy meadows alongside the Thames (although the path is rougher and occasionally muddier than the one on the other side, far fewer people venture down here so it is both more peaceful and a lot more overgrown). The general theme here seems to be lots of footbridges that look much more precarious than they are, punctuated by marshes, clumps of reeds, signs warning of the danger of hemlock and the occasional grand building (Fawley Court and Temple Island).

It seems a shame to leave the river behind but the path veers off up into the woods, with the only really steep climb of the day, following a path through woodland along the hilltop, with the village of Hambleden down to the right, then circling back through the churchyard.    

This is definitely one of the better walks we have done this year - and, whilst the beautiful weather and evidence of spring (goslings, calves, piglets etc) helped to make it memorable, its still an easy walk, with fantastic scenery, which I'm sure we will do again and again.