Pete's Walks- Goring, Hartslock, Cray's Pond (page 4 of 4)
If you are considering walking this route yourself, please see my disclaimer. You may also like to see these notes about the maps and GPX files.
At the end of the bridleway, I turned left for a very short distance along a lane (I saw my first Sanicle of the year here), then continued along another bridleway on the other side, still heading north west. The bridleway rose gently uphill along a track, with a huge cattle pasture sloping down on the left towards the lane (the trees along the lane hid Elvendon Priory from view, according to the OS map). As I got nearer the top of the slope, I kept admiring the view looking half-left, along the valley towards Goring and part of Berkshire across the Thames. Near the top of the slope, the bridleway left the track and continued between the fence of the pasture and some trees, before entering Wroxhill Wood. It was very pleasant following the bridleway through the wood, again with much birdsong to be heard.
The bridleway going northwest from near Elvendon Priory
Close-up shot of the view half-left from the bridleway going northwest from near Elvendon Priory
The bridleway going northwest from near Elvendon Priory
The bridleway continuing through Wroxhills Wood
The bridleway continuing through Wroxhills Wood
The bridleway continuing through Wroxhills Wood
After almost half a mile of walking through the wood, I reached a path crossroads where I turned left onto a footpath - I was back on a path I knew now, as this was part of the Southern Extension of the Chiltern Way, which I'd walked in 2005 and 2007. Almost immediately I spotted some Wood Speedwell next to the path, another 'first' for the year. The path headed west and started descending. When it reached the edge of the wood, it turned left and continued downhill to reach Battle Road on the edge of Goring.
The footpath through Wroxhills Wood, shortly after I turned left
The footpath through Wroxhills Wood
The footpath through Wroxhills Wood, now on the edge of the wood and heading down to Battle Road
View right from the path on the edge of Wroxhills Wood
I crossed the road and took a footpath on the other side, which ran for some distance with fences on my right and Battle Plantation on my left. It then ran through a paddock, sloping uphill to my left. It then went down a fence-lined alley and crossed a track, before bearing left and following a residential street. When this turned slightly right, where another street came in on the left, I went straight on down a short alley, before turning right along a narrow drive.
The start of the footpath from Battle Road
The footpath from Battle Road
The footpath from Battle Road
The footpath from Battle Road
The footpath from Battle Road
The footpath from Battle Road
The residential street in Goring
The footpath heading to the road junction and the bridge over the railway in Goring
At the end of the drive, I went straight on along a road into the centre of Goring, almost immediately going over a railway bridge. Where the road narrowed at a very slight bend, I turned left along a path that took me past the public toilets and through a car park. At the exit to the car park I turned right, and then turned left into Manor Road, which I followed back to where I'd parked.
Overall the walk had taken about 3 hours and 35 minutes, but that includes the time I spent at Hartslock which I'd guess was about 20 minutes.
This walk was better than I'd imagined. It was really just an exploratory walk to try out some paths I'd not walked before, combined with a look for the orchids at Hartslock. As usual I'd just worked it out from the OS map, not really knowing what the paths would be like. In fact all the paths were fine, pleasant to walk and easy to follow. In particular, the bridleways from Little Heath to Wroxhills Wood were really good and I'd like to use them again in other walks. For people who'd not walked from Goring before, I'd probably recommend following the path along the Thames to Gatehampton Manor instead of the way I started, though that would probably entail paying to use the car park in the centre of Goring.
I may well repeat this walk another year when I come back to look for the orchids.