Walking the Ridgeway, by Anthony Burton

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Streatley to Watlington Hill Road (15 miles, 24 km)

Streatley is a little town full of character, where elegantly sophisticated Georgian houses happily sit beside homely thatched cottages. The town developed here, because this is the point where the Thames makes its break through the Chiltern hills, creating an obvious crossing point. Everything is squeezed into the gap – river, road and railway, but it is the river that demands attention. A complex of weirs send the water churning into a foam, leaving a narrow channel at the far bank to hold the passage for boats and the lock to raise and lower them to the different levels. Astonishingly, before the lock was built in the 18th century, the weirs had movable paddles that held back the water, and when they were removed, boats used to ride down on the “flash” of water – hence the name flash lock – or be winched up against the flow. It sounds dangerous and it was – in 1634 a passenger boat overturned with the loss of over sixty lives. The bridge leads across to Streatley’s neighbour, Goring with its old water mill.

The route now follows the line of the Thames, passing through the village of South Stoke, with a modest church that contains one imposing memorial to Dr. Griffith Higgs, born in 1589 and at one time Chaplain to the Queen of Bohemia – not quite what you expect in a modest English country church. The next village, unsurprisingly called North Stoke, also has a church with a surprise inside, a set of medieval wall paintings. The path stays close to the river as far as the outskirts of Wallingford, which is well worth a short detour. It dates back to Saxon times, when it was one of a series of “burhs” or fortified towns, and parts of the old town walls still remain.

Meanwhile the Ridgeway turns away from the river to continue heading off to the east and the Chiltern Hills. It follows a curious man-made feature, known as Grim’s Ditch, and its true nature becomes clearer as you walk along, when the ditch becomes ever deeper and its accompanying bank even higher. No one knows when it was built or why – the best bets are Iron Age and that it was some sort of boundary marker. Along the way, it crosses another ancient track, the Icknield Way, which turns up again along the way, before heading off to an area of mixed woodland. The final stretch of Grim’s Ditch is the most dramatic, running through a parade of mature beech trees. It continues to the top of the hill, where the ditch ends and the Ridgeway turns away towards the village of Nuffield. Here is yet another church with a history to tell: it stands on the site of a Roman villa, and many of the original Roman bricks and tiles were built into its fabric.

From Nuffield the route crosses the main road and heads off towards Ewelme Park. The house is not quite as old as it seems: it is one of those very charming vernacular buildings that were built in Edwardian Britain, and this is by one of the main architects of the movement, Charles Voysey. Strutting peacocks and their dowdier female companions generally give walkers a raucous welcome. The walk continues past another grand mansion, Swyncombe Park, which remains tantalisingly out of sight behind high walls, but for those who come this way in spring there is more than adequate compensation: the area is famous for its snowdrops. The tiny hamlet of Swyncombe boasts a small but ornate church almost dwarfed by its rectory.

Now the path heads up the hillside and it is time to start looking out for one of the Chilterns’ newer residents. The red kite was all but extinct in Britain a few decades ago, but was then reintroduced to this area, where it thrives. Easy to spot, with its distinctive triangular tail and colouring, this is a very welcome return. The route continues over the hill, eventually dropping down to the road into Watlington.

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Photographs: Grim's Ditch and Swyncombe Church. © Bonza TV Ltd