Description
You are never far from the railway line on this walk, yet it’s easy to feel quite far removed from the hustle and bustle of life. Perhaps this is due to the expansive views across the mostly flat countryside. The hill above Brickledon’s Farm is a slight climb, but it provides a fabulous vantage point to survey all that is around. With Reading visible through a gap in the trees it is almost a 360. As you head down towards The Jackdaw house, the missing parts of the earlier view come into sight. The keen eyed will spot the spire of St Mary’s church, the broad front of Wokefield Park and the wind turbine at the Madejsky Stadium.
As the shorter of a pair of linear walks between Mortimer and Bramley, ‘Walking The Line’ should help limber you up for ‘When in Rome’, the longer Mortimer to Bramley leg via Silchester. Who knows, you might even work up to putting them together and doing the whole circuit.
Walk Instructions
- From the station walk in the direction of the Bramley Inn. Cross over to the playing field and walk along the path parallel to the main road. The path bends right behind the hall, passes a small playground and goes into a car park before reaching the road. Cross over and walk up the road on the pavement.
- At the National Grid sign continue straight ahead up Minchens Lane. Despite there being no pavement, this road is relatively quiet. At the top turn right and cross the railway bridge.
- At the sign to Hollycross Farm turn left. Go straight through the farmyard into the fields beyond. The path eventually bends to the left and reaches a No Public Right of Way sign. Turn right and follow the path diagonally across the field towards some trees.
- At the trees there is a wooden footpath post indicating 2 paths. Follow the one going left. It continues around the edge of the fields until it reaches a road with buildings off to the right.
- Turn right and walk past the buildings on the wide track. The path climbs gradually.
- At the top of the hill there is another No Public Right of Way sign off right. At this point there is a narrow footpath ahead across a field towards some trees. Head into the trees but don’t go more than 3 or 4 meters before turning right to reach a field. Head down the hill to the drive of Jackdaw House to reach the road. The people who live here are very used to walkers going past their beautiful, Grade II listed house. It has an interesting history as Bob & Carolyn will tell you. It used to be a pub (the Silchester Arms) that was well-used by farm workers, platelayers on the nearby railway and charcoal burners from local copses, as well as people walking between the local stations as you are today. The house’s name – The Jackdaw – also has an interesting history. Apparently, workers involved with the railway construction used to trap Jackdaws at the pub and take them back to London to sell as a sort of poor man’s parrot.
- After the Jackdaw turn left onto the road and immediately look out for a sign in the right-hand hedge indicating the continuation of the path. The path goes along the RHS of the hedge ahead, under the powerline & across the metal railway bridge. Follow the path down to the stream, go through the kissing gate & turn right.
- Walk along the field edge for nearly ½ a mile until you reach a footbridge on the RHS. Cross the stream (known locally as the Foudry and straightened back in the middle ages to provide water to a mill close to the church), turn left & continue following it, but now keeping it on your left. Follow this path until you reach the church & road ahead. Turn right at the road & right again at the roundabout to return to the station.
Useful Link
Bramley Bakery, beside the station. Open most days 07.00-16.00 bramleybakery.co.uk They have a toilet.
Start and End
Bramley / Mortimer
Distance
4.3 miles
Time
2 hours walking time plus breaks
Grade
4/10 – mostly flat, one slight incline
Accessibility
Not push/wheelchair accessible
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