Living Landscape Wild Two

(S/E) From Thatcham Station walk south over the Kennet and Avon Canal. Turn left into Chamberhouse Mill Lane. Bear left at Crookham Willows. At the paddock fence of Crookham Manor turn right following the footpath skirting the manor grounds.

(1) At a white brick outbuilding, turn right. Go along the field-edge track into the woodlands. After the path bends left, go right uphill to an old concrete road. Follow the road past Limberlost Farm on the right, then mobile home park on left. Just before the main road, turn right onto the wooded path parallel to the road. Note: this is a permissive path and may at times be quite overgrown and muddy.

(2) After crossing three private access tracks, turn left onto Tarmac lane, cross the main road onto another Tarmac lane. Follow this past George’s Farm and downhill between pine trees. When the track bends right, go into the field on left and downhill. Keep tight to the hedgerow on right, steeply downhill.

(3) In the next field, follow the footpath diagonally across the field and over a wooden footbridge into Hampshire. Turn right and follow the path keeping close to the meandering river.

(4) At the road go through a gate and turn right. Cross the ford using the footbridge. Walk up to the main road, turn left, cross road and head up Old Thornford Road. 100 m after the first house on left, go through a small gate on left onto Crookham Common.

(5) Turn right and follow the fence line to the main gate on right. Go straight ahead keeping the lakes on your left and running track on your right. Soon after a fence line starts on your left, go through the gate on the right, cross the road and down the gravel bridleway.

(6) Bear left at the Tarmac track and cross the River Kennet to Chamberhouse Farm. Continue ahead to the canal and over the swing bridge. Turn right on to the towpath to Monkey Marsh Lock. When you reach the road you will see Thatcham Station. (S/E)

Start : Thatcham railway station. Postcode: RG19 4PP Grid ref: SU 528 664
By bus: Check www.traveline.info for information about local
buses.
By train: This walk starts and finishes at Thatcham railway station.
By car: There is parking at Thatcham railway station and also at Greenham and Crookham Commons.
By bike: There is cycle storage at the railway station.

• The Nature Discovery Centre is approximately 1 mile from the start of this walk. It is managed by BBOWT on behalf of West Berks Council, has parking, a shop, toilets and café. Visit bbowt.org.uk/nature-discovery-centre for opening times.
• Ordnance Survey Explorer Map 158 1:25,000 scale, covers the area of this walk.

• More walks on Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust website.
• Read more about nature notes on the leaflet here.

West Berkshire Living Landscape
Living Landscapes are big and bold; they create space for wildlife and people, reconnect isolated habitats and give wildlife room to adapt and thrive.
The West Berkshire Living Landscape is on the edge of Newbury and Thatcham. It covers 27 km2 and is a mosaic of land rich with history and wildlife; a place for people and wildlife to thrive side by side.

Walking past history

• The earliest mention of a mill at Chamberhouse Mill dates from c.1390. The millers were always tenants – the last were the Smith family, who ran the mill for 83 years, up to the end of its working life in 1965.
• Greenham Common airfield was constructed in 1942. It was mainly a troop carrier base and home to four squadrons
• of the 438th Troop Carrier Group in 1944. There is still an empty underground fuel tank by the main gate; each tank held one million gallons of fuel.
• Dating from 1723, Monkey Marsh Lock was one of the original turf-sided locks of the Kennet Navigation. The canal opened from Reading to Bath in 1810 but was derelict by the 1950s. Monkey Marsh Lock was rebuilt in 1989–90.

Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT)
BBOWT relies on the support of our members to help us look after local wildlife. By joining BBOWT you can help to secure the future of special landscapes like Greenham and Crookham Commons.