Skip to main content

Farley Hill Circular Walk, May 2020

This is a 4 mile/ 5.9 km walk from the centre of Farley Hill down to the Blackwater and back.

Sadly there's no pub in Farley Hill but the George & Dragon in Swallowfield is on the route and about halfway!

We've done this walk on foot and on bike - with bikes there are some annoying kissing gates but no styles and you can navigate all of them with adult and children's bikes.


CarPark

There is car parking just alongside the Playing Fields in the centre of the village.

The Route.

1. Starting facing away (south) from the playing fields turn left to head down Church Road.

2. After passing the primary school on your right take the left lane - Jouldings Lane - and follow it all the way to bottom (about 1 mile)

3. Take the public footpath on your right (opposite the house) and walk through the fields (about 4 of them) along the river Blackwater until you reach the ford.


4. Cross the track/road opposite and stay on the same bank.

5. Follow the river through another couple of fields until you reach the path's end, here it leaves the river and heads inland up a small path along side a field and behind a house. You emerge onto Nutbean Lane.



6. Turn Left on Nutbean Lane and follow it to the end, passing the graveyard extension for Swallowfield church on your left.

7. At the junction with Church Road, Swallowfield turn right, heading up to the George & Dragon pub.

8. Immediately after the pub turn left down the public footpath down the side and follow this lovely avenue of trees until the end - turn left following the path alongside a field boundary.


9. The pah switches to the left of the hedge to continue bordering the Swallowfield Park estate. Continue along the path.


10. The path emerges onto Swallowfield Road. Turn left at the road.

(This stretch of the walk is on the road. There are no footpaths but traffic on this road is light outside of the peak hours).

11. Follow the road for about half a mile, passed the entrances to Tanner's Farm, the lovely black and white tudor cottage, the ugly modern farm buildings  and then Tanner's Farmhouse until you come to a track on the right - on the opposite side of the road (about 5-10 m from the farmhouse).

12. Cross the road and follow the track - you're now heading back into Farley Hill.

13. Cross Castle Hill and continue along the track opposite.

14. After about 0.5 mile you will come to a right turn (although the track continues directly into front of you to Arborfield). Take the right turn and follow it as it winds back up to the top of Farley Hill.

15. At the top of the track turn right (on the road called Bunce's Shaw). After about 200m take the small public path left alongside a field and wood. This passes the Farley Hill Cricket Pitch as its far end.

16. At the end of the path passed the cricket club turn right.

17. At the end of this road (Church Lane) turn left and follow Castle Hill back to the playing fields.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wittenham Clumps and Dorchester-on-Thames Circular Walk

Amazing Oxfordshire and Berkshire views from these Hill Forts where Time Team once dug. 6km (1.5 hrs) Halfway Pub: The George, Dorchester-on-Thames The Route: Once in the car park, face the wooded hilltop (Wittenham Clumps, an important ancient hill fort in the Sinodun Hills) and take the path aiming for the left hand side of the hilltop, with the wooded area on your right.     Find out more about the Clumps here: The Time Team dig: At the hilltop (120 m high), admire the view of Little Wittenham Church , the River Thames and Day’s Lock, the lakes and lagoons around Dorchester and Dorchester Abbey. From here, take the path leading down to Little Wittenham Church, turn right once you go through the gate at the bottom and follow this road over the River Thames at Day’s Lock Islands (across 2 bridges). On the far side, go through another gate into a field and take the diagonal path towards Dorchester. This becomes a narrow footpath whi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ashampstead & Yattendon Circular Walk October 2020

This is a circular walk starting in the Berkshire village of Ashampstead. This walk is 4.5 miles and took just under 2 hours to complete. Yattendon, the halfway point is the home to a brewey and The Royal Oak pub. The village Post Office also does take out Tea and Coffee and has a small shop. Car Park Parking is beside the playing fields in the middle of the village, not sure if this is called Dog Lane or Holly Lane but you can't miss them. Co-ordinates are: 51.48849457075639, -1.187116681437046 if you look in Google Maps. The Route 1. Facing the playing fields turn right along the road until you reach Church Lane, turn left down Church Lane until you reach the church "St Clements". 2. Enter the churchyard and follow the path round to the back of the church building to a gate in the rear fence. 3. Cross the field and you'll emerge onto a road. Turn left. This is the road to a farm shop so will have traffic on it. Be Careful! 4. At the farm shop take the path right in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Farley Hill, Arborfield Cross Circular Walk, December 2020

This is a lovely short-ish walk of about 4 miles from Farley Hill to Arborfield Cross and back via Great Copse / Castle Hill.  This walk initially follows the same route as a previous Farley Hill to Henry Street Nursery walk from this site but this variation changes the walk because of the opening of the new bypass in 2020.  This route does not go to Henry Street! Car Park This route starts at the Playing Fields on Castle Hill, there is limited parking there but normally enough for one or two cars. The Route 1. Walk left down Castle Hill from the Playing Fields. 2. At Church Lane turn right (your first right after the entrance to Farley Hall gates. 3. After the Cricket Club take a left down the public footpath that borders the cricket pitch. 4. The path emerges onto Bunces Shaw (lane) turn right down this road. 5. After about 50 metres you come to a public footpath down to the left - it cuts behind a house - take this path. It's easy to miss  - there is a finger post poin...
Post a Comment
Read more