Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire & Berkshire

Maidenhead Commons trail

Maidenhead Thicket — A track through the thicket of Maidenhead commons | © Hugh Mothersole

This moderate 6.9 mile circular walk heads south from Pinkneys Drive through to Pinkneys Green and Winter Hill Road Woods before stopping at the Brick and Tile Works and the beautiful mixed woodland of Maidenhead Thicket, once a hot-spot for highwaymen.

Near to

Maidenhead and Cookham Commons

Start point

Pinkneys Drive car park

Trail information

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Difficulty*

Full trail

DistanceMiles: 7 (km: 11.2)

Duration1 hour 45 mins to 3 hours 15 mins

Dog friendly**

*Mainly level ground, with some short slopes. For further details, please see Terrain section.
**Dogs are welcome. For further details, please see section marked Facilities.

Address
Pinkneys Drive National Trust car park, Berkshire
Directions via Google Maps
By train
The nearest Railway station is Maidenhead
On foot
Pinkneys Green is on the Chiltern Way, Berkshire Loop and on the Maidenhead Boundary Walk. Please see OS map 172.
By bus
The main bus route to Maidenhead Thicket is the 239, between Maidenhead and Henley-on-Thames run by Courtney Buses. There is no service on Sundays or Bank Holidays. There are bus stops near points 6 or 8.
Cycling
Pinkneys Green is easily accessible by bicycle from Maidenhead, Slough, Reading, Wokingham Marlow, and Bourne End. Please see OS map 172.
By road
From the Burchetts Green Roundabout, take follow the sign for the A404 to Maidenhead. Take the next left into the Henley Road, signposted Pinkneys Green and Stubbings. After 0.6 mile, turn left onto Pinkneys Drive. The National Trust car park is a short distance (240 metres) on the left.
Dogs
Dogs are welcome, but must be kept under strict control.
Car park
Free parking at Pinkneys Green. There are also free car parks at Point 6 and Point 8.
Picnic area
Several picnic benches can be found along the route, particularly in Maidenhead Thicket.
Pub
There are no less than four public houses on the route: the Arbour, the Golden Ball and the Pinkney Arms in Pinkneys Green, and the Shire Horse on the A4 at Littlewick Green adjacent to Maidenhead Thicket. Please check their websites for opening times.
The walk is mainly on level ground on soft footpaths with some short stretches on quiet country lanes. You will need to cross two busy roads (A4 and A308) on two occasions each. There are no long climbs, but some short slopes. There are a number of gates, but no stiles. The ground can be uneven and some paths can be muddy and slippery after prolonged or heavy rain, so stout, waterproof walking shoes or walking boots are highly recommended.
Maidenhead commons trail elevation map | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey
Total stages: 12
Total stages: 12
Start point
Pinkneys Drive car park
Stage 1
From the car park, turn left onto a wide track before the road. Follow the track through woodland for 300m. Emerging from the woodland continue straight through the meadow, towards the left of a line of birch trees. Cross the lane, heading for a gap in the left corner of the common. Continue between the trees until you reach Lee Lane, with Sweeps Cottage to your left. Cross the lane onto Pinkneys Green and walk for 750m towards the far left-hand corner.
Pinkneys Green
Donated to the National Trust in 1934, Pinkneys Green consists of grassland, managed by local 'commoner' farmers as a hay crop for livestock. The grasses in these open, unfenced meadows are left to grow tall all summer long so you'll find a wealth of wild flowers. The name, Pinkneys, comes from the Norman Knight, Ghilo de Pinkney, who was granted lands in the Maidenhead area for supporting William the Conqueror.
Stage 2
Pass through a gap by a footpath sign onto a drive. Follow the drive to the A308 Furze Platt Road. The Arbour Public House is to your right and the Golden Ball Public House to your left. Cross the busy road when it is safe to do so and head half left towards the red telephone box near the entrance to Golden Ball Lane.
Stage 3
Turn right, following the Chiltern Way Berkshire loop signpost. Walk along a gravel drive, passing to the left of a large white house named Fairwinds. Where the gravel drive enters a property, keep straight ahead, passing between some wooden rails. Here fork left, entering the western half of Winter Hill Road Woods and follow the woodland path north.
Stage 4
Cross Winter Hill road when it is safe to do so, heading right into the eastern half of Winter Hill Road Woods. Continue south through the woodland. Go left after the first kissing gate and right after the second. Walk along the field margin until Malders Lane, then take a right. Look out for the National Trust sign for the entrance to the old Brick and Tile Works Nature Reserve.
The Brick & Tile Works
Established by Charles Cooper in the early 1800s, the Brick and Tile Works employed up to 150 people. Closing in 1967, the National Trust acquired the site in 1989. The industrial activity left a legacy of lowland ponds, inhabited by a range of aquatic invertebrate fauna, including several species of dragonfly. There are also three species of newt and a wide range of woodland birds and other aquatic or semi-aquatic plants and animals.
Stage 5
From the Nature Reserve's gate, turn right down Malders Lane. At Hindhays Farm, turn right, crossing the yard, through the gate to the path ahead. Follow the path, go through the gate by some farm buildings and continue until reaching a gravel drive. Follow the drive until the main road. Cross the road with care, then turn right, following the footpath. Where the path meets the road, cross. You are now on Pinkneys Green. Turn left, following a path to the right of a large tree and towards the corner of a thicket to the edge of a cricket field.
Stage 6
Keeping the cricket field on your left, head across Pinkney Green until reaching Lee Lane in the corner. Cross the road, turning left on Lee Lane, past the Pinkney Arms until the road curves right. Cross the road, joining a footpath that crosses a small meadow. Continue along the path, through a small wood for 100 metres until Camley Park Drive. Cross to the footpath. Take the left-hand path, following the left-hand edge of Pinkneys Common for 850 metres. Where the Common tapers to a point, go through a gap in the hedge to meet the A4, Bath Road.
Stage 7
Cross the main road to the left of the mini roundabout, continue along the pavement. After 90 metres, branch left along a path through a wooded area. Cross Atwood Road, opposite a shop and post box, turning right along the pavement, following it beneath the A404 underpass. On the other side of the underpass, just past the mini-roundabout, turn right to cross over the road, following the signs to Claire's Court School along the lane opposite.
Stage 8
Before reaching a car park, turn left taking the middle of three footpaths ahead, heading into the wooded area of Maidenhead Thicket. Follow the path through the woodland for 800 metres. When you reach Cherry Garden Lane, turn right, then immediately left, keeping a large white house on your left. Follow this lane a short distance to reach the A4 Bath Road. The Shire Horse Public House will be on your left.
The Highwaymen of Maidenhead Thicket
The Thicket always had a problem with highwaymen. As early as 1255, Henry III ordered the area around Bath Road to be cut back. The problem peaked following the execution of Charles I in 1649 as some Royalists, on the run and desperate, became highwaymen. The most infamous highwayman, Dick Turpin, used the Dew Drop Inn at Burchett’s Green as a shelter after escaping across the Maidenhead Thicket.
Stage 9
Taking care, cross Bath Road, following the path straight ahead into the woodland. Continue straight ahead, look out for two joining paths on the right. The first is signposted, the second is not. At the second path, take the less obvious path to your right between two closely spaced trees. After 30 metres you will reach the site of a Bronze Age bowl barrow.
Bronze age bowl barrow
The bowl barrow in Maidenhead Thicket is a burial place dating from between 2400-1500 BC. Possibly a multiple grave and, despite some disturbance to the surface of the mound, surviving in reasonably good condition. The bowl barrow reaches 24.5 metres across and 0.8 metres high. Surrounding the central mound is a ditch, which has become infilled over time making it a less obvious feature.
Stage 10
From the bowl barrow, retrace your steps to the main path and turn right. After 100 metres you will see a Y-junction in the path ahead. Take the right-hand fork, taking another right across a small ditch and furrow. Follow the path for 250 metres until you reach a wide open woodland glade.
Butterfly Trail and Disease Resistant Elm project
There is a butterfly trail throughout the woodland rides and clearings of Maidenhead Thicket where many common species can be seen, such as the large white, brimstone, silver-washed fritillary, speckled wood, red admiral, comma and small tortoiseshell. The National Trust has been working alongside Butterfly Conservation to plant elm trees that are resistant to Dutch elm disease to encourage the White-letter Hairstreak butterfly whose caterpillars feed on elm.
Stage 11
At the crossroads take the left fork; following straight. The right fork will lead you to the old larch plantation, currently being converted to Native Woodland and managed glades. If you explored the old larch plantation retrace your steps back to the crossroads and continue north past the bench following the track, taking the next left fork into a grassy clearing which is Robin Hood's Arbour.
Robin Hood's Arbour
With no connection to the legend of Robin Hood, the arbour is instead an Iron Age rectilinear enclosure which is thought to have been a farmstead. An archaeological excavation in 1890 revealed 'samian ware', a type of Roman pottery produced mainly in Gaul. Excavations in 1960 recovered some Iron Age pottery and some wattle marked daub. Other finds include a Palaeolithic hand axe. These finds can be seen in the Reading Museum.
Stage 12
Cross Robin Hood's Arbour diagonally until a clear track with an avenue of trees, turn left towards the Lodge. 150m before the Lodge, turn right. Follow the path until a four-way signpost. Take the path opposite, marked as the Maidenhead Boundary Walk. The path descends to a lane. Walk under the A404, ascend the path on the other side. When you reach the road cross and continue along the path ahead. After 100 metres turn right. At the next junction, turn left to return to the car park.
End point
Pinkneys Drive car park
Trail map
Maidenhead commons walking trail map | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey
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