Didwal one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 83.33% of reviewers

Unwalkable as mapped.
For example; at Shillingford the straight line route ignores the bridge (swim?) does not say which of 3 path options to take and flies over private property. I wonder if the previous reviewers have all walked the same route?
In addition the footbridge over Benson Lock Weir is now closed. The re-building will take until 2026.
There is also new housing over the path at Ladygrove.
It is a good walk otherwise and I have uploaded an accurate up-to-date version - Didwal3 .

I walked this on a grey winter morning, from Didcot to Wallingford. It had not rained a lot in the last week.

Leaving the station I soon found myself through parks in Didcot for a while, before going in the wrong direction at a new housing estate. Unfortunately the maps on my GPS watch had not been updated yet, so it was hard to follow the paths. OpenStreetMap was of course already up-to-date, which helped me find the right direction. Just after the housing estate I walked past a lovely farm, with the snowdrops out in front of a little lake.

Crossing Lady Grove road was a little annoying, and I had to wait a little while before it was safe to cross. This part of the walk was through some farmland, which was easy to walk with not too much mud, and more importantly, no cows. There was a tiny bit of road walking, before I got onto Earth Trust land which maintains the land around the Wittenham Clumps, which started to loom larger and larger in the distance.

It was a pretty steep climb up, and I deliberately took the "long way" around the top of the slightly taller Castle Hill to get a better look at the Thames Valley, and the other slightly smaller clump which housed an iron age hill fort back in the days where that was popular.

The route did not make an immediate bee line for the Thames. After going around a farm my walk finally got me to the Thames at Shillingford.

Once I crossed the bridge across the Thames, there were many small birds in the hedge roads chirping happily along. The paths on the Thames Path were all very muddy, which wasn't quite a surprise as it was winter, but I think I would prefer walking it in summer instead.

At Benson the weir was blocked off, which unfortunately meant a diversion away from the Thames Path, first through a little village, then along a busy road for a short stretch, and then along residential roads into Wallington where the first section finished at its historic market square.

Didcot to Wallingford (Didwal 1) review.

An enjoyable Slow Way through fields, over the historic Clumps, and then a stretch of the Thames Path.

It leaves Didcot along a park lane (Photo 1). I could hear whistling from the steam engines at Didcot Railway Centre.

On my walk (July 2021) there was a great deal of building work north of the A4130. I found the footpath via Ladygrove Farm (SU534915) inaccessible. I suggest bypassing this via the A4130 and B4016, which have pavements for most of the way, and resume the footpath east at SU539914.

The pleasant field walk (Photo 2) ends at the Earth Trust Centre (earthtrust.org.uk) which manages the green spaces around the Wittenham Clumps (Photo 3). It’s a slight detour, but Little Wittenham Bridge (Photo 4) is just north of the Clumps: a former venue for the annual Poohsticks championship!

The route continues east (Photo 5) to join the Thames Path at Shillingford. From there it follows the attractive and relaxing towpath all the way into Wallingford (Photos 6 & 7).

We walked this lovely route in the direction of Didcot to Wallingford. The weather had been dry in the run up to the walk so we encountered minimal issues with mud, however we know from walking parts of this route previously that after periods of rainfall, certain paths can get very muddy.

There are a variety of terrains on this route with some narrow, uphill and/or uneven sections - please refer to the photo survey we conducted of this route for further details.

Very pleasant walk though with scenic views from Wittenham Clumps and various points of interest en route including Benson Weir and Benson Lock.

Starting in Wallingford you head along the river Thames and through the ancient clumps. You cross the river twice; Once at Shillingford and a second time at Benson lock. The route could be made longer by following the Thames path into Dorchester.

The Thames path between Benson and Shillingford is home to Kingfishers so do keep an eye out, and the fields in the Autumn are full of Dewberries.

Didcot has good transport links and there are plenty of refreshments en route.

I walked this route in reverse, starting in Wallingford. Lovely start walking alongside the river Thames. The route has a few unnecessary little diversions of the Thames path, just ignore and keep to riverside path. At Shillingford, cross over the bridge. The map shows secondary crossing which does not exist. Pleasant walk through woods and around Wittenham Clumps. Be careful approaching Didcot as path goes through new housing development and path will alter until building is completed. The only step is in Benson lock but there were several mothers with pushchairs there and they appeared to have no difficulty. Otherwise paths were firm, wide enough and obvious.

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