Mortimer to Aldermaston and Theale walk
Gentle. A stream, Roman Calleva, and an optional canal side extension.
History
This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.
Date | Post | # | Weather |
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Wed, | Wednesday walk Mortimer to Aldermaston or Theale - the River Kennet, the Roman Town of Calleva, Silchester, Padworth Common, then Aldermaston , with option of continuing to Theale | ||
Sat, | Saturday Walk: Mortimer to Aldermaston | 4 | pleasantly sunny |
Sat, | Saturday Walk: Mortimer to Aldermaston or Midgham or Theale | 3 | light drizzle quickly turning to overcast and sometimes humid conditions |
Wed, | Wednesday Walk - The Roman Town of Calleva Atrebatum: Mortimer to Aldermaston or Midgham or Theale | 11 | occasional rain until lunch then sunny |
Sat, | Mortimer to Aldermaston | ||
Wed, | Mortimer to Aldermaston | ||
Sat, | Mortimer to Aldermaston | 9 | |
Sat, | Mortimer to Theale | ||
Wed, | Mortimer to Aldermaston | ||
Sat, | Mortimer to Aldermaston | ||
Sat, | Mortimer to Aldermaston | ||
Sat, | Mortimer to Aldermaston | ||
Wed, | Mortimer to Aldermaston | ||
Sat, | Mortimer to Aldermaston | ||
Sun, | Mortimer to Theale | ||
Sat, | Mortimer to Aldermaston and Theale | ||
Wed, | Mortimer to Aldermaston and Theale | ||
Sat, | Mortimer to Aldermaston and Theale | ||
Wed, | Mortimer to Aldermaston and Theale | ||
Sun, | Mortimer to Aldermaston and Theale | ||
Sat, | Mortimer to Aldermaston and Theale | ||
Sun, | Mortimer to Aldermaston and Theale | ||
Sat, | Mortimer to Aldermaston and Theale |
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Anonymous16-Sep-21
11 minutes to change at Reading.
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Just 4 of us gathered at Mortimer at the appointed time, on a pleasantly sunny day. There was speculation that the lack of online seat availability on trains from Paddington to Reading had put people off, but there are tickets to be had at the station.
Anyway we enjoyed a great, varied walk with a peaceful rural start, intriguing Roman remains, rather watery blackberries, fungi spotting, a nice lunch pub by a village green and a contrasting afternoon heathland walk - more should try it! We did briefly talk about the possibility of walking further along the canal but opted for a welcome and high quality tea and cake at the Aldermaston tea rooms.
The 1627 train to Reading was slightly delayed, and my companions egged me on to try and make a 0 minute connection at Reading West for the hourly train back to Basingstoke, but I got the Ealing train from Reading instead. Thanks for posting!
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22-Sep-21
Enjoyed the walk - highlights sunshine, roman stuff and fish ladder. (added some of my pics to the flickr group)
(12 miles to Midgham, 14 miles to Theale)
The morning route of this walk passes the remains of the Roman town of Calleva, while the afternoon heads through commons and woodlands to Aldermaston, where you can extend the walk along the canal.
Trains: Take the 10:00 from London Paddington, change at Reading (arr. 10:24, dep 10:34), arrival time at Mortimer is 10:44.
Return times from Aldermaston are: 15:28, 16:28, 17:25, 18:31, 19:31 etc with change at Reading (probably faster even if the train is direct). Trains from Midgham depart 4 minutes earlier, from Theale 5 minutes later plus there is an extra direct train per hour.
A return to Mortimer should be fine, if not you just need a single to Reading on the way back.
Lunch: The Calleva Arms, Silchester Common, 01189 700305.
Tea: The Kennet & Avon Canal Trust Information Centre serves tea at Aldermaston Wharf, The Rowbarge is by Midgham station, and if you finish at Theale, head 400m beyond the station to the High Street for refreshments.
Click here for full walk details
T=1.33
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24-Jul-19
BestFootForward, Tue 23 Jul 19, 16:41
The canal tow path is closed on the Midgham extension until 6 September 2019. There is a barrier to prevent entry. A notice advises that the Canal and River Trust have to renew a culvert on the canal between Woolhampton and Frouds Lane. 3 footpaths are closed. The paths concerned are Woolhampton 10 & 12 (the canal tow path) and Aldermaston 12 (which leads from the canal to the A340). The road up from the tow path is very busy with fast moving traffic. We decided to walk back to Aldermaston, a very pleasant walk about a mile along the tow path. AT
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After a shambolic start with the Bakerloo line partly closed and the Paddington train arriving in Reading too late for the connection, just 3 stalwarts eventually left Mortimer at 11.20 in light drizzle quickly turning to overcast and sometimes humid conditions . Everyone else missed a great walk, full of interest, striking variations in the landscape, characterful pub for lunchtime refreshments, and a delightful tea stop at the canal trust centre. None of us fancied the extra 6km to Theale, not that we were the slightest bit tired you understand, just thinking of the likely complicated journeys home.
Lunch: Calleva Arms, in Silchester Common (6.8 km/4.2 mi, food to 14.30).
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30-Jan-18
An "almost super" blue moon and clear evening skies forecasted, almost too much to pass up really......will aim to take the 17:03 arriving in Aldermaston at 18:06 to walk to Theale with anyone who has not already raced back to London.....
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01-Feb-18
occasional rain until lunch then sunny 10
10 off the train in the rain, which lasted all of 10 minutes or so, then reappeared in assorted short bursts, but wasn't much of a nuisance really, then - while at the lunch pub - we watched the cloud cover turn from dark grey to light grey to barely there, and then the sun came out, all this in a very short time.
Generally fine walk with some indifferent to dreary bits, especially pre-lunch on the way to Calleva Roman Town, just before which we bumped into a shooting party (modest success they've had, I'd say, not THAT many pheasants to show for) and turned right to admire the amphitheatre, then all those info panels around the town wall and the church etc.
On to lunch which was standard old school pub fare. The beer was nice though.
On in the dry, through woods, fields and commons (we tried the 'alternative' route through Burnt Common, much nicer than the road route) and then the many ponds and waterways by Aldermaston. Got there around 15.45, but the café at the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust Information Centre was shut (as was the centre) for a re-furb/new build.
So without any further ado, 7 (I think) walked on to Theale, where in the last hundreds of metres of walking we saw the fabled blue moon rising. 17.23 train.
...and to honour the world class dedication of one particular swc walker who took the train out after a day in the office to walk just the Aldermaston to Theale bit into the Blue Moon, I declare the attendance herewith: 11 ...
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01-Feb-18
....and from the late starter who set-off from Aldermaston just after 18:00, the moon did not disappoint....it was big, beautiful and bright and perfectly positioned for the route to Theale, reflecting on the river and occasionally providing atmospheric backlighting to the speckling of bare trees along the way....a special night with a special moon....
Toughness: 3/10
Transport: Take the 9:30 from London Paddington, change at Reading to arrive in Mortimer at 10:17
Return from Aldermaston is at 28 minutes past the hour with a change in Reading
From the description:
From St Mary's Church in Stratfield Mortimer, the route follows a clear stream - Foundry Brook - eventually to the amphitheatre and the 2.5km of Roman walls surrounding the 107-acre site of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, and the whitewashed twelfth-century church at its entrance. The lunch stop is at a pub on Silchester Common and the afternoon route is mainly through woods of Scots pine, and commons of gorse and birch trees. Aldermaston, the teatime destination, is reached over the weirs of the River Kennet.
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29-Dec-15
Hi, I'm not sure if there's train from Paddinton to Mortimer on Saturday. I've tried to buy a ticket but no success.