Newbeas two

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Newbury to East Ilsley 2 (Newbeas 2) review.

An attractive route across the North Wessex Downs, which ascends from Newbury in the River Kennet valley to East Ilsley, close to The Ridgeway.

Note: I walked East Ilsley to Newbury. I somehow managed, during weeks of hot weather, to pick an isolated day of perpetual rain and drizzle!

East Ilsley is served by the No. 6 bus from Newbury. The village has a couple of pubs on the high street. The footpath south out of the village turns left before a Millennium Green.

The route passes fields (Photo 1) and takes an underpass under the A34. There’s a lane through Beedon and then it’s back to fields (Photo 2). The network of footpaths looked tricky on the map, but on the ground the paths are maintained and well signposted.

The Slow Way joins the Ilsley Down Riding Route – a reminder of how influential horse training is to the downs (Photo 3).

The route takes a field path to avoid most of Chieveley (Photo 4). The village has a convenience store on the route, and there’s a short detour to Ye Olde Red Lion pub.

The path from the village crosses the M4 via a footbridge, and then through woods (Photos 5 & 6). There’s a detour to a former pub, the Damson Restaurant in Winterbourne.

The Slow Way explores the length of Snelsmore Common Country Park. There’s a café at the main entrance to the woodland (Photos 7 & 8).

A bridleway leaves the park and crosses back over the A34 to arrive at Donnington Castle (Photo 9).

The route into Newbury avoids most of the urban walk by joining the Lambourn Valley Way long-distance path, and ends by following the Kennet and Avon Canal into the town centre (Photo 10).

Overall, an enjoyable route. We walked in the direction of East Ilsley to Newbury. Inevitably, there are a couple of sections where road noise from the A34 and M4 intrudes over the sounds of nature but that wouldn’t stop me walking it again.

The first half to Chieveley is mainly walking on a mixture of green byways and footpaths over fields. Several of the byways are pleasantly overgrown at this time of year with wildflowers attracting the butterflies. There was a variety of crops of varying heights in the fields but in all cases the footpaths had been left clear of planting so trail finding was easy. We had a minor issue in Beedon where the GPX wiggled past a row of houses to a locked gate – we had to backtrack and take the previous turning round by the church to re-join the route.

After crossing the M4 out of Chieveley, the route winds through Bussocks Wood and heads towards Winterbourne and then up to Snelsmore Common. We ignored the bit on the GPX that diverts off to Winterbourne – for info, the former pub there is currently a fine dining restaurant. For other options, Chieveley has a shop and a pub, Snelsmore Common has a refreshment kiosk, plenty of outdoor seating and loos.

Leaving Snelsmore, the route crosses the A34 to pass the remains of the gatehouse of the 14th century Donnington Castle (Photo) with views over Newbury town and beyond. From there, it is fairly straightforward to follow the route down through the golf course, along a few residential streets and quiet lanes to join the canal towpath which brings you to the centre of town.

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