This walk really is food for the soul! Complete it with a friend or older children as at 8.5k it’s a bit of a long one!
The starting point for this walk is Dorchester-on-Thames and the route will take you along public footpaths to Days Lock, through Little Wittenham Woods and then up around Castle Hill, Wittenham Clumps and back. Aside from the incredible views, this walk is a pleasure during all seasons: we walked it during a clear day in winter, the crunch of the frost underfoot was so satisfying and the combination of sun up high and frozen ground below created some sort of magical steaming mist, which coated the landscape in otherworldliness.
Little Wittenham Woods are captivating – stop to have a look at the Earth Trust’s River of Life, a wetland landscape which benefits priority species such as skylarks, yellowhammers, water voles, otters, great crested newts, stag beetles and club-tailed dragonflies. Fascinating. The final ascent to Castle Hill can be quite hard hard work, and very muddy in places if it’s been raining, but you will be rewarded with the most stunning of vistas.
