East Hagbourne - Rambling June 2010 Report

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Rambling - June 2010 Report

June 13th. A cool, dry and sunny day. Excellent rambling weather as 17 of us set out from Upper Cross to discover some attractive routes for walking to The Crown in South Moreton and The Bear in North Moreton.

We made our way up Church Lane to Fieldside and then to the unmarked, short path that bears left just before reaching Blewbury Road at Tadley. Crossing Blewbury Road we continued on the bridleway known as the Paper Mill Road and eventually passed the site of the old paper mill as we crossed over Mill Stream. Continuing straight on, we soon reached a footpath heading northeast that seemed to end abruptly in a healthy stand of wheat. Obviously the footpath had been ploughed up and planted but it was suggested that we might get to our intended destination by following the field-edge around to the left. This we did and then successfully picked up the continuation of the footpath as it headed due east for South Moreton.

We diverted , briefly, from our main destination to check out the church, its ancient yew (now looking amazingly healthy) and the mound behind which is listed as having been a "crusade castle". Today it is little more than a pile of stones covered by trees and shrubs.

We returned to the main path into South Moreton only to find it stopped up just short of the road. We took a small diversion through a very old farm yard which eventually led us onto the main road, directly across from The Crown and Crown Lane. However, we didn't stop because The Bear lay ahead.

Crown Lane becomes a footpath and then turns right to cross beneath the GW main line and then bears northeasterly. Avoiding a tempting bridge on our right that again crosses Mill Brook, we continued straight on to a far less salubrious bridge across a tributary which led to a large open field with many cows. At this point the trick is to go sharply left to gain the field edge and then head generally north passing an enormous disused greenhouse to finally reach Bear Lane in North Moreton. A few yards further brought us to the entrance of the cricket ground (game in progress) and finally to The Bear.

We stopped for a break and the publican came out to investigate the motley crew that had invaded his parking lot. We were quite welcome when I said that we were just ramblers trying to find the best route between East Hagbourne and The Bear. In fact we hadn't found the shortest route at all, but going home we did.

We turned left onto High Street and in just a few yards found a footpath heading west. The map showed it shortly veering north. We wanted to keep going west. Another of our group suggested that it might lead to an informal path that would meet our needs and bring us to a bridleway which heads south, back across the railway. This would save us about a half-mile of road walking. Ideal!

We tried it and it worked! This put us at a footpath that runs beside the South Moreton-Didcot Road. Unfortunately this footpath had been totally obscured by another planting of wheat. We took it anyway. It was slow going, but better than being on the road. Eventually this leads to the footpath into Fulscot Farm and finally to the bridleway home.

All-in-all about 7-miles in a very leisurely 3-hours - an interesting Sunday excursion. Please join us next month when there will be a guest leader!

Next Ramble
Sunday, July 11th
2:00 p.m.
John Jones: 813326
Meet at the East Hagbourne Upper Cross

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