Ray left the Thames & Kennet Marina at the beginning of October and is now berthed at a very nice mooring at Kintbury. He has been bumbling about up near Froxfield for the past few weeks but returned to his mooring at the weekend, so I went over on Sunday morning to meet up for a walk. It was a lovely sunny autumn day after a week of mainly depressing dank weather.
We walked through Kintbury and turned along Wallingtons Road. The road eventually becomes a private driveway to St Cassian's Centre, but there's also a footpath leading straight ahead towards woodland, which we took.
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Wallingtons Road looking back towards Kintbury
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The woodland - Catmore and Winterly Copses - is private but there are a couple of footpaths through it. We turned onto one leading right towards what apparently used to be Wallingtons Manor, but since the 1970s has been a Catholic youth retreat centre called St Cassian's Centre. It's an attractive house though I couldn't get a picture of it in a very good light.
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Catmore Copse
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St Cassian's Centre
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We crossed a field with some cattle in it and passed the handsome Inglewood Farmhouse, then followed the path around the back of the former Inglewood Health Hydro, now a retirement village.
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Field
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We crossed a minor road and walked down a lane leading through parkland and coming out onto Hungerford Road. Turning left here you pass the gates and lodge of Hungerford Park. The house was demolished in 1960; this piece has some history and photos.
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Lane
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Gates and lodge to Hungerford Park
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We followed the road over the cattle grid onto Hungerford Common. Ray had been hoping we might be able to take a path off to the right and get down to the canal via a tunnel under the railway, but if there is one such, it's not public access as we couldn't find anything and ended up having to walk to the road bridge that crosses the railway and canal near Dun Mill Lock. We joined the towpath there and made our way back to Kintbury. A couple of miles more than we'd intended but a lovely day for a walk.
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Walking over Hungerford Common towards the bridge
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Returning along the canal towpath
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Approaching Kintbury
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Our route below showing start and end point in Kintbury. Hungerford top left.
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