Hills, woods, the Thames and Bluebells - 17km/11 miles

Do this walk because - you’ll enjoy great variety and you’ll see lots and lots of bluebells (we hope!).

Hike facts
Approximately 17km / 11 miles.
Duration: actual walking time for the full hike, circa 4.5 hours.
Hike grade: moderate. We will maintain a steady pace over varied surfaces.
Weather: see here
Donation to GOSH: £5 cash on the day
What to take: a packed lunch and plenty of water.

Also, as we're volunteers, we don't have public liability insurance so if you sign up for the walk, you accept you're fully responsible for your own safety.

Walk description

From the station we'll head for some lovely woodland where bluebells like to hide.

Then we’ll head off to Quarry Wood, famous for supplying the distinctive stone that built Windsor Castle, and also the inspiration for ‘Wild Wood’ in Kenneth Grahame’s classic children’s novel, ‘The Wind in the Willows’.

At Winter Hill, we'll get great views of the River Thames before we descend to Cock Marsh and join the Thames Path.

The final leg of our journey is fairly flat as we head back towards Cookham – those who want to can join us for a drink close to the station before heading home 😊

Meeting at
Cookham railway station. We'll be outside the station exit holding a GOSH banner, please see the photo below. Meeting time: 10.45, we'll leave at 10.50 am.

TRAVEL
by train
Get a return to Cookham. A ticket's £17 or with Groupsave or a network railcard, it's £11.20 (times and prices as of 8/4/24).
1. Getting there - Paddington to Cookham. Catch the 10.08 arriving at 10.41 am (you'll need to change at Maidenhead).
2. Coming back - Cookham to Paddington - there's one train an hour.
Plan your route here: Trainline

by car
There is a car park at the station.

KEY INFORMATION
YOU MUST READ THE THREE SECTIONS BELOW - if you join this trip, you're confirming that you have.

1. The perilous bit
2. Our FAQs, including an explanation of Groupsave tickets which will save you money.
3. See here for what to wear and take

AND FINALLY

• We're raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

We’ll deduct Meetup fees but all the profits will go to GOSH. After each hike, we’ll let you know exactly how much we’ve all raised. And if you’d like to join us and raise money by leading some hikes, please get in touch – the more the merrier 😊

• We're volunteers hoping to establish a community of friends, so please go with the flow and help out where and if you can.
• If you need to get in touch on the day, you can call Colin on 07941 646 035 or Carl on 07503 237 375 or message on Meetup.