9 and a dog after a slightly delayed journey.

Largely dry underfoot except when we strayed from the official path. (It’s called exploration and we didn’t go far wrong, honest).

You’ll be asking about the weather next - it was cloudy and sunnny and mostly dry None of the promised thunder and lightning. There was one heavy downpour but we were under shelter in the Catherine Wheel’s garden at the time. There was also a light shower as we came back into Whitchurch.

The Catherine Wheel was fine - efficient service and snacks for the dog. Perhaps worth knowing they have a hatch in the garden serving pizzas. Not that MrTiger needed that, not with a kindly benefactor providing chips and chocolate.

Sadly, the cow parsley in the churchyard had been neatened up and iwas past its best.

One of the 9 dropped out at Goring and the rest continued on getting the 16:26 back.

Another grand day out.

The Elizabeth and Bakerloo lines are the only ‘tube’ lines stopping at Paddington this morning. Alternatively, Lancaster Gate on the Central line is a short walk ( say 10 mins)

There is an Elisabeth line train 0955 Ealing Broadway arriving Reading 1040.

We are at Miller of Mansfield for lunch

6 on a sunny day. The group soon split into 4 fast, 2 slow. Guess which bit Mr Tiger was in. Go on, guess.

Not long out of Pangbourne, the sky was full of red kites circling around. Waiting for one of us to drop, no doubt.

Splashes of autumn colour but still a lot of green around.

The back two reached Goring and consumed drinks in the Catherine Wheel. One ordered a meal, the other left. That other fell in briefly with 2 of the other 4, who had been in the Miller.

Coming back along the Thames, a short section was flooded. Not very flooded, there were logs thrown across. Mr Tiger’s attempts to get the others to try crossing them first were unsuccessful. So the three turned back and cut through to the morning route. Two were never seen again but Mr Tiger bravely headed back to the river and encountered no further problems. Unless you count the mud. And at least one hill. And the wet socks.

The walker left behind in the Catherine Wheel strode straight across the flooded bit, no problem (or so I’m told).

Mr Tiger got the 16:22, Mr Left-behind got the 16:52. Can’t speak for the others.

5 at the station on a sunny day. Halfway through the morning, silly Mr Tiger realised he had brought the directions for the other Pangbourne Circular. But it didn’t matter because someone far more sensible had been leading the way with the right ones.

When Goring was reached we went in the Catherine Wheel. 2 ate, 3 didn’t. The two who ate had opted to stay in Goring for the afternoon. The remaining three set off for the return leg along the river. Mr Tiger had been looking forward to an easy stroll, but it was not to be. Lots of ups and downs on that stretch, but enjoyable nonetheless. We reached Whitchurch with time to spare so there was nothing for it but to visit the Greyhound for a libation or two.

We did eventually reach the station, where we met a 6 th walker who, unbeknownst to us, had started at Goring and probably walked past us as we sat in the pub.

A good day out.

3 very light rain clearing later . We saw a very close up of red kites soaring more or less on our level as we came down towards Goring. We had sandwiches by the river and the went back to the John Barley Corn for a beer. It was not crowded for a Sunday lunch time and is a friendly traditional pub, note to self to eat there next time. Reached Pangbourne in time for the 15.04.

In Winter mornings, damp and dark..

Tis difficult to spring from one's bed and freezing toes to park,

On the cold floor.

Can we please have some late starting walks!?

Thank you

This comment is excellent so I tried to track it down but to no avail so I must assume that it came from the hand of Anon. Thanks

And in trying to track it down Ogden Nash blew in

Winter is the king of showmen,

Turning tree stumps into snow men

And houses into birthday cakes

And spreading sugar over lakes.

Smooth and clean and frosty white,

The world looks good enough to bite.

That's the season to be young,

Catching snowflakes on your tongue!

Snow is snowy when it's snowing.

I'm sorry it's slushy when it's going.

for anyone yearning for a 20+ km walk: longer finish along the Thames to Tilehurst Station; see route map, webpage or pdf for details

Anyone in South London wanting to avoid going to Paddington on the tube can reduce the amount of tube use by going from Clapham Junction on the Overground. Alight at Shepherd's Bush then cross to Underground Central line and travel to Ealing Broadway. There are 5 stops mostly in the open air and quiet.

Thank you, Anonymous: that is a very useful idea.

I reckoned that by posting a Thames Valley walk I would get about a dozen turning up, and that we would split into two neat groups of six. In that respect this walk was a massive failure. Perhaps it was the forecast of lovely sunshine spreading from the west, but at least 25 alighted at Pangbourne, and more turned up as the day went on, having taken an assortment of earlier and later trains. Someone calculated 35 and I am not going to argue with that.

In the morning all but one late starter seem to have ignored the extension: we stuck to the main walk route, weaving in and out a party of pheasant shooters only slightly less numerous than we were. In Goring a few went to the lunch pub, but sandwiches in the churchyard or by the river did for most of us. It was lovely to sit in the sunshine. Ridiculously, I later learned, some snowdrops were out in the churchyard.

Perhaps shamed by their lack of extra-curricular activity in the morning, or possibly swayed by the walk author’s persuasive prose, in the afternoon a gratifying number climbed to the optional viewpoint and quite a few went to the magnificent higher one (see photos on Facebook). I hear at least one walked on to Tilehurst. That still left 20+ people to congregate on Pangbourne station for the 3.52pm train, in a group that could have been seen from space. Ironically the problem here was that in the absence of indoor tea places we could have gone to, no one wanted to be stuck another hour in Pangbourne. At least once on the train we all spread out.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do?fbclid=IwAR3_ffwV6KYAyr9rKJUMsmXfM3b7jEFS1Y3D_rtJnOCR0O5FRzNnuPY2Ejw#public-transport

5.4 Can I use public transport to get to green spaces?

You should still avoid using public transport wherever possible. Consider all other forms of transport before using public transport. If you need to use public transport, you must wear a face covering and you should follow the safer travel guidance for passengers.

I did this walk on Saturday. The morning segment was lovely making a nice change from urban parks. The afternoon along the Thames was busy with families and large groups having picnics along the river. I met walkers and cyclists from both directions every 50-100 yards in the narrow path all the way to Pangbourne, felt like walking on the Thames Path near Richmond.

No big problem that then: the initial stretch of Thames Path from Goring is a wide grassy area, mostly not even fenced, and then the bridleway towards Whitchurch (not Pangbourne) is about 2 metres wide all the way. And meeting someone going the other way every 50 - 100 metres should not really be a big deal in anyone's books, surely? It's more populated on every pavement or in every park in London, never mind in a supermarket or corner shop...

Anon at 14.45: thanks for your repeated reminders, but that is exactly what we have been doing today and will be doing tomorrow: consider other modes of transport, travel off-peak, wear facemasks, stay at safe distance, respect others, be good citizens. Done.

So much for a rushed walk posting: both Bakerloo and Hammersmith & City lines are not running, although the Circle Line is...at least

9 walkers, incl. one car driver, splitting into fast and slow group, after email addresses of walkers unknown to the poster had been taken down for track-and-tracing.

One of those came to this walk through our Meetup feed (I quote: "It was the only walk up there for today."). Young and fast, she also was least concerned with distancing on the paths and as it later turned out, with putting on a face cover on the train. So here is one more APPEAL TO THE WEBMASTER: PLEASE DISABLE OUR AUTOMATIC MEETUP FEED.

Even outside a pandemic, Meetup folk inevitably turn up without written directions and/or a gpx route, as that's just not what Meetup walks require people to do. So they end up asking loads of questions during the walk, most of which are answered in the text (they don't have) or in the walk post (they haven't read). A drain on resources...

As for the walk: the weather was overcast briefly then sunny always humid . The fast group walked the slightly longer version and the slower group got to the obvious picnic spot, a hanging curving meadow overlooking the Thames Valley and with views across to the Streatley Hills, first. In Goring only Pierrepont's Cafe seemed open and had the resulting long queues (w/o best practice social distancing on display, for sure). The potentially congested Thames Path out of Goring (10 minutes worth of walking) was busy but everyone stepped out of their way to let people pass at distance. Later, the bridleway towards Whitchurch was half-busy but it is 2 metres wide and unfenced, so - again - no problems were encountered.

In Pangbourne a Costa was open, but we bought coffees oposite it at an Italian deli (big piles of flour for sale there as in almost every other shop window in the village, P'bourne must be the capital of homebaking).

16.04 train

Intend going.

4, one of which bailed out at Goring to meet a friend, in alternating drizzle and rain with brief dry periods . Not many far views from the hills in light of the weather. A fully booked Miller of Mansfield, so much so that in the bar area only bar food was served, cue us ordering one of each food stuff on offer, tapas-style. There then ensued a long wait for coffees, as the machine was troubled, which eventually cost us the 16.19 train (at least the charge for the coffees was waived). Having time to kill until the next train, some went to The George, one other to The Swan...

It is a pity this walk always gets done in winter due to its short length as it has some pretty stretches. One struggled a bit to appreciate them in today’s drizzle and mist . Still 10 of us did our best, enjoying a convivial day out.

We did the longer, hillier route in the morning and extended it with a variation of our own, into the woods and down a ridge into Goring. There the posh Miller of Whatsit pub was fully booked but the cheaper one did filling food and had a blazing coal fire (one forgets how much better they radiate heat than wood ones). The late George Michael’s house in the village is still festooned with tributes.

The temptation of a cosy train home proved too much for one or two at this point. The rest of us walked the sometimes slippy but always delightful Thames Path to Pangbourne. Arriving at 4pm we found one cafe closing, another bleak and empty, and the new Costa Coffee across the road cosy, cheerful, busy and with a nice selection of cakes (even vegan Christmas cake). And it stays open till 6.30pm. A lesson in economics there somewhere.

Thanks for this apt and thoughtful choice, Thomas.

Intend going.

Me too.

8 met off the scheduled train, with 2 others having taken an earlier one and walking the route clockwise w/o a lunch stop, the groups passing each other near Gatehampton Manor, so 10 walkers in total in foggy conditions for the whole day, i.e.: no views at all, which was a shame as I'm sure they're good...

Like other 3rd party walks this one suffers a little from being quite tarmac- and concrete-heavy, but this could easily be reduced by re-routing it a little, a quick look at the map would suggest, by leading further north and by making some use of the Open Access Land in the middle. Nevertheless: some nice mixed woods, plenty impressive houses to look at and lots of pubs, both in Goring (& Streatley) and in Pangbourne. So not all bad on the day.

We found the Miller of Mansfield fully booked, so went back to the John Barleycorn, which served good-value-for-money stuff, and quickly, with sarnie options available as well.

Onwards to Mill Cottage, easy to find by following the people with bunches of flowers in hand. Just off route, as suspected, down by the river, with all manner of objects put down in homage and rememberance.

On along the Thames Path, with the initial stretch, like some of the morning route, afflicted by railway noise from the busy Reading-Oxford line. Good paths (if a little slippy at times), a couple of nature reserves, a climb!, and more interesting woods. Then more tarmac into and through Whitchurch.

7 in our group went for tea and cakes in Pangbourne at the Cafe St. Louis (1 went to Costa instead). 16.17 train.

To the walk posters: thanks v much for the walks you post/create/organise. Happy New Year!

E

Is anyone going on this Wednesdays walk?

yes I am planning on going

I'm intending to go too.

Fingers crossed that the rain holds off!

Also, you may leave the walk at Goring in which case you'll need to by a Day Return to that station.

AD

Suggest this walk be done clockwise for variety and to avoid wind in our faces on the higher ground after lunch.

9 on this walk. Weather fine and dry .

Excellent winter outing and we all did the walk anticlockwise. most ate at the Miller of Mansfield where portions of some portions were a little lacking. Pierreponts cafe has an excellent lunch menu and this cafe should perhaps get a mention as a lunch option for this walk.

After lunch the group split up but 5 of us did the lovely Thames Path route back to Pangbourne where 4 of us had delicious teas and cakes at Cafe St Louis which has been refurbished to become an up-market bar and open until 9pm or so.