Head for the southeast corner of the green (furthest away from the A4) in the centre of Littlewick Green. Pass Redroofs Theatre School, continue into School Lane and follow it past a 'Motor Vehicles Prohibited' sign to the woodland edge. Emerging from the trees, bear left to join a tarmac track running across the fields, with a hedge on your left. There are good views south along here. Cross a road leading to a business park and continue over farmland to the next road. Turn left, passing houses, and cross the A4 (beware traffic).
You are now entering Maidenhead Thicket. Follow the waymarked path between trees and clearings, soon merging with a path from the left. After some tall oaks you will reach a (muddy) bridleway: veer right and follow the main route (there may be tyre tracks), bearing left at the butterfly waymarker. The next crossroads of footpath is known as Robin Hood’s Arbour. Turn left and follow the hard path to Stubbings House lodge on your left.
Cross to the kissing gate, right of the lodge. Make a short diversion here to Stubbings House itself, following the cafe sign pointing left. Retrace your steps then follow the path out, left, across the fields through two kissing gates. The footpath, initially with a hedge on the left, becomes a track before reaching Stubbings Farm buildings. At the road at Burchett’s Green, turn left and pass Little Stubbings with its white weatherboarded dovecote tower, Old Manor Cottage, and Stubbings Manor, with ornate brickwork and a delightful garden. Follow the lane and veer right, opposite the entrance to Old Oak Farm, onto Knowl Hill Bridleway Circuit.
Follow the path between hedgerows and trees. Further on it runs beside houses and bungalows. Along this stretch the path broadens to a track, and the sound of traffic on the A4 gradually becomes audible.At the junction go straight over the A4 into Jubilee Road and follow it back towards the cricket ground at Littlewick Green. Note the entrance to the village churchyard, somewhat hidden, to your left-hand side just off the green. On reaching the edge of the green, bear right to join a waymarked footpath running alongside the ground and past the front of Littlewick Green cricket club. Note the thatched cottage in the centre of the green, partly protected by trees but still perilously close to the southern boundary of the cricket pitch. Beside it is a pretty row of cottages. At the road turn left, passing the Cricketers Inn. Alternatively, follow the road round the eastern edge of the green to return to your car.
Maidenhead Thicket is one of those places that you might frequently pass by in the car without even realising it's there. From the road only a curtain of trees is visible, but step into Maidenhead Thicket and at once you are in a tranquil world of dense woodland and sunny glades. Lime trees, oaks... and horse chestnuts bring colour and life to the well-used paths and tracks, and for a few short weeks every year the ground is covered with violets and hazy blue carpets of bluebells. Haunt of highwaymen Maidenhead Thicket consists of 368 acres (149ha) of woodland and glades. These days it is National Trust land, but it used to be known as a notorious haunt of highwaymen. The trees and bushes lining the Great West Road would have given these 18th-century robbers perfect cover as they lay in wait for passing stage coaches. Nearby Maidenhead once boasted scores of inns which prospered on the vulnerability of coach passengers. Most opted to stay in the town overnight rather than risk driving through the dreaded thicket at dusk. It is also said that the highwaymen who lurked under the trees preferred the coaches entering the town from the west – those approaching from the east had been robbed already by the highwaymen of Hounslow Heath. Dangerous times Claude Duval (1643–70), one of the most notorious highwaymen, preyed upon travellers in this area. According to a handbook on Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, published in 1860, 'in the reign of Elizabeth, the vicar of Hurley, who served the cure of Maidenhead, was allowed an extra salary to atone for the danger of passing the thicket'. The most famous highwayman of all, Dick Turpin (1705–39), travelled this way too, waiting in the shadows to ambush any passing coaches. From here he galloped to his aunt's cottage at nearby Sonning where he stabled Black Bess before going into hiding in Oxfordshire, waiting until the dust settled. Jackson's Oxford Journal for 1 November, 1755 tells of a typical hold-up: 'Last Tuesday about 12.00 at noon, the Oxford machine (the stage coach from London), in which were three gentlemen, was stopped by a single highwayman, well mounted, with a black mask, in Maidenhead Thicket. Upon demanding their money, the passengers gave him about 12 guineas. He then demanded their watches, which two of the gentlemen delivered, but one of them desiring he would return the seal, on which was his coat of arms. The highwayman, observing that the watch was only pinchbeck (brass), said it would be of little service to him and returned it. He then made off into the thicket'.
Berkshire consists of two distinct parts: the western half, which is predominantly rural, with the Lambourn Downs spilling down to the River Lambourn and the Berkshire Downs to the majestic Thames, and the eastern half of Berkshire, which offers plenty of opportunity to get out and savour open spaces. Reading and Newbury are the county’s major towns, and the River Kennet flows through them both.
Head for the southeast corner of the green (furthest away from the A4) in the centre of Littlewick Green. Pass Redroofs Theatre School, continue into School Lane and follow it past a 'Motor Vehicles Prohibited' sign to the woodland edge. Emerging from the trees, bear left to join a tarmac track running across the fields, with a hedge on your left. There are good views south along here. Cross a road leading to a business park and continue over farmland to the next road. Turn left, passing houses, and cross the A4 (beware traffic).
1 of 4
You are now entering Maidenhead Thicket. Follow the waymarked path between trees and clearings, soon merging with a path from the left. After some tall oaks you will reach a (muddy) bridleway: veer right and follow the main route (there may be tyre tracks), bearing left at the butterfly waymarker. The next crossroads of footpath is known as Robin Hood’s Arbour. Turn left and follow the hard path to Stubbings House lodge on your left.
2 of 4
Cross to the kissing gate, right of the lodge. Make a short diversion here to Stubbings House itself, following the cafe sign pointing left. Retrace your steps then follow the path out, left, across the fields through two kissing gates. The footpath, initially with a hedge on the left, becomes a track before reaching Stubbings Farm buildings. At the road at Burchett’s Green, turn left and pass Little Stubbings with its white weatherboarded dovecote tower, Old Manor Cottage, and Stubbings Manor, with ornate brickwork and a delightful garden. Follow the lane and veer right, opposite the entrance to Old Oak Farm, onto Knowl Hill Bridleway Circuit.
3 of 4
Follow the path between hedgerows and trees. Further on it runs beside houses and bungalows. Along this stretch the path broadens to a track, and the sound of traffic on the A4 gradually becomes audible.At the junction go straight over the A4 into Jubilee Road and follow it back towards the cricket ground at Littlewick Green. Note the entrance to the village churchyard, somewhat hidden, to your left-hand side just off the green. On reaching the edge of the green, bear right to join a waymarked footpath running alongside the ground and past the front of Littlewick Green cricket club. Note the thatched cottage in the centre of the green, partly protected by trees but still perilously close to the southern boundary of the cricket pitch. Beside it is a pretty row of cottages. At the road turn left, passing the Cricketers Inn. Alternatively, follow the road round the eastern edge of the green to return to your car.
Maidenhead Thicket is one of those places that you might frequently pass by in the car without even realising it's there. From the road only a curtain of trees is visible, but step into Maidenhead Thicket and at once you are in a tranquil world of dense woodland and sunny glades. Lime trees, oaks... and horse chestnuts bring colour and life to the well-used paths and tracks, and for a few short weeks every year the ground is covered with violets and hazy blue carpets of bluebells. Haunt of highwaymen Maidenhead Thicket consists of 368 acres (149ha) of woodland and glades. These days it is National Trust land, but it used to be known as a notorious haunt of highwaymen. The trees and bushes lining the Great West Road would have given these 18th-century robbers perfect cover as they lay in wait for passing stage coaches. Nearby Maidenhead once boasted scores of inns which prospered on the vulnerability of coach passengers. Most opted to stay in the town overnight rather than risk driving through the dreaded thicket at dusk. It is also said that the highwaymen who lurked under the trees preferred the coaches entering the town from the west – those approaching from the east had been robbed already by the highwaymen of Hounslow Heath. Dangerous times Claude Duval (1643–70), one of the most notorious highwaymen, preyed upon travellers in this area. According to a handbook on Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, published in 1860, 'in the reign of Elizabeth, the vicar of Hurley, who served the cure of Maidenhead, was allowed an extra salary to atone for the danger of passing the thicket'. The most famous highwayman of all, Dick Turpin (1705–39), travelled this way too, waiting in the shadows to ambush any passing coaches. From here he galloped to his aunt's cottage at nearby Sonning where he stabled Black Bess before going into hiding in Oxfordshire, waiting until the dust settled. Jackson's Oxford Journal for 1 November, 1755 tells of a typical hold-up: 'Last Tuesday about 12.00 at noon, the Oxford machine (the stage coach from London), in which were three gentlemen, was stopped by a single highwayman, well mounted, with a black mask, in Maidenhead Thicket. Upon demanding their money, the passengers gave him about 12 guineas. He then demanded their watches, which two of the gentlemen delivered, but one of them desiring he would return the seal, on which was his coat of arms. The highwayman, observing that the watch was only pinchbeck (brass), said it would be of little service to him and returned it. He then made off into the thicket'.
Berkshire consists of two distinct parts: the western half, which is predominantly rural, with the Lambourn Downs spilling down to the River Lambourn and the Berkshire Downs to the majestic Thames, and the eastern half of Berkshire, which offers plenty of opportunity to get out and savour open spaces. Reading and Newbury are the county’s major towns, and the River Kennet flows through them both.
