Marlow and Hurley

Date: Sunday 15th January
Route: Marlow circular, including "Happy Valley", Low Grounds Farm, Temple Lock, Hurley and Thames Path
Distance: 7 miles (although you can do a 4.5 mile short version)

There is a fantastic 12-mile Marlow Circular walk in the Time Out Book of Country Walks Volume 2, which I wrote about in February last year (see link above). The disadvantage of a 12 mile walk is that quite simply there are some days when 12 miles feels a little too far, so we thought we would try out this 7 mile walk from the Pathfinder Chilterns and Thames Valley guide today, in the hopes of it being a good alternative.

A lot of the best bits of the Time Out walk are also included in this one - the Thames Path with views across to Bisham Abbey and church, the Temple footbridge and lock, Hurley lock island and the picturesque village of Hurley - but the walk feels a little disjointed by comparison.

When a walk starts off through a housing estate, it's never a fantastic sign (see the disappointing Beaconsfield walk from last year that we won't be repeating!), but "Happy Valley" is pleasant (and very popular with dog walkers), as is the track down towards Harleyford Manor and past Low Grounds Farm.

The section around Temple footbridge and Hurley is very familiar - and lovely - then the Thames path back into Henley is very easy to follow (though initially very muddy today).

Whilst it was interesting to fill in some of the gaps in our mental maps of the area, I probably wouldn't do this walk again. Even though the Time Out walk is 5 miles longer, it does have quiet stretches and much less walking on tarmac than this option, but if you do want a shorter alternative this could still be the walk for you.