Walk 6 : Henley via Stonor Circular

Main walk: 21.9km (13.6 miles), seven hours walking time. For the whole outing including trains and meals, allow ten hours 30 minutes.

Main walk via Stonor short cut: 19.4km (12.0 miles), six hours thirty minutes walking time

Short Walk: 14km (8.7 miles), four hours walking time.

OS Landranger Map No 175. OS Explorer Map No 171

7 out of 10

Henley is normally thought of as a riverside town but, as this walk demonstrates, it is also on the southern edge of the Chiltern Hills, a charming area of hidden valleys, mixed wood and farmland, and largely gentle slopes (the main walk has one substantial steep hill after lunch, however). The walk takes you up one side and down the other of the long valley leading up to Stonor, with plenty of charming views over hill en route. Lunch is at a pretty and quiet pub in the village of Pishill, and the return is past hidden farms and through ancient woods into Henley, with its excellent tea rooms. Note that this is a fairly full day out, and tea is 11km (7 miles) from the lunchtime pub, so the main walk is only really practical from late February to late October. However, in winter, or if you fancy a later start, the short walk makes a pleasant alternative.

A short but pleasant walk up country lanes from the Rainbow Inn in Middle Assendon allows you to shorten the route to 14km (8.7 miles). This short walk still takes in several of the best sections from the morning and afternoon of the main walk. For directions, see point [3] in the text.

Alternatively, you can trim 2.5km (1.5 miles) off the main walk by using the short cut at Stonor indicated in the text. This short cut misses out the lunchtime pub, The Crown in Pishill, but if you are relatively smartly dressed, you could have lunch at the upmarket Flying Pig restaurant at The Stonor Arms Hotel (see Lunch)

On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, there is one mid morning and one afternoon bus from Henley railway station to Stonor 9.7km (6 miles) into the main walk. Tel 01296 399500 for times. The easiest place to get off the bus in order to join the main walk is entrance to Stonor Park. The bus also passes the Rainbow Inn in Middle Assendon, the lunch stop on the short walk.

Henley is supposed to be the oldest settlement in Oxfordshire, dating at least from Roman times, but it really came into its own from the 12th century onward as a river crossing and a port for shipping grain and timber to London. These days the town has a much more refined air. It is supposed to have 300 listed buildings and is famous for its annual Regatta, held in the first week of July since 1839. A recent famous resident was the Beatle George Harrison, whose former house (or its heavily barbed-wired garden fence) is passed on this walk.

The entrance to the magnificent stately home of Stonor Park (tel 01491 638587) is passed on the main walk, though the house itself cannot be seen except from the short cut of the main walk. Dating back to the 12th century, it boasts Tudor features with Georgian remodelling, and has been the home of the Stonor family continuously for over 800 years. Unfortunately, only superhumans would have the energy to complete the main walk and visit the house, so perhaps this is one to mark for a future visit. The house is open to the public from 2pm to 5.30pm on Sundays and bank holidays from April to September, and Wednesdays from July to August. It has a tea room. In 2003, admission was £6 for the house and gardens, or £3.50 for the gardens only. The bus from Henley (see Walk Options) stops outside the entrance gates, but unfortunately only runs on days that the house is shut.

Though it looks like an ancient ruin, the abandoned church in Bix Bottom just before Valley End Farm (point [7]), only fell into disuse in 1875. Before that, it was the Church of St James, which had features dating back to Norman times.

Taken the nearest train to 9.00 from London Paddington. To reach Henley, you have to change to the branch line at Twyford, though it sometimes quicker to take a fast train to Reading, where the Henley train originates. If you are doing the short walk, leave an hour later so as not to arrive at the lunch pub too early.

The railway station has a substantial car park that charges £2.20 a day. Otherwise, you can park anywhere near Henley town centre. To start the walk, find the town’s bridge over the Thames (there is only the one) and follow the directions from the point marked [*] in the walk directions.

is at the the Crown Inn (tel 01491 638364) in Pishill, 10.6km (6.6 miles) into the main walk, which serves lunch from 12pm to 2pm daily. This charming and friendly country pub has a peaceful garden in summer and roaring log fires in winter. It welcomes walkers, but is also popular with walking groups, so if there are more than eight of you it might be a good idea to phone ahead. If you take the 9am train from London, you can expect to reach the pub at 1pm.

On the short walk, lunch is at the Rainbow Inn (tel 01491 574879) in Middle Assendon, which is 5km (3.1m) into the walk. This serves pleasant home-cooked food from 12pm to 2pm daily. Note that after lunch on the short walk, there is still 9km (5.6 miles) to go, or about two hours 45 minutes walking time, so leave the pub no later than 1.30pm in midwinter.

If you are taking the short cut at Stonor on the main walk, a possible lunch option is The Flying Pig restaurant at The Stonor Arms Hotel (tel 01491 638866), which serves lunch from 12pm to 2pm daily. See www.theflyingpigrestaurant.co.uk. Note that this is a fairly upmarket restaurant not a pub, however, so you would need to be relatively smartly dressed and mud free to lunch here. Definitely no shorts.

The best picnic spot on both the main and short walks is the hill before Middle Assendon, which has a superb panorama up the valley towards Stonor: this location is marked in the walk directions. Another possible picnic spot is indicated in the text on the hill just beyond Valley End Farm (point [6]): this is probably too late for lunch if you are on the main walk, being 13.6km (8.4) miles into the walk, but is only 7.1km (4.4 miles) into the short walk.

There are several fine tea rooms in Henley, but the recommended one is The Henley Tea Rooms (01491 411412) in Thames Side, the waterfront just by the bridge. This friendly and informal place has plenty of tables, nice cakes and savoury items, and can stay open until 7pm in summer providing they have enough customers. Otherwise, closing time is around 6pm: if you are going to be just a bit later than this, it may be worth phoning to ask them stay open later.

A more upmarket alternative, on the corner of Hart Street and Thames Side and immediately opposite the bridge, is Crispins (tel 01491 574232). This serves cream teas until "around 6.30pm or 7pm" daily in the summer months, though once again at times it seems to close earlier in the winter or if custom is light.

Start: Henley-on-Thames Station is near : RG9 1BE. [gmap]

London to Henley-on-Thames

The text above was taken from the 2004 edition of the book, and may be a little out of date. Please check the updates for this walk.