Wokingham; Windsor and Maidenhead

Walk Details:
Date: 15/9/2004
Total ascent: 139m
Total distance walked: 3.75 miles
Walk difficulty: 2/10
Enjoyment rating: 2/10
Best bits:
Worst bits:

Top Details: Wokingham:
Name: Bowsey Hill
Number: 3 of 207
Grid reference: SU 80652 80255 MAP
Height above sea level: 140m/459ft
How nice was it?: 1.5/10 for the top, 2/10 for the ascent route
Description/Notes: Highest point in Wokingham Unitary Authority

Top Details: Windsor & Maidenhead:
Name: Ashley Hill
Number: 4 of 207
Grid reference: SU 82401 81103 MAP
Height above sea level: 144m/472ft
How nice was it?: 0.5/10 for the top, 1.5/10 for the ascent route
Description/Notes: Highest point in Windsor and Maidenhead Unitary Authority

NOTE: These two hills are known locally as the "Twin Peaks".

The Walk:

This walk didn’t get off to the most auspicious start. Justin had to work late and though we (a) tried to persuade him to leave it for the next day and (b) waited far later than we should have there was no way of tearing the conscientious chap away from his work. He told us to head off and do it anyway, so, feeling slightly guilty we headed down the A4 and parked at the Seven Stars pub in Knowl Hill village.

We had a bad start, heading off down the A4 looking for Star Lane. After a while we realised that it would be logical to assume that the Seven Stars pub was next to Star Lane, returned to our starting point and set out again, this time in the correct direction!

My poor navigating soon let us down again - I lead us straight on on a footpath into a field, when the path we actually needed bore left with Star Lane, up something that looked deceptively like a private drive. After wading disconsolately through foot-high grass we found ourselves at Lot Farm and were able to get back onto the correct route. We were, however, able to see for miles southwards - unfortunately the view was dominated by Bracknell!

It wasn't very long before I was trying to make us turn off the correct route though - bizarrely I tried to make us go downhill! Fortunately Jim had his wits about him and stopped me. I blame it on a combination of a long day at work and using a 1:50,000 scale map rather than the 1:25,000 that I'm used to (this walk being annoyingly on the corner of 4 different 1:25,000 maps!). Whatever it was, Jim's intervention woke me up & my navigation fortunately returned to its normal standard.

The hill was a pretty gentle one, and very soon we turned right into the tiny hamlet of Bowsey Hill, built slightly inconsiderately atop our hill. The highest point was just out the far side of the hamlet - the unitary boundary ran down the middle of the village track, so we knew we had to look to the left. We think the highest point is probably a small raised underground reservoir, but given that it's a temporary man-made structure (and more to the point surrounded by 8 foot high barbed wire!) we settled for a nearby mossy knoll for our photos.

We retraced our steps for a few dozen paces and took a footpath that descended rapidly to Warren Row and then started to re-ascend via the curiously named Pudding Hill, which would eventually lead us on to woodland paths up to Ashley Hill. It was pretty steep going, and with only occasional views of Bracknell through the trees to sustain us was quite dull.

We had been looking forward to this one - according to the map, this would be our first county top with a trig point. It also featured the "Keeper's Cottage", which I fondly imagined to be a romantic crumbling hovel, akin to the keeper's cottage in Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Our hopes were to be shattered. Keeper's Cottage turned out to be a near mansion-sized dwelling in the ugly square box style so beloved of our modern houses; how it came to be hidden away in the middle of these woods I can't imagine! It's big square garden had sealed off half of the hilltop though. We looked for the trig point for some time but were eventually forced to abandon the search as the sun started to set. We assumed it had been assimilated into the Keeper's rockery, or ground up to form the pile of gravel at the front of the house that we utilised for our photo.

As we emerged into fields on our return to the bottom of the hill we saw a glorious sight - a beautiful russet-coloured fox skipping it's way casually across our path, seemingly completely unbothered by our presence. We watched for a while, spellbound - it was only on seeing the news later that evening that I realised the irony of this, on the very day that Tony Blair forced through a ban on foxhunting and pro-hunting demonstrations in Parliament Square erupted into violence.

A hint for anyone else choosing to follow this route - don't attempt a short cut through the Knowl Hill housing estate on your way back. It's a difficult and long-winded route to get out to the A4, and the estate seems to be populated by aggressive teenagers. Do, however, pop into the Seven Stars for a packet of Salty Dogs (don't ask) and a refreshing beverage of your choice. It's a very friendly little local, full of very friendly (and sometimes little!) locals - it feels more like someone's lounge than a pub (albeit a large lounge with a dirty carpet!).

Anyway, two more hills over and done with then…

ADDENDUM
We'd heard rumours that someone had managed to track down the elusive trig on Ashley Hill - apparently it had been disguised as a garden ornament. Jim and I were irked that someone else had seen it while we hadn't and therefore decided to have another go at finding it. On 5 July 2005 we did the entire route again (but in the opposite direction, just for variety) and succeeded in tracking down the elusive little blighter. It's been painted green and capped with a large stone ball. You can see it by traipsing through thick undergrowth to the south-eastern corner of Keeper's Cottage. Peering in through the southern fence close to the corner, you will make out the bizarrely amended trig set into a cluster of shrubs in the middle of the garden about 15 yards from the fence.