We are the West London Ramblers. We open the way for everyone in our local community to enjoy the pleasures of walking.
Depending on the weather, the source of the Thames at Kemble may be muddy or we may not see much of the river for the first few miles! We then walk through the Cotswold Water Park and some lovely villages to finish in the market town of Cricklade. Bring a picnic lunch (and a snack for the train home!). We’ll hopefully stop for a drink in a riverside pub. This is a long, flat country walk with no drop off points. The ground is uneven in places due to mud over the winter.
Train from Paddington to Kemble then return by bus from Cricklade to Swindon to catch a train back to London. Buy return train ticket to Kemble (it will be cheaper to buy a return ticket from Reading if you have a Freedom Pass). Note Swindon and Kemble are outside the Network Railcard area, so if you don’t have a Senior Railcard you may want to get together with other walkers to use Group Save (3-9 people travelling together). Suggest you reserve a seat on the train as it can be busy.
Toilets on the train and possibly at Kemble station (not always open), then at pub stop in afternoon.
Catch train from Paddington at 09:32 or the same train from Reading at 09:58 arriving Kemble at 10:41. We aim to take catch the 18:26 bus from Cricklade to catch the 19:11 train from Swindon to Paddington.
This is the first stage of the Thames Path following the river from the source at Kemble to Cricklade. If there is sufficient interest, we may walk more stages of this national trail next year.
Outside barriers at Kemble Station
Walk finishes at Cricklade with bus to Swindon to catch train from Swindon Station to Paddington/Reading
