Hermitage

Oare church

An impromptu local walk. We set out from the Fox pub in Hermitage, a few miles north east of Newbury, and walked through the pleasant Roebuck Wood to reach the hamlet of Oare. The church of St Bartholomew is small but very attractive. Pevsner describes it as "a small medieval chapel, thoroughly rebuilt according to Ecclesiastical principles in 1852". In the church yard is a fine yew tree.

The route looped back to pass north of Hermitage and passed near to a cottage where D H Lawrence lived for two years and then looped southwards passing a rather lovely flower meadow. A good number of Green-veined White butterflies could be seen as we passed by.

At the end we crossed a road and followed a path through Box Wood. At the other side we crossed another road and entered a densely wooded area where we somehow managed to follow the detailed instructions to emerge at Grimsbury Castle. There are the remains of an iron age fort, and a rather charming 18th century folly house, late extended.

This is the view from the road.

It remained only to walk along the road towards Hermitage, turning right at the disused railway bridge to return to the start.

Conditions: pretty grey.

Distance: 5.5 miles.

From: Berkshire and Oxfordshire Pub Walks for Motorists (by Les Maple for Countryside Books).

Rating: three stars. A pleasant stroll.

Savernake Forest

Grand Avenue

Savernake covers some 4500 acres (7 square miles). The royal forest established in the 12th century covered an area of some 150 square miles, but this would have included villages and open ground as well as woodland. It was put into the care of Richard Esturmy  has passed down from father to son (or daughter, on four occasions) in an unbroken line of hereditary "forest wardens". The current Wardne is David Brudenell-Bruce, Earl of Cardigan. It is now the only ancient forest in Britain still in private hands. The private status of Savernake is maintained by shutting the forest to the public one day per year. (All this from Wikipedia.)

I started from Postern Hill and followed the path into the woodland. I was struck first of all by the size of some of the trees - ample evidence that this is an ancient forest.

I loved this dramatic fallen tree trunk left by the side of the path.

Soon afterwards I turned left into White Road, more of a track really, and noticed on Google maps that the Cathedral Oak was just off to the left of the path. I naturally made a detour to see this magnificent specimen which is nearly 10m in girth. It is at least 1000 years old; and probably the seconds oldest tree in Savernake, and maybe the second oldest in the UK according to Wiltshire Walks.

Returning to White Road I followed it to where it met the A4 on the north side of the forest and then made a 90 degree turn to walk down the Grand Avenue, passing by this lovely group of Teazles.

I have to say that although planned by Capability Brown, the Grand Avenue was not much fun to walk along. The road surface is very rough and every time a van or car went by vast clouds of noxious dust were thrown up. After a mile and half of this I was delighted to reach the junction called Eight Walks, where (reasonably enough) eight paths meet. The route led now along Great Lodge Drive, which was a much more inviting prospect.

The adjoining fields gave way to light woodland and I managed a couple of butterfly pictures - a lovely Brown Argus ...

... and a Small Skipper.

There were also a couple of sightings of a Silver-washed Fritillary, one of my favourite woodland butterflies.

The delightful Great Lodge Drive ended near Christ Church (by T H Wyatt, 1851 for the Marquis of Ailesbury, the then forest warden). It was declared redundant in 1979 and is now a rather splendid private house.

The final leg was in many ways the best of all: a meandering narrow path through the forest, roughly parallel to the A346. I had many more Silver-washed Fritillary sightings, but just one photo opportunity: this rather battered specimen.  I did see a mating pair engaged in the rather wonderful ritual where the female flies in a straight line and the male loops above and below her.

This path brought me at length to the car park.

Conditions: very warm, but quite cloudy.

Distance: 5.5 miles.

Map: Explorer 157 (Marlborough & Savernake Forest).

From: here.

Rating: four stars. Really enjoyable walk (apart from the Grand Avenue). I am looking forward to exploring other parts of the forest.

Kew Gardens

The Palm House

It is about eight years since we last visited Kew. This visit, with our daughter and grandson was so interesting that I felt it had to be blogged.

We started from the main entrance (Victorian Gate in Kew Road) and admired the magnificent Palm House. It was built between 1844–1848 by the iron founder Richard Turner to the design of architect Decimus Burton. At the time it was the largest greenhouse in the world.

In front of the Palm House is a pleasant lake with a campanile behind it. Curiously it is not even marked on the official map. It tuns out that it was also built by Decimus Burton in the 1840's. It is 32.42m (107ft) high and was originally designed as a water tower and chimney for the Palm House, to which it is connected by a tunnel. However, it was not very successful and became purely ornamental after changes were made to the Palm House.

In front of the Palm House gardeners were putting the finishing touches to an elaborate and ornate series of flower beds. It seemed to us to be an extreme example of the municipal flower beds found in civic parks up and down the country. Why not have a more natural-looking planting of wild flowers which are more amenable to wildlife?

We headed off in the direction of the famous Kew Pagoda and first passed the enormous and imposing Temperate House. This too was designed by Decimus Burton. Building began in 1860 and it opened to the public in 1863. It is twice the size of the Palm House and is home to temperate plants from around the world.

We continued along the long grassy avenue of trees that leads to the Pagoda (know very reasonably as Pagoda Vista) and spent some time, with a bit of success, trying to identify the trees. This cedar was especially imposing and photogenic.

Here is the Great Pagoda, designed by Sir William Chambers and completed in 1762 as a gift for Princess Augusta, the founder of the botanic gardens. Chambers had previously traveled to China. It is a ten-storey octagonal tower, almost 50m high. Each level is 30cm narrower than the one below.

It has just re-opened after extensive renovation, which included reinstating the 80 dragons which originally adorned the roofs, each carved from wood and gilded with real gold. The dragons were removed in 1784 and were rumoured to have been sold to settle George IV’s gambling debts. However, experts believe that since they were made of wood, they had simply rotted over time. Quite by chance, today was the day of the formal re-opening and if you look closely you can make out Prince Charles talking to an interviewer among the knot of people over to the left.

We walked along the wonderful Cedar Vista (also well-named) and after a break for lunch headed towards the wonderful Aquatic Garden, dating from 1909, on the opposite side of the Gardens.

Our next destination was the Orangery and en route we stumbled upon Turner's Oak. Was it perhaps named for the great painter J M W Turner?

No, it was created by a nurseryman, a Mr Turner of Essex in 1798 by crossing the English oak - Quercus robur - with the Holm oak - Quercus ilex. It is about 6.25m in girth. It was very impressive, but since then I have seen the Cathedral Oak in Savernake Forest in Wiltshire which is nearly 10m in girth and at least 1000 years old.

Soon after we emerged in front of the exquisite Orangery. It was the work of Sir William Chambers (who also designed the Pagoda - and Somerset House in London). The Orangery was completed in 1761. Sadly, it was found to be too dark for its intended purpose of growing citrus plants and they were moved out in 1841. After many changes of use, it is currently used as a restaurant.

We had one final delight: Kew Palace. This charming building in the Dutch style was built in 1631 and was long known as the Dutch House. It was used by the Hanoverian kings but was abandoned after 1844 and many of its ancillary buildings were demolished during the 19th century. It was restored during the early years of this century.

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Distance: maybe 3 miles.

Rating: five stars. A great place to amble round, even without going into the great greenhouses. Maybe next time.

Bibury

The clapper bridge, Bibury

In Gloucestershire on family business, we decided to fit in a walk. This one starts from Bibury, famously described by William Morris as the most beautiful village in England.

You cross the clapper bridge over the River Coln and immediately walk past Arlington Row, a group of seventeenth century weavers' cottages now owned by the National Trust. It is the epitome of the picturesque.


From here, you head uphill and quickly leave the village for a path along a field edge. At a crossing path you turn left and head south east towards Coln St Aldwyns. This lovely path follows a ridge with views to the south and then skirts round a hill. This is the view looking back.



After a few yards along a road, the route goes across some flat and uninteresting fields before entering parkland and descending down to the banks of the Coln again on the outskirts of Coln St Aldwyns.



You turn sharply left here for the return leg paralleling the Coln. Gradually you approach the river bank and gain a clearer sense of what the river looks like here.



A climb through woodland and then a gradual descent bring you back to the outskirts of Bibury, where a short detour reveals the delightful church of the Virgin Mary in a quiet close with the primary school opposite and the former manor house (now a hotel) nearby.



The church is Saxon in origin and there are a few identifiable remains of this period as well as Norman doorways, 14th century windows with Decorated tracery and the impressive 15th century tower, unusually placed at the end of the north aisle.

From: Cotswold Walks (Jarrold).

Distance: 6 miles.

Map: Explorer OL 45 (The Cotswolds).

Rating: Four stars.


Sightings

Here is the first fish to feature on this blog: a trout in the clear water at Bibury.



A few butterflies as well: Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Brimstone, Whites, Speckled Wood and a glimpse of what might have been a Small Copper.


Flower of the day

This Spear Thistle was impressive, although it is of course an Injurious Weed as defined in the Weeds Act of 1959.



Tree of the day

This splendid Ash was standing in the parkland at the edge of Coln St Aldwyns.

Shinfield Grange and Hall Farm

Field near Shinfield

A new local walk. Probably I have been put off because Shinfield has become the site of significant housing development. This one completely avoids the housing estates however.

You start quite close to the M4 motorway by Shinfield Grange, now Reading University's College of Estate Management and head away from both. Within moments you are walking along a pleasant green lane and at the arrive at a tree lined field (above) - apart from the seemingly-distant hum of traffic, you feel that you are instantly in the countryside.

You soon reach the busy A327, walk along it for a short way, cross the river Loddon at one of its least attractive points, and leave the road to follow fields towards Arborfield. You then loop back across the road again into the CEDAR estate (the Centre for Dairy Research. St Bartholomew's church spire can be seen across the fields.



Soon you come to the ruins of the old church, abandoned as being too run down in 1862. Some stonework can just be made out, as well as some brickwork from a later addition.



The handsome Lebanon cedar standing beside the ruins had a fine crop of cones.



After re-crossing the Loddon, a farm track leads back to the start.

From: Rambling for pleasure around Reading (first series) by David Bounds for the East Berkshire Ramblers.

Distance: 4 miles.

Map: Explorer 159 (Reading, Wokingham and Pangbourne).

Rating: three stars. A very pleasant surprise.


Sightings

Nothing particularly unusual, but a nice mix: a deer, rabbits, a group of gray partridges, a few butterflies (Red Admiral, Comma, Whites, Speckled Wood) and a kite (joy!).


Berries of the day

This fine orange specimen seems to be Sea Buckthorn, a plant famed for its medicinal properties and now apparently being used in skin care products.

The Vyne

The Vyne - rear facade

This short, but wonderful walk, comes courtesy of the National Trust and can be downloaded here. Although only 2.3 miles, this walk packs a lot in. The walk starts at the edge of Morgaston Woods and initially takes a straight line through the woods to come the edge of the lake which backs onto the house itself.

The initial paths are concrete and according to the walk notes were constructed during the second world war to act as a decoy for enemy bombers and distract them away from the munitions depot at nearby Bramley. At this time of year the concrete is covered by a carpet of leaves and could be any woodland path:



On reaching the lake, the path turns right and comes to an area of wetlands, where there is a hide to watch the wildflowl and wading birds that congregate there.



A zoom photo reveals a pair of herons on the far bank.



Map: Explorer 144 (Basingstoke, Alton and Whitchurch)

Rating: four stars.


The Vyne

The Vyne that we see today is, perhaps surprisingly, only a part of a what was once a much larger Tudor house. It was created in the early sixteenth century from a number af free-standing medieval buildings: the lawn at what is now the rear was once a series of Tudor courtyards in the style of Hampton Court.

The classical portico was of course added later, around 1660, and the staircase hall was remodelled in a classical style at the same time - and is rather discordant with the rest of the interior. The chapel is notable for its beautiful glazed Flemish tiles.



In the grounds there is a delightful seventeeth century brick summer house and the six hundred year old "Hundred guinea oak", so named because one of the Vyne's owners allegedly refused that sum of money for its timber.