Two Culham Lock - Abingdon - Walk England.

Circular Walk from Culham along The River Thames Path to Abingdon in Oxfordshire then back across our lovely English countryside via Sutton Courtenay.

Culham - Abingdon - Sutton Courtenay - Culham. The walk is around 14kms long and apart from a short section of undulating track is pretty much flat all the way. It is necessary to be aware of weather conditions before taking this walk if there has been recent heavy rain. As you leave the lock at Culham you can see the meadows on the other side of the River Thames - if these fields and meadows are badly flooded then it's likely that the River Thames has gone over it's banks and you may not be able to get into Abingdon itself without diverting onto the road some way out of the town (which somewhat removes the enjoyment of the walk). Equally once you arrive back at Sutton Courtenay instead of following our instructions which cross the weirs you will need to follow Appleford Road and then Abingdon Road to get back to Culham Lock with dry feet.
Do not forget to take a bag of bread for the ducks by the way (poor starving little fat things that they are).

Culham Lock is situated a little way off the A415 Abingdon to Clifton Hampden Road - there is a fairly large and amazingly still free car park at Culham Lock - leastways as of April 2008 it is free to park. Leave the car park and turn right along the footpath - within a few yards there is a path access on the right which goes onto the Thames Path. Just go ahead to reach and then continue on past the large double Culham Lock. There is no difficulty in following this walk - just keep on the Thames Path as it follows the River sometimes walking between high hedgerows and other times with open fields on the right. The whole area is really nice to walk through - there are always plenty of ducks, swans, moorhens and coots messing about on the river and many varieties of other birds in the hedgerows and vegetation - depending on the time of year you will see lots of wild flowers, dog roses, hawthorn and so on. The Thames Path eventually takes a large sweep right and ends up at hedgerow where there is a signed pointing you to go left onto a wooden bridge. If you walk onto the bridge you will get an excellent view of the old Culham bridge - this beautiful old stone bridge has a bit of history attached to it: it was built in 1416 and was the site of a Civil War skirmish in January 1645. Having admired the old bridge there is no doubt that you will need to walk over it so go back through the hedgerow, turn left and walk just past the house and immediately take the gravel path on the left onto the bridge. From here continue across the bridge and go left and head back down to the Thames Path next to the river. (The water meadows here can be flooded - if they look really wet it may be best to go back to just before the old bridge and take the woodland path on the left which takes you to the Abingdon Road. Cross the -busy- road and go left into Abingdon using the old raised path instead).
Otherwise with Abingdon now well in view - particularly the high steeple of St Helen's Church - just follow the river on into the old town to arrive at it's really nice old bridge (this was also originally built in 1416 by wool traders) - there are several seats situated amongst the trees here plus guess what? loads of hungry ducks and swans.

To the right of the church you will see a sign pointing to "The Ock River Valley Walk" - take this well surfaced path as it follows the River Ock for a while and then keep straight on across a small grassy area to arrive at a main road. Cross over this usually busy road and go ahead into a large grass area - bear half right and walk over to the River Ock. Follow the river to eventually reach and cross a small concrete bridge on the right. Turn left and continue following the river (Now on your left) to then reach a wooden bridge - having crossed this turn left and again continue alongside the river.

The path emerges onto more open ground and follows more or less alongside the River as it meanders it's way to a large wooden footbridge - cross the bridge and on reaching a small lane turn right up to the end of the lane - passing an old mill house on the way. Take the track on the left - now simply follow this undulating and sometimes muddy green track between high hedgerows to eventually arrive at the road just outside of Drayton. Cross the road and almost immediately go left again along Sutton Wick Lane - passing some really nice old barns and also a fairly small duck pond. Confusingly the road splits and both roads are named Sutton Wick Lane - take the left hand version - passing houses and continue to where the road ends. Do not take the footpaths on the left - instead go straight ahead between hedgerow and fence to arrive at Church Lane. Bear left going up Church Lane to arrive at St Peter's nice little church - where you will find several wooden benches if you fancy a five minute break. Walk on through the graveyard and on through gates at the end - continue ahead down a grassy track to reach a path and open fields. Turn right and shortly arrive at a road (the B4016). Go across the road and continue on another path staying in the same direction - to eventually arrive at a small concrete lane (Drayton East Way).

Turn left and continue on to reach a tarmac road - cross this then passing by a lawn mower maintenance workshop (where incidentally they have several nice old Rolls Royces parked) - keep ahead and follow the wide grassy path - this soon changes into a fairly narrow high hedge lined path - if the weather has been wet this path for a while can be extremely muddy and slippery. The path ends at the outskirts of Sutton Courtenay - there is an old water mill on the right but unfortunately the grounds behind it have been saturated by some horrible red brick houses. Follow the now surfaced Mill Lane to arrive at the High Street - turn left and follow this down to reach a road junction (Brook Street and Church Street). Turn right and walk along Church Street - there are some really interesting old buildings as well as the village's splendid church to look at on the way. At the bottom of this road where it turns sharp right you will find on the left hand side a footpath which will take you to the variety of weirs (note that if you had noticed the fields were flooded when originally starting this walk you need to return to the road and continue along it (now Appleford Street) - after a while turn left onto Abingdon Road which will get you back to your start point.

The weirs are really nice to wander around - often lots of wild birds to be seen, lovely trees and so on. Follow the main path eventually crossing the main weir and keep ahead to reach a footbridge at the River Thames. Once over turn right and take the short walk back to the lock at Culham.

 

 

A walk from Culham Lock via Thames Path to Clifton Hampden Bridge, round UKAEA Culham and across country to The Thames then back to Culham via Abingdon.

Car parking is as per the above walk. This walk is around 10 miles in length and is fairly flat most of the way - the Thames Path from Culham to Clifton Hampden is very heavily overgrown but fine if you are on foot however cyclists will find it very bumpy and perhaps not that exciting from a saddle point of view. As with the above walk if there has been heavy rain and you can see that the Thames has gone over it's banks it probably means that the walk should not be attempted. The problem area is a little way along from where you re-join the Thames near Abingdon and the Back Water joins the Thames - the area is prone to flood easily and is also extremely boggy in places. Should you get this far and not be able to continue you would have to go some miles back to Thames Lane.

From the car park turn right towards the bridge, cross the road and take the wooden gate which goes onto the Thames Path. Now simply follow the Thames Path as it goes along the river often with very heavy foliage either side - in fact the growth is so strong you often cannot even see the river just a few yards away on the right. As mentioned this path is particularly bumpy and perhaps not too comfortable for cyclists. After a while the towers and buildings of Didcot Power Station come into view and then eventually the path reaches a particularly nice old girder railway bridge. A little further on the Thames Path goes through Clifton Cut to arrive at Clifton's Weir and Clifton Lock - keep going and just a little way further the really beautiful Clifton Hampden Bridge appears - particularly picturesque as apart from all the fine trees by the bridge you also see Clifton Hampden's Church just behind it all. The actual Thames Path now switches over to the other side of the River Thames however continue under the bridge and just a very short distance on the path bears left across a small field and arrives at a road just by the church. Turn right - passing the church and when the road is clear (it can be very busy with traffic at times here) - cross over and walk up to the traffic lights at Abingdon Road. Cross Abingdon Road and then turn left along it - almost immediately take a grassy path leaving on the right which goes alongside a building and then into a field - the path goes sharply left near the far side of the field and then arrives at a concrete road. Go right on this old concrete road heading towards a farm and with and old quite high wire fence on the left.
(A little history - Mostly now used for nuclear and atomic research by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and also by JET (more nuclear stuff) the area is interlaced with old concrete roads which are typical of ex military establishments. In fact this part of Culham was opened towards the end of World War 2 (in 1944) as RNAS Culham - HMS Hornbill - and once had three runways capable of handling bomber aircraft - the Royal Navy closed the "ship"? in 1956. There are still several huge aircraft hangars which you pass a little later on this walk - one is in good condition but the other is rapidly falling apart and will presumably end up being flattened - not so long ago there were three hangars still up). Follow the concrete road always keeping the wire security fence on the left - there are in fact plenty of grassy areas to walk along and the area is by no means as bleak as "concrete road" and "security fence" might suggest. Eventually the route (which is now Thame Lane) passes two huge hangars (these are a little way off on the right) and goes straight on for several 100 yards before bending left - as always still with the security fence on the left.
**-**Soon a footpath signed "Abingdon 3 miles" (it actually starts off as a narrow track) leaves on the right heading off across a field and reaches a double railway line. This is a "Stop Look and Listen" crossing i.e. you have to walk across the tracks - trains do sound before reaching this point but they can also be travelling quite quickly. Once across the railway turn right along a track. If uncomfortable with crossing the railway line like this instead of taking the **-** path just continue along the original road (i.e. Thame Lane) which after a short distance goes sharp right and crosses the railway on a bridge - once over the bridge go immediately right on a wide track now with the railway line on the right.
In either case follow the track down - you are meant to use a path between this track and the railway line but it is impassable due to nettles, bramble and so on so just stay on the track. At the bottom in the corner believe it or not you will find the River Thames - once again the area is really heavy with trees and growth - if you just divert slightly through a gap you will find the river bank and also just off to the right there is another fine railway girder bridge. Form the corner of the field turn left and now simply follow the grassy path (this is NOT the Thames Path which is on the unreachable other side of the river) with The Thames on the right sometimes visible to eventually arrive at some trees. Follow the path slightly away from the Thames as it crosses what can be a very flooded/boggy area which is where Back Water joins the Thames - there are several wooden bridges to help keep you out of the bog fortunately. (Just after the third very wide footbridge a path goes off to the left - this goes almost directly to Abingdon Bridge).

If you do not want to use this shortcut then follow the path on the right which passes Back Water Weir and then follows the Thames to Abingdon Lock and the huge weirs located there.
Abingdon is a really nice Oxfordshire Town - should you cross the weir there are nice grass areas and gardens to wander around as well as a children's play area and paddling pool.
The walk continues by following the Thames Path on down and under Abingdon's excellent old bridge - now just keep going with the river nearly always next to the path for a change - eventually arriving back at Culham Lock.

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