The Sun Inn at Whitchurch Hill (0118 984 2260)

Download sample menu (Autumn 2006) pdf

Distance:10 miles from Goring village centre

Time: Allow 5 hours plus time for eating and drinking at the Sun. Note that the route to the pub is quite short, allow 1½ to 2 hours, so don't set out too early or you will have to sit on the pub doorstep to await opening time

Walking Conditions: Mainly minor tarmac roads and narrow track incorporating part of the Thames Path. There is a steep climb up the track to Hill Bottom and a steep descent into Whitchurch

Parking: Goring Village Car Park. (Pay & Display charges may apply. Please check notices)

Route: Leave the car park by the main entry road and turn left along Station Road. At the junction with Red Cross Road continue straight across to the gate into the station. Walk along the platform and cross the footbridge to emerge through the main entrance into Gatehampton Road. Turn right and cross to the footpath. Continue along the footpath and then the road for about a mile. Where the road turns sharp left, take the track that goes straight on. You will pass a BBOWT nature reserve in about 50 yards. It is worth entering the field and climbing to the top of the hill to view the Thames and Streatley Hills behind. In season the reserve is a sea of wild flowers and orchids. Please take care not to walk on them

Having done this, retrace your steps to the gate and go up the track until you reach a tarmaced road. (This happens to be the road you left earlier which interestingly is not the public right of way for vehicles. Early maps show the track to be the road and the road to be a bridleway). Bear right onto the road and continue straight ahead until you come to a main road. (B471) Cross into the road opposite (signposted Hill Bottom) and follow it until you find the Sun on the left

Having taken refreshment, turn right along the road you came on until you come to a lane on the left marked The Bridleway. Follow this to a road and turn right, passing the village pond and recreation ground, and on to the B471. Cross the road where you will find a path that runs behind the hedge and follow this to the top of Whitchurch Hill. At the War Memorial, cross to the opposite bank where the path continues down the hill. Where the path meets the road again cross into a wide lane signposted Thames Path to Goring

Continue along this lane until you arrive at a marked footpath descending some steps into woods. Continue along the path which winds through the woods and emerges between two houses and onto a concrete road at Gatehampton Farm. Continue straight ahead and then turn left passing to the left of a scruffy nursery area to a track beside the empty farmhouse

Turn right along the track passing under a small brick arch beneath the railway. Continue through a gate and go right along a wide winding track until you come to a gate at the end of Manor Road. Walk along Manor Road to it's junction with Station Road and turn right to return to the car park.

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