Section 42 Return
Tidmarsh to Ufton
Walk Details
| Map | OS Explorer 159 Reading |
|---|---|
| Distance/Time | 6 ½ miles/ 4 hours |
| Start | The Greyhound pub at Tidmarsh; the pub car park seems the only parking in the village. |
| Comment | This is an easy to follow section with a pleasant start, a long section down Nunhide Lane with good views if a little hard on the feet, some safe roadwalking through Theale and an excellent section of canal walking with narrow boats, locks, swing bridges and water meadows to enjoy. |
Walk Instructions
With The Greyhound pub on your left, turn left down the side road, Mill Lane. Just before a narrow bridge, turn left down a footpath by a river and soon cross a footbridge. Go over to a stile and cross into a field.
Go on down the field with a hedge on your right. At the end cross a footbridge into the next field and go on in the same direction towards distant cottages. At the bottom of the field cross another footbridge and go up to a gate to a road. Turn left a few paces then right, off the road, up through a kissing gate into a field. Turn right along the bottom of the field a short distance to a junction of paths. Ignore paths going uphill and go through a gate into an enclosed path. Keep on this for some way to eventually emerge onto a road (take care it is a blind bend).
Cross over by a stunning Victorian picturesque lodge and go forward away from the road alongside a church yard on your left. This is Nunhide Lane. Stay on this lane for two miles. After 1 ½ miles pass Nunhide Farm and continue another ½ mile to emerge onto a road.
Turn right to a ramp. Walk up this to reach and cross a footbridge over the M4. At the far side reach a road now blocked by the motorway. Go ahead into the village of Theale. Keep on through shops to a crossroads at the centre.
Turn left up Station Road. Go under a road bridge and continue past the station and over the railway. Keep going to eventually cross the Kennet & Avon Canal. Immediately turn right down to the towpath and walk away from the road with the canal on your right.
Stay on the towpath for 2 miles passing locks at Sulhampstead and Tyle Mill. Eventually reach the bridge at Ufton where the towpath stops (it restarts the other side). Cross the bridge and stay on the road. The road soon reaches a junction with the A4 and the site of the old Winning Hand pub, now closed, and the start of the section.
