The Walk: This first leg of the Ridgeway East of the Thames starts at Goring-on-Thames, and finishes on the A4130 just after the village of Nuffield, adjacent to the Nuffield Place National Trust property.
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| Medieval wall paintings, St Mary's Church, North Stoke |
Route
NB The map shows my route, with various diversions and excursions which you may not wish to follow precisely. You can download the Google map info, as a KML/KMZ file, then convert to GPX using a site like GPS Visualiser. The GPX for the entire Ridgeway can also be downloaded from the National Trails website.
From Goring & Streatley station, walk into the village centre and pick up the Ridgeway heading North on Thames Road just before reaching the bridge over the Thames. The route is sandwiched between the Great Western Railway and the River Thames, following the riverbank itself between the villages of South and Little Stoke.
After North Stoke, the trail heads due East following the linear Grim's Ditch earthwork for several miles, before climbing to skirt the village of Nuffield and then cross Huntercombe Golf Course and reach the A4130.
The route is well signed with distinctive signs.
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| Ridgeway signs |
Why do it?
Goring, and its neighbour Streatley on the opposite side of the Thames, are attractive towns situated in the Thames gap in the Chilterns. There are good views of the River, weir and lock from the town bridge.
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| Thames at Goring |
The Church at South Stoke has a colourful 17th Century monument to Griffin Higgs (1589-1659), a prominent churchman. The Church at North Stoke has impressive medieval wall paintings.
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| Monument to Griffin Higgs, St Andrew's Church, South Stoke |
Between South Stoke and the hamlet of Little Stoke, you get to walk (all too briefly) beside the Thames.
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| Thameside mansion |
You pass under the Grade 2* listed Moulsford Railway Viaduct, built by I K Brunel to carry the London-Bristol GWR over the Thames. It comprises two bridges, one for each track, and has impressive spiral brickwork.
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| Brickwork under Moulsford Railway Viaduct |
The route follows Grim's Ditch, believed to be an Iron Age boundary between two tribes. At first, it is a modest embankment, with hedgerows either side of the path, but becomes more impressive in scale the further along you go.
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| Grim's Ditch |
In Spring, you will see blossom on the hawthorn and blackthorn hedgerows, and also bluebells in the woods along the way.
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| Blossom on Grim's Ditch |
You finally emerge onto Huntercombe Golf Course, from which good views out over Oxfordshire are to be had.
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| View from Huntercombe Golf Course |
The walk ends adjacent to the entrance road for Nuffield Place, the former home of William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the industrialist founder of Morris Motors based at Cowley in Oxford.. It is cared for by the National Trust and is open to the public. It is quite a modest home for such a wealthy man. He apparently bought the Golf Course to stop it being developed. There is an exhibition of his philanthropic works, including developing low cost iron lung machines, which could be provided rapidly to treat polio sufferers.
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| Iron lung, Nuffield Place |
Incongruously, down the road behind Nuffield House is H M Prison Huntercombe. Perhaps its most (in)famous inmate was Boris Becker, who was held there in 2022 following his conviction for financial irregularities.
It would be unusual not to see several Red Kites. They had all but disappeared from England when they were reintroduced into the Chilterns in the 1990s. Originally, the release site at Christmas Common was a closely guarded secret, but they multiplied and spread rapidly, and are now a common sight, see video.
Logistics:
Start: Goring & Streatley station. Walk to the village centre then along the main road to the bridge over the Thames. The Ridgeway is joined just before the bridge.
Finish: on the A4130 just after the village of Nuffield, adjacent to the Maker Space cafe and close to Nuffield Place (NT). From here, you can get the 33 bus either westwards to Didcot Parkway station on the GWR, or Southeastwards to Henley on Thames, from which trains connect to the GWR at Twyford.
You could, for example, come from Reading on the train to Goring, then having completed the walk, get the 33 bus to Didcot Parkway to return to Reading.
Or, by car, you could park at Goring station (charge), and return to that station via Didcot Parkway as above.
If walking the Ridgeway in one go, you could get the 33 bus to nearby Nettlebed, and overnight at the White Hart Inn, then continue to Princes Risborough on the next day.
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| Bus stop for 33 bus at Nuffield Place |
Distance: 11.5 miles, including the walk from Goring Station.
Challenges:
The walk is quite enclosed by hedgerows which limit views of the Thames at the start, and over the Oxfordshire plain as you climb along Grim's Ditch. But this is alleviated by the path beside the river between South and Little Stoke, and you can sneak through gaps in the Grim's Ditch hedges for far reaching views.
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| Path out of Goring |
The walk is close to the GWR at the start. After turning East after North Stoke, the trail follows the busy A4130 for a short way.
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| Railway to the right |
Refreshments:
Plenty of cafes etc in Goring, including popular Pierreponts near the bridge.
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| Pierreponts Cafe |
Perch and Pike Pub in South Stoke
The Springs Resort and Golf Course just after North Stoke welcomes Ridgeway walkers to its cafe.
Makers Space cafe next to the bus stop on the A4130 at the end of the walk.
Tea caravan in Nuffield Place
Nearby Walks:
For an overview map of all my walks along the Ridgeway East of the Thames see this page.
For cycling the Ridgeway West of the Thames as part of the King Alfred's Way: this blog describes cycling the whole King Alfred's Way, with links to more detailed blogs for the Ridgeway sections.
Next Leg: Nuffield Place to Princes Risborough
More Photos
Somewhat overcast day in April
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| Road from Goring & Streatley Station to village centre |
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| Goring church |
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| Riverside Blossom |
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| River glimpses |
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| GWR |
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| St Andrew's, South Stoke |
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| Monument to Griffin Higgs, St Andrew's Church, South Stoke |
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| Join the river at South Stoke landing |
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| Thames narrow boat |
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| Moulsford Railway Viaduct |
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| Impressive 'corkscrew' brickwork |
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| it's actually two bridges. The first built 1840, the second next to it c1890. |
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| Freight train |
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| Hedgerow blossom (Blackthorn?) |
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| Blossom |
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| Wall paintings, North Stoke church |
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| Track across Springs Golf course |
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| Grim's Ditch path |
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| Views through gaps in the hedgerows |
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| Trig pillar |
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| Crossing Cox's Lane |
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| Early bluebells |
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| Grim's Ditch gets deeper as you progress |
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| Anenonemes? |
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| Higher reaches of Grim's Ditch |
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| Ascending to Nuffield |
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| Blossom near Huntercombe Golf Clubhouse |
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| Maker Space cafe |
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| Lady Nuffield's Wolseley, Nuffield Place |
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| Lord Nuffield's tool cupboard in his bedroom (bet his wife was pleased) |
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| Nuffield Place |
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| If staying over at Nettlebed, there are these curious puddingstones |
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| 33 bus |
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