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Our Programme of Walks and Events

Coronavirus Epidemic Notice
Following advice from the UK Government and the Ramblers Association, walks must be pre-booked and contact details must be provided by all those attending a walk. See the Ramblers website for more details. We are also limiting group sizes to help with social distancing.

Our programme of walks and social events is regularly updated. New items are often added, but occasionally existing items have to be changed, so please check before travelling.

Our group has been walking since July 2012 and we've been to all sorts of places in and around Berkshire. Take a look at our Scrapbook to see where we've been so far.

Walks: Our walks are mostly planned and led by volunteers from within our group, but we also have joint walks with our neighbouring Ramblers groups. The walks are open to all members of the Ramblers and to anyone interested in joining our group.

Note: The Ramblers website has a Walk Finder Page where you can find other walks in your area.

Social Events: Our social events are mostly organised by volunteers from within the group and are open to members of the Berkshire Weekend Walkers and to anyone considering joining the group.

Holidays: Our walking holidays are mostly planned and led by volunteers from within our group, but we sometimes use Ramblers approved holiday companies. The holidays led by our group are open to members of other Ramblers groups, but where numbers are limited, priority will be given to members of our own group. (Obviously the holidays run by holiday companies are open to anyone.)

Sat Nav references are given as a post code and as Latitude/Longitude co-ordinates. Ordnance Survey Landranger map references for the start point of walks are also provided for the more traditional map reader.

Please be aware that post codes in the countryside may cover a large area and your Sat Nav device will assume the centre of that area, which may not be where we are! It is much more accurate to put Lat/Long co-ordinates into your Sat Nav if you can. (Most of them can accept Lat/Long input. Have a look in the manual.)

September 2020

Sunday 6th September: 7/12 Mile Walk - Newbury and Greenham Common (moderate)
- Choice of a longer or shorter walk

Under current Ramblers rules and government restrictions, all people on a walk must give contact tracing details before the walk. We are also limiting the number of people attending each walk. The limit for this walk is 15 (including the leader). You must book your place in advance to attend the walk.

You have an option of a 11-12 mile walk accessible by public transport starting at 10:15 (the 09:34 from Reading arrives at Newbury at 10:05), or a 6.5-7 mile walk starting and ending at the car park starting at 11:15. (Please note that parking may be chargeable.)

The main walk is a 6.5 to 7 mile lap of Greenham Common at or near the perimeter. The longer walk includes an extension of 2.5 miles each way for anyone coming by train, to join the main group at Greenham Common and to return to the station after the walk.

Please bring a packed lunch and drinking water. You will need to bring a face covering/mask for emergencies and if travelling on public transport. We strongly recommended you also bring hand sanitiser.

If you would like go on this walk, please email Rob at booking@berksww.org.uk and mention whether you want to do the long walk from the station or the shorter walk from the car park. We will get back to you to let you know if you have a place or not. If all places have gone, we'll ask if you want to be put on the reserve list in case someone else drops out. Please do not turn up to the walk without having successfully booked a place.

If you have a question about the walk, please contact Jean-Paul, but booking a place must be done through Rob.

Leader: Jean-Paul 07887 710 396

Sunday 13th September: 12 Mile Walk - Watership Down and Overton (moderate)
- This walk is now fully booked.

Under current Ramblers rules and government restrictions, all people on a walk must give contact tracing details before the walk. We are also limiting the number of people attending each walk. The limit for this walk is 12 (including the leader). You must book your place in advance to attend the walk.

Our walk will start of from the White Hill car park at 10:30. We'll head over the Downs, brushing North Oakley and into Overton, which is the bottom of our walk. From there we head back up hill to get the view from Watership Down before heading back to the cars. The walk in over well-made footpaths and lanes, though could be muddy of it has rained recently. There is little shelter on the walk - please bring appropriate clothing for the weather. We'll stop for a packed lunch en route.

Please bring a packed lunch and plenty of drinking water. You will need to bring a face covering/mask for emergencies and if travelling on public transport. We strongly recommended you also bring hand sanitiser.

Sorry, this walk is now fully booked. Please do not turn up to the walk if you haven't booked a place.

Leader: Lee P. 07780 683 521

Sunday 20th September: 9 Mile Walk - Wooburn, Flackwell Heath and Littleworth Common (moderate)

Under current Ramblers rules and government restrictions, all people on a walk must give contact tracing details before the walk. We are also limiting the number of people attending each walk. The limit for this walk is 12 (including the leader). You must book your place in advance to attend the walk.

Starting at 10:30 from Wooburn, this is a varied walk across arable fields, through woods and skirting several villages. It's on the edge of the Chilterns, so expect a few gentle inclines. The paths are good but could be muddy in places after heavy rain! There will be a morning 'coffee' break and a longer stop for lunch.

Please bring a packed lunch and a drink. Also, please bring a face covering/mask for emergencies and/or if you are getting to and from the walk by public transport. We recommended you also bring hand sanitiser.

Sorry, this walk is now fully booked. Please do not turn up to the walk if you haven't booked a place.

Leader: Christine F 07514 138 737

Sunday 27th September: 9½ Mile Walk - Britwell Salome, Ewelme and Swyncombe Hill (moderate)

Under current Ramblers rules and government restrictions, all people on a walk must give contact tracing details before the walk. We are also limiting the number of people attending each walk. The limit for this walk is 6 (including the leader). You must book your place in advance to attend the walk.

Starting at 10:00, near Britwell Salome and takes us through Ewelme and Swyncombe Hill, passing the 11th century St Botolph's church. There are wide sections as well as more narrow sections, with views over the Oxfordshire countryside. There are a couple of steep sections, but nothing too onerous. There will be a picnic lunch en route, but no pub-stop. The route is a figure-of-eight with both loops of relatively equal length, which would allow anyone to do a shorter walk if they wanted.

Please bring a packed lunch and a drink. Also, please bring a face covering/mask for emergencies and/or if you are getting to and from the walk by public transport. We recommended you also bring hand sanitiser.

Sorry! This walk is now fully booked. Please email Rob at booking@berksww.org.uk if you want to be put on the reserve list in case someone else drops out. Please do not turn up to the walk without having booked a place.

This walk may be suitable for well-behaved dogs. If you wish to bring your dog, or have any other question about the walk, please contact Sharon. Booking a place must still be done by an email to Rob.

Leader: Sharon 07851 452 152

October 2020

Sunday 4th October: 7 Mile Walk - Wargrave, Crazies Hill and Bowsey Hill (moderate)

Under current Ramblers rules and government restrictions, all people on a walk must give contact tracing details before the walk. We are also limiting the number of people attending each walk. The limit for this walk is 12 (including the leader). You must book your place in advance to attend the walk.

A circular walk, starting at 10:30 from Wargrave train station (where there is free parking). We will head through part of the village and out across farmland. We'll walk up and around Crazies Hill through some rather lovey woodland. This can be quite muddy, depending on how wet the weather has been. We'll then make our way down to Bowsey Hill and back down into the village.

There are some sections of road walking but these are mainly quiet country lanes. There are several stiles and some uphill sections of the walk. As the walk is fairly short (around 2.5 hours) we can either stop for lunch on route if it seems good, or we can sit on the green by St Mary's church at the end of the walk. There is an optional pub stop at the end of the walk.

Please bring a packed lunch and a drink. Also, please bring a face covering/mask for emergencies and/or if you are getting to and from the walk by public transport. We recommended you also bring hand sanitiser.

If you would like go on this walk, please email Rob at booking@berksww.org.uk. We will get back to you to let you know if you have a place or not. If all places have gone, we'll ask if you want to be put on the reserve list in case someone else drops out. Please do not turn up to the walk without having successfully booked a place. If you have a question about the walk, please contact Holly, but booking a place must be done by email to Rob.

Leader: Holly 07477 010 177

Sunday 11th October: 12 Mile Walk - Goring-on-Thames and Aldworth (challenging)

Under current Ramblers rules and government restrictions, all people on a walk must give contact tracing details before the walk. We are also limiting the number of people attending each walk. The limit for this walk is 6 (including the leader). You must book your place in advance to attend the walk.

This walk is graded as challenging due to a combination of the length and a few hills, but on the positive side, if we have a clear day the views will be worth the climbs. The walk is limited to 6 people as it includes a pub-stop.

Starting at 10:30, we will first walk the Thames trail from Goring to the village of Moulsford. Next with some sweeping valley views we will go along a valley floor called Unhill Bottom before climbing to our lunch spot in Unhill Wood. After lunch we briefly walk on the Ridgway national trail followed by a visit to The Bell Inn at Aldworth for a well earned socially distanced pub drink. Suitable refreshed we return back via the Ridgeway national trail and a further climb to the start via the National Trust view point of Lardon Chase.

Please bring a packed lunch and plenty to drink. Also, please bring a face covering/mask for emergencies and/or if you are getting to and from the walk by public transport. We recommended you also bring hand sanitiser.

Sorry! This walk is now fully booked. Please email Rob at booking@berksww.org.uk if you want to be put on the reserve list in case someone else drops out. Please do not turn up to the walk without having booked a place. If you have a question about the walk, please contact Mike, but booking a place must be done by email to Rob.

Leader: Mike D 07938 843 660

Sunday 18th October: 11 Mile Walk - Windsor and Runnymede (moderate)

Details to follow...

Leader: Kathy

Updates to Details

Please note that walks, social events and holidays may be added to this programme at any time. Also we occasionally have to make changes to an item that is already on the programme. If you have printed out this programme, please be aware that it may have changed since you printed it.

If you are unable to check the website before attending a walk, it would be wise to call the walk leader/event organiser to confirm that the details haven't changed.

If you wish to reproduce any of the events from this programme in a local paper, magazine or elsewhere on the Internet, please contact us. Your reproduction could become incorrect and misleading if we update the programme and were not able to alert you of the changes. Also we would like to extend the courtesy of informing our leaders that their walk has been more widely publicised, so that they may expect more attendees than usual.

Booking of Social Events

Please remember that our social events are organised by volunteers, so your co-operation is greatly appreciated. For some events the organisers need to know in advance who is going so they can make the necessary bookings etc. If you wish to attend a social event that specifies a deadline then please contact the organiser before the deadline otherwise you will be putting them to extra trouble and it may not be possible to change the booking anyway.

If there are still some spare places on an event after the specified deadline has passed, a bulletin will be sent out, otherwise you must assume you are too late. (Please don't try to sneak in by contacting the venue and changing the booking without the organisers knowledge or consent!)

Also, if you are booked on an event and then find you are unable to make it after all, please let the organiser know so that they don't wait around for you, and as they may be able to offer the place to someone else.

Thank you very much for your co-operation.