3rd July, 5km. It’s been raining heavily on and off this week, and today we were braced for more rain, but luckily so far it’s held off. Our friends Margaret and Stephen were driving from London to visit us, and we had been gardening, cleaning the house and cooking for a few days in advance of their arrival.
After catching up and snacking on an ad hoc lunch of cheese toasties on some homemade sourdough bread, we got togged up and headed over to Enbourne for a walk. We parked outside the 13th century church of St Michaels and headed across the road and carefully made our way over the metal cattle guard into the grounds of Hamstead Park. Once you come through the gateway, the park opens up with a long expanse of grass and magnificent, ancient cedar trees on either side of the tarmac drive. Along the southern edge I could spot purple-pink fox gloves, and in the distance, sheep.
The house and grounds here are full of history, and I had to do a little research to find out more. The grounds date back to the 1300’s when the estate was owned by the Marshals of London and often visited by the Royals. Unfortunately the old Grand Palace that once graced the grounds burnt down in the 1700’s and the house now left standing was once used as a hunting lodge. The long park that we were walking along was more recently used as an encampment by the 501st Airborne Parachute regiment during the second world war prior to the Normandy invasion and then again as a respite in the summer of 1945 before the troops were again flown into Holland. Now the main inhabitants seem to be sheep and their newborn lambs, and they are everywhere.
We followed the walking trail to the right of the house and passed an enormous fallen oak stump that was hollowed out so that you could easily pass through it. Once we returned to the paved track we could see a series of ponds down in the valley, which apparently date back to the 1300’s as fishing ponds. The hills are covered in green grass and old oak trees, and there is a serenity to this estate. I spot a family of geese on the bank of the pond, and a bright red oriental-style bridge that arches over the small stream leading towards the river.
The track we are following ends at a wooden gate onto Park Lane and we head right to the Kennet & Avon Canal. We cross a small bridge over the River Kennet and admire the large weir where we can spot some large fish in the shadows. Opposite we take in the serene river lined with weeping willow.
Heading east along the canal we leisurely meander along admiring the water and the wildflowers in bloom – elderflower, dog rose and cow parsley grow amongst the barbed wire fences and old hedges separating us on the left side from the adjoining train land, while tall green sedges, rosebay willow herb, purple loosestrife, white cuckoo flower, ragged robin, yellow iris and water mint line the canal edge.
After a mile or so, we come to an old weathered brick bridge arching across the canal. We follow the slightly overgrown path that leads over it and through a tree plantation until we come to an old farmhouse nestled amongst the woods. Old oaks still make an effort to grow here along the track, but they have seen better years; limbs have been removed to keep the access clear. We head uphill and turn right onto the Enbourne Road, taking care with the occasional car speeding past. We make our way back to the church parking lot.
compost2cosmos 