View site as:

The Wokingham Way 8 - Beech Hill to Madejski Park and Ride

Difficulty Leisurely

Walking time 2 hours 46 minutes

Length 9.0km / 5.6mi

Route developer: Loddon Valley Ramblers

Route checker: Pat Perridge

Start location Wood Lane, Beech Hill
Route Summary This section of the Wokingham Way takes you from rural Beech Hill over the M4 to newly developed Green Park on the west side of Reading.
*move mouse over graph to see points on route
Getting there

To get to the start of the route, there are occasional bus services to Beech Hill.  Walk down Wood Lane from the bus stop to reach the start. Bus route 154 Stratfield Saye - Reading (Thursdays and Saturdays), 75/75A Beech Hill - Newbury (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays) http://www.beechhillvillage.co.uk/node/41. There are more routes to nearby Riseley.

See Reading FC fixtures list  http://www.readingfc.co.uk/fixtures-results/fixtures-list/

and London Irish Fixtures list: http://www.london-irish.com/fixturesss.ink

From the end of the route, there are regular buses to Reading centre  (51, 52, 53) and a number of other locations (but more during match days) http://www.reading-travelinfo.co.uk
 
To return to the start from the finish, from the car park, walk down to the A33. Cross the A33 and walk up Bennett Road to the Basingstoke Road (B3031) and cross to the bus stop on the other side of the Basingstoke Road. Take Bus 82 (hourly service by Fleet Buzz) towards Fleet and alight at the Dog And Partridge pub in Riseley.
 
Continue down the road in Riseley and turn right into Sun Lane. At the end of Sun Lane, turn left into Bull Lane and go through the underpass under the A33. Continue along Bull Lane until the T-junction. Turn right and follow the road, which swings left, and in about 400 yards, turn right down a marked byway opposite New Barn Farm. This byway crosses the A33 via a wide bridge. Ignore the byway on the right and keep straight on, eventually reaching a tarmac surface (Spring Lane). Continue along Spring Lane to a T-junction and turn left on to a minor road (Barge Lane) and then next right on to Kingsbridge Hill. Cross the River Loddon and shortly after turn left onto a public bridleway. At a metal barrier, turn sharp left and proceed down a bridleway adjacent to the A33 to pass under the A33 and up the ramp on the other side. After 100 yards turn left over a stile into field. Keep the field edge on your left and cross a wooden bridge with a gate into another field. Aim for the middle of the fir trees, go through a gate, cross the farmyard, through another gate, passing to the left of a large brick building to reach a road (Wood Lane) by a white house. Turn right up the road for approximately half a mile to the T-junction at Beech Hill.
 
Description

[1] Walk along Wood Lane and keeping 'Priory Lodge' to your left, follow small lane on the right marked 'Priory Farm, Priory Court Commercial Units, Private Road'. Continue along the lane until you reach a white gate ahead, and here follow footpath sign left into the farmyard. Pass through the farmyard and commercial units to small gate in a line of conifers and cross field ahead, exiting by a similar gate. Cross a footbridge over a small stream and continue into next field, following trees on the right to the busy A33 dual carriageway ahead. In a corner of the field, adjacent to road, cross a stile and turn right to soon reach an underpass. Go through the underpass and turn left to head north, still alongside the A33.

[2] After 100 yards, pass through a gap beside a metal gate and continue ahead, following a bridleway sign. After about half a mile, on reaching a minor road, cross over to follow Yew Tree Lane ahead. At the end of Yew Tree Lane, cross the road and follow a footpath sign to go past Whitehouse Farm Mobile Home Park. The path now takes you into a wood following a well-defined path until you reach a wooden sleeper bridge over a bog. 
 
[3] Cross the bridge and turn left on to a bridleway which slowly descends to meet a bend on a byway just before the A33 on the left. Turn right here and follow this byway, adjacent to the A33, for just over one mile until reaching the approaches to the M4/A33 junction (J11). (En route, on reaching a residential area and Kingfisher Grove continue ahead along the road, rejoining the byway where the road bends right).
 
[4] At Three Mile Cross, with J11 in sight, cross the road via the traffic-light-controlled pedestrian crossings and join a tarmac path opposite. Ignoring an inviting gravel track below, which leads to the nearby housing estate, continue along the tarmac path, now alongside the main road, to reach a prominent footbridge across the roundabout. Take this footbridge, and then a second bridge across the M4 itself, and cross a slip road to reach a third footbridge. Cross again via this bridge, ignoring its right fork, continuing ahead towards the buildings of Green Park where you can see the Madejski Stadium in the distance.
 
On reaching the road ahead, cross over to reach a red brick and green glass building, and here turn left, back towards J11. Approaching the roundabout, the tarmac path ends and becomes a downward-leading gravel track. The gravel track then becomes a rough dirt track, which soon has high fences to each side. Follow this rather dull section for about 700 yards, keeping the chain link fence to the right,  until eventually reaching a small watercourse. Here turn right, with the water on your left, and soon the path crosses the water and rises to join South Oak Way, adjacent to the large wind turbine. Walk past the wind turbine and continue along the road to a roundabout. Here turn right into Brook Drive and follow a broad roadside footpath until you come to a path on the right with steps leading up to the Madejski Stadium car park.
 
To continue with the next section of the Wokingham Way, with your back to the Madejski Stadium and Hotel, cross the car park to the west corner to enter a path with steps leading to a road with a bus stop marked '250 Brook Drive’.
POI information No details available.
Notes

OS Map: Landranger 175, Explorer 159

Acknowledgements

Route 8 from The Wokingham Way - http://www.wokinghamway.co.uk

The Wokingham Way is a series of attractive walks which make up a complete circular tour around Wokingham Borough, from the River Thames, north of Henley to the River Blackwater. It was put together by Loddon Valley Ramblers, with the aim of designing a long-distance walk which followed the Wokingham Borough boundary as far as possible, but with the overriding goal of developing walks which would be attractive. It is a very varied and interesting route.
 
Photo - Meadow, Spencers Wood © (Andrew Smith) / CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Meadow, Spencers Wood
    Meadow, Spencers Wood
    By - © Copyright Andrew Smith and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence (see acknowledgements)
This route has been viewed 11 times

Reviews

Be the first person to review this route!