Saturday Walkers' Club

Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1

Walk 24 : Cookham (round walk)



Stanley Spencer & The Wind in the Willows

Length 12.8 km (8 miles), 4 hours. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow 7 hours.
Maps OS Landranger Map No. 175. Cookham, map reference SU 886850, is in Berkshire, 2.5 km north of Maidenhead.
Toughness 2 out of 10
Features

The original published version of this walk crossed the A404 for lunch in Bisham or Marlow. The pub in Bisham is closed and there are no recommendations in Marlow, so this new version stays east of the A404 and offers a very early lunch in Cookham Dean, just 30 minutes from the start. A possible Marlow extension adds 3.2 km (2 miles) for lunch in Marlow, where there are plenty of places to eat but no recommendations.

The road from Cookham Station passes the very ordinary house where the artist Stanley Spencer lived and worked for some 15 years until his death in 1959. After lunch, from Winter Hill there are excellent views out across the Thames valley. Mole, Ratty and co – of The Wind in the Willows fame – inhabited the riverbanks and wild woods here, at least according to their author, Kenneth Grahame, who lived nearby. The last stretch of the walk is alongside the Thames, on the National Trust's Cock Marsh, now more of a meadow than marshland. In Cookham there is an opportunity to visit the Stanley Spencer Gallery.

Walk Options
  • Shortening the walk : 3km before the end of the walk you can cross the Thames via the railway bridge and return from Bourne End station.
  • Extending the walk : An extension across the river to Marlow for lunch is detailed after the main directions.
  • Marlow via Cookham Circular : This is a "re-imagining" of this walk, starting in Marlow and lunching in Cookham to avoid the lunch problem. See SWC Walk 66. Basically it is directions for going along the river from Marlow to Bourne End or Cookham (which needs little directions) and then going back over Winter Hill, sort of reversing the afternoon of the Book One Cookham walk. Or one could do the morning of the Book One Cookham walk as an afternoon.

History

Cookham was inhabited by ancient Britons, Romans and Saxons, and in the Doomsday Book is listed as containing '32 villagers, 21 cottages, 4 slaves, 2 mills, 2 fisheries and woodland at 100 pigs'. In 1140, a Norman church was built on the site of Holy Trinity Church, Cookham. There is a memorial stone to the artist Sir Stanley Spencer in the graveyard.

Spencer was born in 1891 in a Victorian semi-detached house called Fernley, in Cookham High Streer. He lived and worked from 1944 to 1959 in a house called Clivenden View (passed on this walk) and attended services at the Weslyan Chapel in the High Street, which is now the Stanley Spencer Gallery (01628 471885). From Easter to October the gallery is open daily 10:30 to 5:30; in winter, Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays only, from 11 to 5. There is a small admission fee.

Saturday Walker's Club Take the train nearest to 11am from Paddington Station to Cookham, changing at Maidenhead. Journey time about 50 minutes. The same timing is also fine for the Marlow extension. Return trains are once an hour.
Lunch The suggested lunchtime stop is the Jolly Farmer (01628 482905) in Cookham Dean. Small, often busy. Food 12 to 2:30 every day. Good food at regular prices. Groups over 12 are requested to phone ahead. Another possibility is to take the Marlow extension and eat in Marlow. The Two Brewers on St Peter Street is reached through the churchyard of All Saints Church (the big one by the river) and down an alley. But this pub is now distinctly up-market. There are many other possibilities in Marlow, though none stand out. The Marlow Donkey is traditional but a long way out of the centre towards the station. If starting out earlier, it's possible to take lunch at The Bounty at Bourne end, about three quarters of the way through the walk. Basic but good value and open all day in summer.
Tea A choice of destinations in Cookham. The Infusion tea-room welcomes walkers. Pubs include the Ferry, by the riverside, the Kings Arms and the Bel and Dragon.
Travel by Train
  • Out:
  • Back:
Travel by Car

Start: Cookham Station is near : SL6 9BP [gmap]

OS Explorer Map

172 : Chiltern Hills East [Amazon]
Revised

This walk was fully revised in : May-09

For the walk map, please see the Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Major Updates

The lunch pub in Bisham is closed to walkers. Lunch near the start in Cookham Dean, or detour over the Thames to Marlow. [details]
Other Thames Valley Walks Henley (round walk), Pangbourne (round walk), Shiplake to Henley, Oxford round walk, Sunningdale to Windsor, Mortimer to Aldermaston or Theale, Henley to Pangbourne, Henley via Stonor Circular, Henley via Hambleden Circular, Marlow Circular, Goring Circular, Newbury Racecourse to Woolhampton, Appleford Circular, Cholsey to Goring, Maidenhead to Marlow, Thames Path : Reading to Henley, Thames Path : Marlow via Cookham Circular,

Walking Instructions 



[Numbers in square brackets refer to the map in the book]

  1. [1] Coming out of Cookham Station turn left. In 15 metres turn left again over the railway crossing. In a further 25 metres turn left on High Road, your direction 185 degrees. In 60 metres bear right with this road.
  2. Ignore ways off. In 350 metres ignore Worster Road to the left. Cliveden View, the house on the corner, is where Sir Stanley Spencer lived and worked.
  3. Continue on the High Road, ignoring ways off. In 380 metres you come to a T-junction. Ignore the footpath sign opposite and turn right on this road, due north.
  4. In 80 metres, opposite Whyte Cottage [2], turn left on a signposted public footpath, your direction 290 degrees, between wooden fences.
  5. In 185 metres follow the path around to the left and in 30 metres bear right through the wooden gate, then cross the field, your direction 310 degrees.
  6. In 180 metres you reach the far side of the field and continue straight on along the car-wide track ahead. 100 metres further on pass between gateposts – there is a fine view back over the valley at this point. In 75 metres, by Grey Cottage on your left hand side, follow the footpath sign slightly left and onwards, your direction 260 degrees. In 110 metres you join a tarmac road going uphill, your direction 235 degrees. In 35 metres by Tuffers House on your left-hand side, bear round to the right with the road and in 35 metres bear left with the main road at the Cookham Dean Church sign, your direction 255 degrees.
  7. In 25 metres turn right across the green at Cookham Dean following the public footpath sign towards the Inn on the Green sign, your direction 290 degrees. In 120 metres, at the sign, turn slightly left towards the half-timbered inn, still 75 metres away, your direction 250 degrees. Pick up a footpath to the right-hand side of the inn, going through trees [3].
  8. In a further 100 metres, just before a V-shaped stile, turn left through trees and bushes to reach the suggested lunch pub, the Jolly Farmer, after 200 metres. Alternatively, if you are not taking lunch here, pass through the stile.
  9. After lunch at the Jolly Farmer, return via the pub garden to retrace your steps and negotiate the V-shaped stile.
  10. Beyond the stile, follow the clear footpath with a fence on your right, your direction 275 degrees. In 300 metres cross a gravel road with a Duke of Edinburgh Nature Conservation marker on your right and continue along a broad grassy path uphill.
  11. In 135 metres, you come to a tarmac road where you go left. In 40 metres go right on a signposted public bridleway into Bisham Wood (an earlier path cuts the corner but isn't clearly a right of way).
  12. Walk along the inside fringe of the wood on a partly-surface track, ignoring ways off, for 450 metres, until you reach a wooden post with a blue arrow.

  13. At this point you can carry on with the main walk, or opt for the Marlow extension

    Main Route

    1. To follow the regular route, turn right 5 metres beyond the post and pass through a wooden barrier. Take the right hand choice of two clear paths, your direction 30 degrees.
    2. In 50 metres bear right with the path. Follow a gentle left curve for 50 metres and pass between two beeches standing like gateposts either side of the path. From here on you follow a path along the top of the ridge that sometimes splits and rejoins. Always keep to the top of the ridge, your general direction 40 degrees.
    3. In 100 metres pass a post with a yellow arrow. If you are on the main path you should pass two more yellow arrow posts, or you may miss them if you are on a subsidiary path. Avoid paths straying too far to the right and away from the top of the ridge. After 500 metres you reach a tree with a large blue arrow pointing left. Follow the arrow direction between brambles to reach a bench on your right hand side. Turn right to pass by the bench, your direction 90 degrees. Take either fork ahead as both lead to the same destination.
    4. In 80 metres you reach a road with a house called Dormers almost opposite on the other side.

    Marlow extension About 3.2 kilometres (2 miles) longer.

    1. The original road crossings have been closed for safety reasons. The route to Marlow now makes use of a flood tunnel beneath the A404. If the weather is very wet, you don't need much imagination to figure out what happens to a flood tunnel. Even on a good day there'll be some water.
    2. To reach Marlow using the new route, follow the main instructions until you reach the blue arrow post in Bisham Wood. Continue straight on into a mild gulley (a 'hollow way') your direction 260 degrees, downhill.
    3. In a further 110 metres, you are joined on your downward way by a footpath from the right. In 120 metres you are joined by a path coming down from your left. In 30 metres [4] you come to a junction of many paths with a seven-armed signpost. Follow the bridleway sign almost straight on, and 5 metres further on fork right, your direction 330 degrees, downhill
    4. In 100 metres at a green footpath post turn right, your direction 45 degrees, with the noise of the A404 now on your left.
    5. After 500 metres take the wooden footbridge left off this bridleway.
    6. Follow the right hand edge of the field towards the flood tunnels and through the designated tunnel. Cross a field, bearing 290 degrees, slightly left relative to the run of the tunnel. After 500 metres pass through two gates and note your surroundings, as this will also be your return route. Cross a farm track and head towards the houses, bearing 310 degrees. At the main road turn right to reach the suspension bridge and Marlow.
    7. After lunch in Marlow return on the same route to re-cross the wooden footbridge.
    8. Immediately turn left to follow the bridleway along the base of the escarpment for 400 metres until you reach a road.
    9. Cross the road and pick up the footpath between chevrons on the outer curve of the bend to begin a steady ascent with a wire fence on your left. After 300 metres reach steps and cross a tarmac road. Continue with the same footpath on the other side, initially steep, in the same direction, bearing 100 degrees.
    10. In 100 metres you reach another tarmac road with a house called Dormers opposite.
  14. Take the footpath to the left of the 'Dormers house', your direction 80 degrees.
  15. In 60 metres turn left off this path on to a public footpath into trees, your direction 20 degrees (if you reach the end of the fence on your right, you've missed the turn).
  16. In 130 metres you reach the edge of the escarpment with a view out to Marlow in the valley below. At a path T-junction turn right, your direction initially 40 degrees.
  17. After 80 metres of mild descent [6] you are joined by a footpath from behind to the left, and you have a partial view out over the reservoirs below.
  18. Walk along the side of the hill with a wire fence on your right and then a wall. The slightly spooky wood on your left is probably the inspiration for the Wild Wood in Wind of the Willows. In 270 metres you join the driveway of Rivendell house. In 10 metres ignore a path to the left. In a further 10 metres follow the yellow arrow on a post, left, into undergrowth, your direction 80 degrees.
  19. In 20 metres you come to a parking area offering outstanding views, the National Trust's Winter Hill. In summer there is often an ice-cream van here.
  20. (To detour to Kenneth Graham's house, go sharp right and follow the main road with a wall on your left and a curious disused letterbox set into it, then in 120 metres turn left, your direction 170 degrees, on Job's Lane. In 215 metres you come to a road where you turn right, your direction 275 degrees. Up on your right-hand side, in 50 metres, is Kenneth Graham's old house, now a prep school.)
  21. On Winter Hill, continue straight on with the road to your right. In 250 metres follow the footpath as it takes a slightly different route to the road and rejoins it. In 80 metres you pass Chiltern Court on your right-hand side. In 15 metres fork left on a rough path, your direction 35 degrees.
  22. In 50 metres you cross two small roads to pick up the continuation of the footpath, with a private road running parallel on your left-hand side, your direction 55 degrees. In a further 145 metres the path joins a gravel road and you continue in broadly the same direction along the road.
  23. In 160 metres pass through a metal kissing gate, your direction now 45 degrees, and soon with fine views over the Thames valley to your left.
  24. Continue down this gravel road for 600 metres to the valley bottom [7]. By a four-armed footpath sign turn left, your direction 5 degrees. In 65 metres go through a wooden gate and straight across one of the largest fields you've ever seen.
  25. In a further 160 metres, at a two-armed footpath sign, turn right, your direction 40 degrees, following the sign. In 240 metres you are back beside the river Thames on your left-hand side.
  26. Your route to Cookham more or less follows the Thames. But in more detail: In 315 metres go through a wooden gate. In 145 metres fork left to keep by the riverside. In 40 metres go through a wooden kissing gate to pass riverbank houses on your right-hand side. In 120 metres pass or call in at The Bounty riverside inn, a very walker-friendly and one of the few pubs anywhere that cannot be reached by road.
  27. In a further 200 metres you reach the railway bridge.
  28. (To cut out the last section of the walk, cross the railway bridge to the other side of the Thames, pass under the structure and turn left up the steps to follow the path by the railway line to Bourne End railway station in 200 metres.)
  29. The onward route is through the National Trust's Cock Marsh. 500 metres beyond the railway bridge go through a kissing gate. In a further 500 metres ignore a fork to the right and carry on along the riverside.
  30. In 120 metres you go through a white metal swing gate, past a sailing club on your right hand side. In 30 metres go through another such gate. In 40 metres ignore a tarmac path to your right. In a further 250 metres, at a footpath sign, take a tarmac path to your right, your direction 200 degrees, towards the church visible to your right (if you are going to The Ferry for tea, then instead carry straight on beneath the bridge).
  31. In 50 metres you enter the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Cookham, past a metal kissing gate. The church entrance is around the far side.
  32. Coming out of the church, take the path from the front door. Spencer's memorial stone is to the right of a bench away from the yew trees – his ashes were scattered by his wife's grave in Cookham cemetery. At the church gates turn left towards the main road.
  33. In 20 metres you come to the main A4094, and at this point you have a choice of places for tea. To the left by the bridge is The Ferry, a restaurant-style pub with a fine patio, a good choice for a sunny day.
  34. Otherwise turn right on the A4094 and head for the alternatives. In 60 metres you come to the Stanley Spencer Gallery at the road junction. Turn right, or if coming out of the gallery turn left, to continue along the High Street, your direction 260 degrees. Nearly opposite is the Bel and Dragon, a pub-restaurant dating back to the early 15th century. 70 metres from the gallery is the King's Arms, yet another pub-restaurant, and the Infusion tearoom, with garden, which has a sign welcoming walkers.
  35. In 90 metres you come to the War Memorial and carry on across Cookham Moor following the small tarmac road to the left of the main road, in 200 metres crossing a bridge.
  36. 100 metres beyond the bridge rejoin the main road and go straight on. Pass The White Oak and Old Swan Uppers pubs to reach the station, 300 metres dead ahead beyond the mini-roundabout.