The Queen's Oak - Route 2

(S/E) From the carpark with your back to the pub, follow the road ahead for 10m and then turn right and walk uphill towards the church. Go through the orange gate on your left into the church gardens. Follow the path around the right side of the church and then walk down a steep slope into some trees. Follow this path straight ahead, down some steps, and then continue straight ahead onto a tree-lined downhill path.

(1) After about 50m you reach a gate. Go through this gate and go straight ahead along this path for around 100m until you see a turning on your right. Take this turning and then follow this path again for around 300m. The path then turns to the left and then after 20m or so it turns to the right with a bridge and a wooden gate. Go through this gate and go straight ahead for 150m until you hit a T-Junction in the path at the bottom of the hill. Turn left here and then walk 20m, go through a wooden gate, and then onto a quiet lane with a wooden fence to your right. Follow this lane for 150m until it reaches a T-junction with a main road.

(2) Turn left onto this road and walk along the path for about 80m before crossing the road and then joining a thin tree-lined path you’ll see just before the petrol station. After 200m on this path, turn right onto a track and follow this as it goes downhill and bends to the left before turning into a footpath leading into more trees. Keep following this path, bending to the left as it goes, until it reaches a metal gate. Go through the gate and emerge onto a small bridge with lovely countryside and lakes in view. Walk ahead for 150m until you see a wooden bridge and gate on your left. Continue straight on at this point and walk ahead for another 200m, enjoying more pretty lakes either side of you, as the path turns into a gravel track and bends to the left around the back of the lake.

(3) Keep following this path all the way alongside the lake until it turns left again at the far end of the lake. At the end of the gravel path, it turns into a smaller footpath. Keep straight ahead on this footpath for 40m until you go through a wooden gate, then turn to the right immediately and carefully cross the main road. On the opposite side of the road, about 10m to the right, take another footpath and follow it as it tracks the main road for about 40m before turning off to the left and passing a large gas container.

(4) Follow this long path ahead tracking a river to your right. After about 1000m, you will see a little wooden bridge on the left. Just after the bridge you will then see a metal footpath sign and two footpaths going off to the left alongside each other.

(5) Turn left onto the second of these two footpaths and then follow that straight ahead, walking past a pretty lake to your right. After 300m the path merges and crosses a small bridge. Cross the bridge and when the path splits again, take the right split and follow that path for another 500m until you walk through a carpark and onto a quiet lane.

(6) Turn right and walk slightly uphill along this lane for about 400m until you then turn left at a green metal restricted byway sign. Walk ahead up the hill for around 350m until it meets a gate and crossroads. Go straight ahead at the crossroads, walking through the gate, and then between the two information signs. Follow this path straight ahead into the woods with a wire fence to your right for 100m until you see a wooden post where the path forks. Go left at this fork and head on up the hill towards a wooden fence at the top. Turn left at the fence and follow the path though the lovely woodland, walking over two wooden platforms, and then up a slight hill until you meet a crossroads after about 180m. Go straight ahead at the crossroads and continue ahead through the woodland for about 120m until you meet another crossroads.

(7) Go left at this second crossroads and head downhill through the woods for about 200m until you hit a T-junction and fence ahead. Turn right here and follow that path all the way downhill for about 350m until it reaches a road.

(8) Turn right onto the quiet winding road and carefully follow it uphill for 700m until it reaches a crossroads. Carefully cross the road here and go straight ahead onto a gravel track. Follow this track for about 400m until turning left at a green public bridleway sign and then following that track for another 500m until it meets a road.

(9) Follow this road straight ahead (carefully crossing the road to get onto the footpath) for about 50m until you see a road going off to the left, signposted the Queen’s Oak and Finchampstead Church. Turn left here and carefully follow this quiet road for about 400m until you see the Queen’s Oak pub on your right.(S/E)