Chobham walks

An interesting walk on good paths following the route of the royal procession from Ascot through Windsor Great Park and offering a 'surprise' view of Windsor Castle.

This is a 16 stages walk around Reading accessible from one railway station to another.
Start & End: Martin's Heron Railway Station (RG12 9TZ) Grid ref. SU 887 683

This section of our walk starts at Englefield Green. It is 13.35 miles long and takes in Englefield Green, Runnymede Memorials, Egham, The Causeway, Staines Riverside, the Thames Path, Laleham, Chertsey Bridge, Shepperton Riverside, Shepperton Ferry, Desborough Cut, Walton Bridge and Walton-on-Thames.

Mostly towpath and parkland, there is a lot to see on this stage, so start early. The route crosses Staines Bridge, then follows the Thames before crossing the road at Runnymede.

Visit of Runnymede National Trust to see the Magna Carta monument. Dog friendly walk.

A level walk through Swinley Park, part of the Crown Estate, then across Ascot Heath with a close-up view of the world-famous race course.

The Freedom Trail is a long distance path, designed to link places associated with these and other events in our history, and how they would form a blue-print for the world we know today. I'm not really an historian or a walker, but through a few other projects I have been involved with, I thought this would be something interesting to do. The path is 64 miles long.

The first section of the walk starts at Wraysbury station. It is 13.15 miles and takes in Wraysbury, Ankerwycke, Church Lammas, St Mary's Church, Duncroft Manor, Staines Moor, central Staines-upon-Thames, Staines riverside, The Hythe, Thames Path, Runnymede, Old Windsor and Datchet.

Walk from the free car park at South Hill Park through their grounds and across to Caesar's Camp and round Bagshot Heath looping back via Rapley Lake to The Look Out (cafe) and back to South Hill Park (cafe and arts centre)

The route crosses the River Thames, going firstly north for half a mile to the Fordbridge Roundabout, then east thru' Lower Sunbury, past the Hampton Waterworks and through Hampton Village. We then follow a scenic route through Bushy Park and finish in the middle of the maze in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace. It's a bit of a strange way to finish the walk, but you'll enjoy the scenery and the places you pass on route.

The last section of our walk starts is 11.1 miles. It starts at St Mary's Church at Walton-on-Thames and takes in the Thames Path, Hurst Park, Hampton Ferry, Hampton Village, Bushy Park, Hampton Wick, Kingston-upon-Thames and follows the Thames Path upstream to finish at Hampton Court Palace.

The 1rst sections of this walk follow The Three Castles Path, a long distance route inspired by the 13th century journeys undertaken by King John between his castles at Windsor, Odiham and Winchester

This circular long distance path has access points that are easily reached by train from London, Reading and adjoining stations. If time is limited it can be walked in sections at weekends and bank holidays with one or two overnight stops.

The walk passes through a variety of beautiful countryside including river valleys, chalk downland, coniferous forests, rare heath, and beech woods that are carpeted with bluebells in spring.

This section of our walk starts at Datchet Railway Station. It is 14.75 miles and takes in Datchet Village, the Jubilee River, Dorney, Maidenhead Riverside, Dorney Lake, Boveney, the Thames Path, Eton High Street and Windsor Bridge. It is the longest of the five sections, but is flat and easy to follow.

The route follows the Thames Path all the way. At times the path can be narrow, so be aware. The route crosses Windsor Bridge to Eton, then turns left to follow the Thames Path past Boveney, Dorney Lake. Oakley Court and Bray Studios are soon visible across the river. Next is Bray Lock, then through Maidenhead, and Cookham to Bourne End.

This section of our walk starts is 11.4 miles. It starts at Windsor & Eton Riverside Station and takes in Windsor Castle, The Long Walk, Windsor Great Park, Three Castles Path, Virginia Water, Valley Gardens, Savill Garden and Englefield Green.

We pass thru' the picturesque village of East Clandon, then thru' the Ryde Estate where we join the Fox Way and stay with it to Walsham Lock. Along lanes past Ockham to the historic village of Ripley. We follow a path across the Green then turn left to join the River Wey Navigation at Walsham Lock. We follow the Wey, mainly surrounded by green open space and pasture, thru' West Byfleet, New Haw, Addlestone and Weybridge to Thames Lock and finish on the River Thames at Walton Bridge.

A nice easy, circular walk to do with the kids, taking in the beauty of the North Downs in Surrey Hill's Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Plenty of places to leave a RockFun rock for someone else to find. We suggest about 4-5 rocks for hiding on this walk.