Kintbury Railway Station to Combe Gibbet & back again via footpaths & bridleways

This walk starts & finishes at Kintbury railway Station.

This is a map of the route today, we are going from the station along Wallington Road & footpaths to Balsdon Farm, then to Lower Green. Then we take a bridleway to the top of the downs and Combe Gibbet. Then we walk along the top of the hill, and drop down again to near West Woodhay House, then a lane past Prosser farm, then right to cross Inkpen  GreatCommon, then paths to Fox Hill, Titcomb Manor and a path to Kintbury and the station again.

This is a map of the first part of our route today from the station to Balsdon Farm.

Having arrived at the station, from the Newbury direction, walk out of the station & turn left, if coming from the Hungerford direction, then walk out of the station, turn left, cross over the railway, then onto the right hand side of Station Road, cross 2 bridges, walk up the road, ignoring the road to Kintbury Mill. There is a path beside the road & a slight slope leads to footpath sign and an alley way.

 that goes along a path called The Cliffs and goes alongside some allotments coming out onto a small lane with a turnstile on the path.

We go straight over the road called Church Street towards the churchyard, following the direction of a footpath sign through the churchyard.

Information about the church can be found here
http://www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/kintbury.html

Apparently it was originally built in Saxon times, then altered through the years with the architecture changing. It does have a clock which is in working order.
 So through the churchyard we go, out onto the path again that continues in a straight line.

The path comes out at the rear of a pub, and goes to a road. Opposite is the entrance to Titcomb Way, we turn right, then left along Wallington's Road which as the sign opposite this one says it's the way to St Cassian's Centre.

So down the road we walk, downhill to start with-soon we come to a large gate to St Cassian's Centre, but we follow the grassy track crossed by a metal gate.

Down the grassy track we go, and soon a large field is on the left hand side containing sheep. Soon farm buildings come closer and a sign indicates our route to the right through a metal kissing gate.

Through the gate we go, into a grassy field with a path going straight forward clearly visible. Soon we come to another gate,

 going out onto Wallington's Road which we cross and go through another gate

 into another grassy field, with the footpath going across it clearly marked so walked a great deal. On the two occasions I walked  the path the grass was very close cropped. At the end of the path through the field we go through a piece of woodland 

Then out through a gate onto another field with 2 paths going forward from the gate

We take the left path, heading towards the woodland on the left & a metal signpost in the centre of the field, then we keep straight on towards a gate at the entrance to the woods. To our left is St Cassian's centre

Soon we come to the entrance to High Trees

So through the woods we go and come out the other end into a grassy path with fields either side.

The path goes towards Balsdon Farm which is a moated farmhouse

At the end of the path, we turn left between beech hedges then follow the sign's direction along a lane

The path goes past some properties, along a concrete track 

to emerge onto a series of paths flanked by beech hedges, all with signs on them.This path is partially to the left from where we emerge from the concrete track.

There is a sign on that wooden fencing pointing to the left showing our path between 2 beech hedges.

The map below shows all the paths at Balsdon Farm. We are going to follow the path that goes straight down to the bottom of the map. The one going to the bottom right  hand corner is made of concrete. The one going to the right of the moated farm is the one we have just come along. The other two are grassy paths with beech hedges on. The one going to the left has a blue sign at its entrance

This is our route from Balsdon Farm to Combe Gibbet.

Baldson Farm to Lower Green

Down a green stepped line passing Northcroft Farm, then onto a country lane passing a phone box (black telephone) with a pub nearby(blue 'beer glass)

That path goes into some woodland and ends up at Little Common. The other path with a beech hedge flanking it is the one going to the left of the moated farm house and ends up passing New Templeton Gorse-it has a sign on a wooden gate.

So off we go to the footpath flanked by beech hedges that has that sign on the wooden fencing.

At the end of the grassy path is a wooden bridge and then a gate into a field.

Finally we can now see our destination up those hills.

Keep close to the fence, go over a stile

Into a cropped field

Over another stile near Northcroft Farm

Down the farm road, over another stile & onto a little lane where we turn right

Northcroft Farm to the bridleway after Lower Green

We keep to this lane, ignoring any routes to the left or right& going over 2 streams.

Soon we pass a telephone box

There is a signpost on the left, we are going towards Ham & Shalbourne. Our way ahead is a little country lane. Ignore any lanes or paths to the left or right.

We stay on the right hand side of the road, passing a road going to Inkpen, but we stay straight on towards Ham. Another sign shows us the way.

We keep on this road 

Just past as road sign that reads 'INKPEN' there is a track on the left hand sign with a bridleway sign almost hidden by the bushes.

So along the track we go, bearing right we follow a clearly defined path towards the hills.

The grassy path with a field alongside eventually goes into a field bounded by hedges. As we go up the track, look at the hills and you will see if the weather is clear the gibbet up on the hill.

So up the leafy path we go, with the path getting steeper

Soon we come to a gate with a bridleway sign pointing to the right

Now we are going to climb up the flank of the hill, so we all have a choice of routes. It's possible to go straight on from this sign, up through the hedges then straight up a footpath to meet the bridleway going up the hill, or we can turn right after the hedgerow, walk next to it to meet a sign.

So we now turn left & walk up the hill on a well-defined path

At the top is a false summit with another steep climb to the top

At the top we turn right and walk towards a wooden gate. I sat on the grass and had my lunch here with lovely views.

Now we are going to walk along the top on the Wayfarer's Way-our route on the map below, shows the green stepped line going past the words Pit (dis), up the hill, to the spot height of 279, then along the Test Way on Gallows Down.

Then I walked through the gate to another metal gate

At the second gate I turned left, and walked along the top of the hill on a well-defined track.

Soon I reached the Combe Gibbet with views both to the right & left & straight on.

Combe village was to the right and Combe Hill above Combe Village to the left of this place

Now we are going to walk from Gallows Down on the map below, across the top of Walbury Hill, & just before the blue 'P' take the path past Pit(dis) to cross a lane to Adders Copse.

So from the Gibbett I walked along the the track down to the road & the car park-the path going up Walbury Hill runs to the right of the car park-in the photograph it's near those trees at the top of the hill.

Just near the car park is a wooden sign sign with the words Wayfarer's Way on.

So now we walk up the chalky track, then onto a grassy track on the left which joins the chalky track again and goes up to and along the top of Walbury Hill.

The track starts to go downhill, and there is a footpath sign & a stile on both sides of the track, 

the one to the right goes to Combe Village & the one on the left, which we are going down goes across a stile and then to West Woodhay.

Off we go along this grassy path, across the top of the hill, then down towards some woodland where there is a stile

Going down this path you can see the destination at the foot of the hill

Over the stile, into some woodland, we soon meet a lane, which we cross

Then we go through this scrub and end up beside a fence & a field with some woods in the distance called Adder's Copse

We keep on going along the path with an electric fence on our right so be careful, because if the path is wet and  muddy, a fall might occur so please don't grab the fence.

The path goes down the slope, turns right and goes to meet a road. We are going along the lane straight on towards West Woodhay.

Along the lane we go, passing a footpath on the left, we soon have a fence beside us, then we come to a road junction where we are going to turn left.

This is the map of the route from here to Fox Hill.

We are going to walk along a lane from Great Farm passing some houses on the right, then up a hill passing Prosser's Farm, then turn right along a green stepped line passing a farm towards Hell Corner, but we are going across Inkpen Great Common, across a lane and passing Willow Farm and over a footbridge, shown as FB on the map. Then we are at Fox Hill, so we go across a field & a road.

So here's Great Farm ahead, so we now turn left passing this sign 

and along the new lane we go, passing some houses on the right hand side. The road goes down a hill and climbs up the other side on quite a steep hill.

We pass a house on the right hand side, called Prosser's farm, and then we go along a muddy track

We then come to a junction of paths, with a complicated footpath sign. 

We are going make a sharp turn to the right to go along a narrow path through woodland

So along this path we go, after rain it's quite muddy; it passes some gates where the owner of the land has opened his land to walkers

We pass these gates and go down a slope and climb up again with a house on the right hand side

Soon we come to another footpath on the left hand side with a board explaining about the common we are going to cross now. When I first did this walk, that's the way I went, but soon realised my mistake so walked back again to the path we are on now and went straight forward passing houses on the right hand side.

Soon we come to another path that is wide going off to the left with the path we are on going straight forward.

So walk along this track and soon ahead will be a wooden gate and in front of it a wooden post with an arrow on it, so you will know you are on the right path.

So through the gate we go, onto Inkpen Great Common. Our route from here is straight forward looking for another wooden post and a footpath sign on it indicating the route straight on and a restricted path to the left.

Off we go straight on and soon we come to where a path goes off to the left towards a place where a bench is, but a footpath sign shows our route straight ahead.

We go between 2 gorse bushes and make for a road ahead

We go through the gate and straight across the road to the bridleway passing that house on the photo above.

So along the bridleway we go passing houses on the right-I couldn't see Willow Farm. The bridleway then goes down a steep hill with a sign at the top first

At the bottom we cross over a stream on a footbridge and go up the hill on the other side.

Now we are close to Fox Hill, so we pass a house on the right called "Jangles", and ahead is a narrow footpath that goes off to the right 

The path goes alongside a wooden fence

It emerges next to a metal gate complete with footpath sign on indicating our route from here.

The path goes alongside a fence to the left, enters a field, but follows the fence on the left hand side. It appears from the map that the path goes across the field at an angle but clearly the owner of the land has managed to get the path altered so it goes around the field's boundary rather than going straight across it.

The path meets a gate, then goes along side a fence with a hedge on the left hand side

As we approach a house, keep to the left of it and go towards a road.

The path comes out right next to a bend to the left hand side, and as our way is straight ahead, if you are in a group, get one person across the road to help others to get across the lane safely.

We go along the narrow path between 2 houses and come out into a field over a stile.

Now, 5 August 2020, that stile has been replaced with a metal kissing gate and a waymark sign as well.

So down the field edge we go towards a gate & stile which we cross, that stile has now been replaced with a metal kissing gate.

Over the stile we go and walk down beside the field and we now  and go along a little path through some brambles. In order to get to this path we now go through a metal gate.

 The path we now follow has recently been cleared

The newly cleared path now comes to another metal gate

The path comes out at a junction of little lanes, the right hand lane goes to Titcomb Farm, but our route is straight ahead.

Our route on the map from him is below.

The path we have just been on comes from next to some buildings, then meets a yellow lane an with a green stepped path going to the left. Our route is straight ahead along the yellow lane passing a couple of footpaths coming from the right. We are going towards Titcomb Manor.

Here is the lane to the left, the green stepped line on the map which we are not following.

Here is the lane we are going towards Titcomb Manor.

Here is a footpath coming in from the right with the lane ahead towards Titcomb Manor

As we reach a point where the lane goes right, there is a wooden building next to a gate

The gate has a sign on it pointing the way into a field and taking us now towards Kintbury passing Titcomb Manor on the left hand side.This is that sign on the stile, and below the picture is the map from here to Kintbury

Now in September 2019, the pathways around this area of Titcomb Manor have changed as there is now a building site at this place.

So now the above sign at this place is no longer there. Instead, there is the entrance to a contractors site with a wooden gate leading to a driveway with trucks and builders buildings.

On the entrance gate on the right hand side is a waymark sign

The path now is now wide and goes straight across the field towards the left hand corner. The path originally followed the hedge on the left hand side, now it goes right across the field towards the left hand corner 

Soon we come to a gate, going through it to walk down a field towards a gate with a hedge on the right hand side. I went through this area in September 2019 & found the gate had fallen down.

I went through this path on 24 07 2020 and found the gate had gone altogether

At the end of this field we go through a gate onto a footpath with a stream alongside us on the right hand side

Soon we come to a wooden footbridge over the stream

We go over the bridge which now is in a much better condition and make for a gate and a footpath

Now we go along a lovely straight path with a field to the left

The path eventually goes next to 2 dwellings between 2 fences

It emerges onto Titcomb Way with a pub ahead called the Blue Ball across the road

Now we are back into Kintbury again, going along the route we came from the station through the churchyard.

Then over Church Street,  past the turnstile and onto Station Road towards the railway station.

 When I first did this walk I hurried along this final bit of the walk to catch the 1345 train only to find from the sign above that it was cancelled, and I had to wait another hour for the next train-so I went to the Dundas Arms nearby for a quiet drink.

So that's the end of that little walk of just over 11 miles.