Roman Calleva & The Devil's Highway

The text and routes in these mapping apps are based on content in my blog where you can find the updated versions of the routes and notes on the landscape, history and things to watch out for. Link www.pootler.co.uk.

This is a tour of the Berkshire countryside which starts from Theale Station and ends up at Twyford Station, further down the line to Paddington. It links places in the valleys of the Kennet, Loddon and Blackwater but a major focus is the visit to Roman Silchester. It starts off on the towpath of the canalised River Kennet (NCR 4) but after that follows minor roads through green, rolling mixed farming country to Aldermaston, Silchester and eastwards. The exception being a rather tedious stretch through Winnersh on the home straight.

 Zoom In

The standout attraction is Roman Silchester. In my ‘umble opinion only Hadrian’s wall rivals the scale of these visible remains in the UK.

The bucolic Kennet towpath.

The Duke of Wellington’s Estate at Stratfield Saye, you need to pay to get in.

A rather good Nature Reserve & Cafe at Dinton Pastures

The odd oddity.

On the debit side, you probably get too close and personal with the unattractive Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston and I believe the old RAF Bomb Dump is next to the route, so don’t throw your fag ends over the fence.

On the blog, there are detailed notes on waypoints and things to see. If your mapping app has not imported these, use this link to go directly to the blog post of the route. I hope these will be more entertaining than the links to dry Wikipedia articles dredged up as POI’s by the mapping apps’ software robots. This cannot give you the exact location for each waypoint but it many cases you won’t need it and at least the information will be up to date! Link : Pootler Route

On the blog, there are detailed notes on waypoints and things to see. If your mapping app has not imported these, use this link to go directly to the blog post of the route. I hope these will be more entertaining than the links to dry Wikipedia articles dredged up as POI’s by the mapping apps’ software robots. This cannot give you the exact location for each waypoint but it many cases you won’t need it and at least the information will be up to date!

Link : Pootler Route

Zoom Out

Over the last 50m years, when sea levels have risen, the Thames Valley has been inundated. As a result the area is mostly covered by a thick layer of the ‘London Clay’, silts and sand which was subsequently sliced and diced by the rivers and generally eroded.  

In the past the area would have been quite wooded. The land between the Kennet and Silchester still is, although much of it is now planted with conifers. Many of the farms were formed after piecemeal clearance dating back to medieval times. As a result, in contrast to the clay vales in particular, the layout owes less to Enclosures and more to happenstance. So the roads are winding and the fields irregular and, if you are not a farmer, all the better for it.

In layout terms, the main impact on what would otherwise have been ‘ancient’ countryside at least, is probably the more recent extension of the settlements owing to its proximity to Reading, particularly noticeable on the home straight, and the impact of the sprawling AWE. As countryside goes, it is quite densely populated.

On the blog you will also find posts on the rich and complicated human and topographical history of the area as a whole, ranging from the early occupation, the changing agricultural landscape, the geomorphology of the Thames Valley, the buildings and anything else that moves me. Link Pootler : Other Stuff 

Route Tips

If your app provides notes on the road surfaces etc. keep in mind that they are automatically generated and only as good as the underlying mapping. The towpath is usually in decent condition (I tried it last in Feb 2023) but if the weather or your bike discourage you from going off-road at all, or you want to extend or shorten the ride, a modest extension would be to substitute the attractive lanes to the North of the Canal. And if you don’t want to end up at Twyford, just before you reach Winnersh Station, a cycle route takes you into the centre of Reading.