Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead walks

Sir Stanley Spencer was one of the most important painters of the 20th century. This walk will take you round his home village, a place he regarded as ‘heaven on earth’. It also ventures out into the surrounding countryside and alongside the Thames.

The locations of several of his paintings are highlighted in the description with more details in the "to do or see" section.

An interesting walk that passes the five hills south of the Thames that make up the ‘Munros’. It takes advantage of two of the area’s major long-distance paths; the Chiltern Way and Thames Path. The walk culminates in a majestic 3-mile stretch alongside the Thames.

A mostly level walk on good paths, much of it on the Green Way. No stiles. Refreshment is available in picturesque Cookham village, once home to the artist Stanley Spencer. The village dates back to prehistoric times and has many fine old buildings.

This circular long distance path has access points that are easily reached by train from London, Reading and adjoining stations. If time is limited it can be walked in sections at weekends and bank holidays with one or two overnight stops.

The walk passes through a variety of beautiful countryside including river valleys, chalk downland, coniferous forests, rare heath, and beech woods that are carpeted with bluebells in spring.

The 1rst sections of this walk follow The Three Castles Path, a long distance route inspired by the 13th century journeys undertaken by King John between his castles at Windsor, Odiham and Winchester

This is a 16 stages walk around Reading accessible from one railway station to another.
Start & End: Martin's Heron Railway Station (RG12 9TZ) Grid ref. SU 887 683

A level walk through Swinley Park, part of the Crown Estate, then across Ascot Heath with a close-up view of the world-famous race course.

Follow the Thames Path through the lovely scenery of Cliveden Reach. Visit Boulter's lock, enjoy the wildlife on the newly-created Jubilee River and pass close to Eton College.

An interesting walk on good paths following the route of the royal procession from Ascot through Windsor Great Park and offering a 'surprise' view of Windsor Castle.

This section of our walk starts is 11.4 miles. It starts at Windsor & Eton Riverside Station and takes in Windsor Castle, The Long Walk, Windsor Great Park, Three Castles Path, Virginia Water, Valley Gardens, Savill Garden and Englefield Green.

This section of our walk starts at Datchet Railway Station. It is 14.75 miles and takes in Datchet Village, the Jubilee River, Dorney, Maidenhead Riverside, Dorney Lake, Boveney, the Thames Path, Eton High Street and Windsor Bridge. It is the longest of the five sections, but is flat and easy to follow.

The Freedom Trail is a long distance path, designed to link places associated with these and other events in our history, and how they would form a blue-print for the world we know today. I'm not really an historian or a walker, but through a few other projects I have been involved with, I thought this would be something interesting to do. The path is 64 miles long.

The first section of the walk starts at Wraysbury station. It is 13.15 miles and takes in Wraysbury, Ankerwycke, Church Lammas, St Mary's Church, Duncroft Manor, Staines Moor, central Staines-upon-Thames, Staines riverside, The Hythe, Thames Path, Runnymede, Old Windsor and Datchet.

The route follows the Thames Path all the way. At times the path can be narrow, so be aware. The route crosses Windsor Bridge to Eton, then turns left to follow the Thames Path past Boveney, Dorney Lake. Oakley Court and Bray Studios are soon visible across the river. Next is Bray Lock, then through Maidenhead, and Cookham to Bourne End.