Orange Way: Abingdon to Newbury
To reach the rural station of Culham from Gatwick is a long journey with one change. The choice of station is dictated by the point at which the Prince of Orange met the academics of Oxford and enlisted their support before travelling down the Thames. In reverse, Abingdon is where the path branches away from the Thames and crosses the Downs to Newbury. There is a plaque in the market town celebrating where the future king stayed for the night. One approaches the path from the road, linking up with the Thames Path on the bridge, crossing over and tracking back along the other side of the River towards Didcot. Near Oxford, the River Valley is a flat landscape of fields and roads. For a good five miles, countryside is interspersed by farms, warehouses, the village as suburb and new housing developments; reminiscent of London. Then, the path angles south via Steventon and East Hendred before entering the Downs and crossing the Ridgeway. This is the most beautiful part of the walk. Rolling dips and troughs, punctuated by the small villages of West Ilsley and Chieveley prove most pleasant with historic tracks minimising the potential for mud underfoot. Of historical interest are the Churches for each village: dating back centuries, the epitome of a village identity. The final stretch is a swing down to the Lambourne Valley in which Newbury nestles. The Downs give way to woodland and the built up parkland round Speen. Coming at Newbury from the north, a pleasant rural character is maintained right up to the town centre. I had anticipated that this would be a pleasant walk and was rewarded. At 29.68 miles, this proves that the Orange Way gets better the further from London that it runs. Of note, the Orange Way follows the Lambourne Valley Way on its final journey to Newbury.