Pangbourne

Steady rain this morning, but we decided to believe the weather forecast and go for our planned walk anyway. The walk starts in the centre of Pangbourne, notionally at the Cross Keys pub, and involves a clockwise circuit. It is largely the Pangbourne College and River Pang walk I did in 2007.

You leave Pangbourne by walking east through Pangbourne Meadows beside the Thames, and then head south to the water meadows of its tributary, the Pang. You then follow the line of the river to reach Tidmarsh.

There are a number of attractive Victorian buildings in Tidmarsh. The one one the left can only be a former school, but the one on the right, now known as The Round House, has a more interesting history. It appears that it is a former toll house, built to house a toll collector on a turnpike, and that the polygonal shape is typical of such buildings. It probably dates from the 1820s and would have ceased its original functions when the Turnpike Trusts were closed in the 1870s. My search for information found a website on turnpikes which although having some design flaws is very informative. Tollhouse Alan, whose website this is, has also taken a load of photos of tollhouse which are available on flickr.


From Tidmarsh, a winding field edge path and then a hedged track lead to the grounds of Pangbourne College. After a short stretch of road, further fields lead to the delightful Berry's Copse.

You then cross under the railway bridge and walk along the pavement beside A329 with the Thames on your left to return to Pangbourne.

From: Pub walks for motorists: Berkshire and Oxfordshire by Les Maple (Countryside Books).

Map: Explorer 159 (Reading and Pangbourne).

Rating: three and a half stars.


Flower of the day

We spotted this climbing/trailing plant at the base of a hedgerow. I couldn't identify it from my wildlife book, but an excellent website for flower identification, Botanical keys, revealed it to be White Bryony. It will later have shiny red berries.

White Bryony

Reflections

Some fairly obvious ones. I have driven through Tidmarsh many times, and walked through it three or four times, but never previously noticed The Round House. And having noticed it, taking the trouble to do a little searching revealed an interesting historical story.

Doing a walk you have done before in reverse feels very like a new walk, since, evidently, you see everything from a different perspective.