Walking in the Thames Valley. Steve Davison

The route takes in four counties: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire, in a 133-mile (214km) circuit (extended to 172 miles in 2003) from Ewelme in the southwest to Sharpenhoe Clappers and Great Offley in the northeast, and as far southeast as Chorleywood West.

      Looking across to the Devil’s Punchbowl from the Ridgeway (Walk 9)

      D’Arcy Dalton Way (Walk 1)

      The D’Arcy Dalton Way is a 66-mile (106km) north–south path between Wormleighton near Banbury and Wayland’s Smithy on the Ridgeway. The route was created to mark the Oxford Fieldpath Society’s Diamond Jubilee in 1986 and was named after a notable defender of the county’s path network. The route passes through parts of the Cotswolds, Thames Valley, Vale of the White Horse and Wessex Downs.

      Lambourn Valley Way (Walk 6)

      The Lambourn Valley Way is a 22-mile (35km) walk running from the Berkshire Downs at the Uffington White Horse to Newbury, following the picturesque valley of the River Lambourn.

      Oxfordshire Way (Walk 22)

      The Oxfordshire Way is a 65-mile (104km) lowland path linking the Cotswolds at Bourton-on-the-Water with the Chilterns and River Thames at Henley-on-Thames. The route passes through the most rural and scenic landscapes of Oxfordshire, including two AONBs: the Cotswolds, with their characteristic grey limestone buildings and stone walls and the Chilterns, with their flint-and-brick architecture and famous beech woods.

      Ridgeway National Trail (Walks 2, 6, 9, 10, 11, 17 and 20)

      The Ridgeway, designated as a long-distance route in 1972, stretches for 85 miles (137km) across five counties, from Overton Hill near Avebury in Wiltshire to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. However, it is just part of a prehistoric track that once stretched for 248 miles (400km) from the Dorset coast to the Wash on the Norfolk coast. Its purpose was to provide a route for travellers over high ground which was less wooded and drier than routes following the springline villages below. These ancient trackways have been in use for over 5000 years, making them some of the oldest roads in Britain.

      Along the Ridgeway, man has left evidence of early occupation in the form of Neolithic and Bronze Age burial mounds and later Iron Age hillforts. Three hillforts along the western section of the Ridgeway are visited on separate walks detailed in this book. These are Liddington Castle (Walk 2), Uffington Castle (Walk 6) and Segsbury or Letcombe Castle (Walks 6 and 10). The atmospheric Neolithic burial mound at Wayland’s Smithy and the stunning Uffington White Horse, believed to be 3000 years old, are visited on Walk 6.

      Shakespeare Way (Walk 19)

      This long-distance path, following minor roads and footpaths, runs for 146 miles (235km) between Stratford-upon-Avon – Shakespeare’s birthplace–and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.

      Swan’s Way (Walk 20)

      A long-distance bridle route of 65 miles (105km) from the River Thames at Goring in the south to Salcey Forest in Northamptonshire, passing through a variety of Buckinghamshire landscapes en route.

      Thames Path (Walks 1, 7, 16, 18, 23, 24 and 25)

      The National Trail, opened in 1996, follows England’s best-known river for 184 miles (294km) as it meanders from its source in the Cotswolds near Kemble (Gloucestershire) through the bustle of London to the Thames Barrier in Woolwich. En route the path passes through several rural counties and fascinating urban areas such as Oxford, Henley-on-Thames, Windsor and Greenwich, as well as peaceful water meadows rich in wildlife. A 10-mile (16km) extension from the Thames Barrier east to the Crayford Ness marshes was added in 2001.

      Test Way (Walk 8)

      A 44-mile (71km) route starting on the chalk downs at Inkpen Beacon where the Wayfarer’s Walk ends (see below). The route follows much of the course of the River Test, passing through some of Hampshire’s picturesque villages, to reach the coast at Southampton Water.

      Wayfarer’s Walk (Walks 8 and 14)

      The Wayfarer’s Walk stretches for 70 miles (113km) through Hampshire from the coast near Portsmouth to Inkpen Beacon just across the Berkshire border, where it meets the Test Way. The Wayfarer’s Walk provides a fine selection of walking terrain from coastal to gentle rolling hills, dotted with the dense woodland and rich green valleys for which Hampshire is renowned.

      St Michael’s Church in Aston Tirrold (Walk 13)

WALK 1

Lechlade and a Thames Meander

Start/Finish	Market Place next to St Lawrence’s Church in Lechlade (SU215995); parking at Memorial Hall and sports ground along Burford Street (A361) (SU214998)
Distance	15 miles (24.1km) or 8 miles (12.8km)
Grade	1
Time	6 hours or 4 hours
Maps	OS Explorer 170/Landranger 163
Refreshments	Lechlade – several pubs, café and shops; Buscot – tea room in village shop; Radcot – Swan Hotel (01367 810220); Kelmscott – The Plough Inn (01367 253543); St John’s Lock – The Trout Inn (01367 252313)
Transport	Bus links to Swindon and Cirencester
Note	A long circular walk through three counties which can be shortened by missing out Radcot and Kelmscott.

      The walk starts from the town of Lechlade on Thames and follows the Thames upstream to the hamlet of Inglesham with its unspoilt church before heading off towards Buscot; a short detour can be made to visit the village (owned by the National Trust, with small shop and café). On reaching the Thames south of Kelmscott a decision has to be made: short or long route? The short walk heads back along the River Thames, while the long walk heads off through farmland passing the hamlet of Eaton Hastings to reach Radcot and the oldest bridge over the Thames. From here the walk follows the meandering Thames Path back to Lechlade with a short excursion through the village of Kelmscott, passing the former home of William Morris.

      Lechlade-on-Thames, on the edge of the Cotswolds, is dominated by the fine 15th-century St Lawrence’s Church (there is evidence of a 13th-century church on the same site). The Perpendicular-style church, decorated with gargoyles and grotesque sculptures, is built of local stone from Taynton Quarry near Burford, which also supplied the stone for St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Inside there are some good memorial brasses, including one to local wool merchant John Townsend(d. 1458) and his wife Ellen. One of the best features is the 15th-century chancel roof. Only fragments of the earlier church remain, including two stone plaques, one of which depicts the martyrdom of St Agatha.

      The late author and architectural historian, David Verey, described the parish church as ‘One of the six finest churches in Gloucestershire’, while in 1815 the great English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1827) was inspired to write about the church in his ‘Stanzas in Lechlade Churchyard’:

      Thou too, aereal Pile! Whose pinnacles

      Point from one shrine like pyramids of fire

      Obeyist in silence their sweet solemn spells,

      Clothing in hues of Heaven thy dim and distant spire

      Around whose lessening and invisible height

      Gather among the stars the clouds of night.

      At the bottom of Bell Lane, off the High Street, is the site of the old wharf and the point at which the river was crossed by means of Tidford ford, in use until Ha’penny Bridge was built in 1792. The bridge is named after the amount of toll levied to cross; the toll-house still stands on the bridge and forms part of the eastern parapet.