Botley & North Hinksey Community Recommended walks. Walk No.2 – Oxford bound: This walk starts at the end of North Hinksey Lane next to MacDonalds and ends at Carfax Tower in central Oxford. There are five alternative routes, each one heading progressively further south. The first four routes are all around 3 miles long and should take a little over an hour, whereas route (e) is considerably longer at around 5 miles and will probably take at least one and a half hours. A version of the walk suitable for cyclists is included in the last section of the route (a) description. All of these routes are south of Botley Road for a very good reason. Between Botley and Binsey Lane on the north side of Botley Road there are no footpaths and the area is unsuitable for walking. Even Binsey Lane itself is dangerous to walk up. Further east several walking routes are possible heading north from Botley Road / Hythe Bridge Street to take you to Jericho, Port Meadow and North Oxford. These include: At West Oxford Community Centre turn left into Botley Road Recreation Ground and walk to the far right corner, behind the allotments, where you can cross Bulstake Stream at Tumbling Bay and continue north to the bridges near Binsey and cross to Port Meadow. Opposite Osney Island take the footpath to the left on the Oxford side of the river and follow it to the bridges near Binsey. Continue on past Oxford Station to the canal (just past Upper Fisher Row), and follow the path alongside the canal to Walton Well Road and beyond. Route (a). Walk a short distance along Botley Road towards Oxford, past MacDonalds, Minns Business Park and Richer Sounds (formerly The George pub). Next to Seacourt Stream enter Seacourt Nature Reserve through the gate (No. 1) and follow the path to the far side where you enter an area of open grassland via a gate next to an electricity pylon (No. 2). Walk towards the electricity pylon in the far left hand corner (the second pylon on No.3). Exit the field at that corner and follow a short path between bushes, which takes you to a bridge (No.4). Turn right immediately before the bridge and take the footpath alongside Bulstake Stream. Cross the stream at the next bridge (No. 5) which will bring you out at the end of Ferry Hinksey Road.

Walk down Ferry Hinksey Road towards Botley Road, but immediately before the school turn right down a footpath and follow this over a bridge onto Osney Island. Turn right then left and continue to the far south east corner of Osney Island where you will meet the Thames. Turn right and walk past the lock (No. 6), then continue along the Thames Path until you reach the railway bridge (No. 7). After walking under the railway bridge, either continue along the south bank of the river or turn right and cut through Grandpont Nature Park (No. 8). Both routes lead to a footbridge (No. 9) which allows you to cross over the river if you prefer to leave it here. Follow the footpath as it loops around to a smaller bridge (No. 10). Here you can cross the bridge to walk past the Ice Skating Rink to Oxpens or turn immediately right to follow the Mill Stream Walk. Either of these allows you to continue via road to Carfax which is only a short distance to the north east. Alternatively a second footbridge (No. 11) a little further along the river allows you to cut through to River Thames Street. A final alternative is to continue along the river until you reach Folly Bridge (No. 12) at the north end of Abingdon Road (No. 13) where you turn left and walk past Christchurch College up to Carfax. Cyclists can use most of this route but it would be more practical to choose alternatives on the following two sections: At the start cycle up North Hinksey Lane until you reach Willow Walk (No. 14) on the left immediately after the entrance to North Hinksey Primary School. Follow Willow Walk until you get to the bridge (No. 4) then follow the walking Route (a) to Ferry Hinksey Road. At Ferry Hinksey Road turn right down Osney Mead through the industrial estate and continue until you reach the Kings Centre. Turn left down the footpath between the Kings Centre and the next building (No. 15). At the end of the footpath turn right onto the Thames Path and you will be following the walking Route (a) again, heading towards the railway bridge. Route (b). Follow Route (a) until you enter the grassland at the gate (No. 2). Walk south east towards North Hinksey Village through the grassland (No.16) on the eastern side of Hinksey Stream. On reaching the far right hand corner of the field go through a gate onto Willow Walk and turn left (No. 14). Follow the path until you reach the bridge (No.4) then follow Route (a) all the way to Carfax. Route (c). Follow route (a) to Willow Walk, but then turn right and cross the bridge onto North Hinksey Lane where you turn left. Follow the road until it veers right (at the church). Continue in the same direction at this junction down North Hinksey Village (yes, that is the name of the road). Immediately before reaching The Fishes pub turn left down a marked footpath (No. 17). Follow this path until it turns left at which point you will be at the bridge (No. 5) as on Route (a) which you cross to reach Ferry Hinksey Road.

Route (d). Use Route (c) until you get to The Fishes (No. 17). Here instead of turning left down the footpath continue past the pub until you reach a gate into the next field on the left (No. 18). Climb over the stile and cross towards a stile on the opposite side of the field. Climb over this second stile, cross the bridge and climb over a third stile (N.B. this stile is in bad condition and can tip severely, so be careful). In the next field follow the well-trodden path as it veers slightly to the right. On the far side of the field there is another small bridge in bad condition that you need to cross (No. 19). In the following field continue walking in the same direction and keep to the left side. Shortly you will cross a major path with a concrete bridge over the Bulstake Stream to your left (No. 20). Continue straight onwards (No. 21) keeping Bulstake Stream close on your left. You will see the back of Osney Mead Industrial Estate just the other side of the stream (No. 22). Keep to the left side of the field until you see green railings appearing head of you and an exit in the left corner of the field (No. 23). This exit comes out at the railway bridge (No. 7). Cross under the railway bridge to the right and continue as in Route (a) above to Grandpont / Folly Bridge and Carfax. Route (e). Follow Route (d) until you reach the major path and concrete bridge over the Bulstake Stream (No.20). Here turn right and follow the major path (No. 24) southwards for about a mile. Roughly half way along you will cross Hinksey Stream. From this bridge (No. 25) you will get your first glimpse of South Hinksey to the far right. At the end of the major footpath is a gate and stile (No. 26) with a concrete path running at right angles to the major path. Climb over the stile and turn right along The Devil’s Backbone (No. 27), an impressive name for what is a tiny, less than impressive ridge, towards South Hinksey (No. 28). If you want to shorten the walk by avoiding South Hinksey simply turn left and ignore the next paragraph. Here you can wander around the village to see a number of old buildings including St Laurence Church (follow St Laurence Road to the left to reach the church). The village still retains a certain amount of charm and sense of remoteness despite its proximity to the A34 Oxford Ring Road. From here it is also possible for the more adventurous to take footpaths south towards Kennington and Bagley Wood, or to cross the A34 and walk up Chiswell Valley then return to Botley via Cumnor Hill. Return along The Devil’s Backbone to the gate and stile (No. 26), then continue east along the footpath (No. 29). This will take you past Hinksey Ponds (No. 30) which unfortunately only have access for anglers, and via bridges over the railway and Hinksey Lake (No.31). At the end of this bridge turn left and follow the lake side through Hinksey Park until you reach the smaller boating lake on your right. Immediately after the boating lake turn right before the tennis courts (No. 32) and walk to the exit. At the exit turn left and at the near end of Marlborough Road turn left again immediately before the first house. Walk past the gate (No. 33), and turn right. Cross this field keeping to the right near the back of the houses (No. 34) and exit at the far end. The path leads you past a Nursery School to the entrance of Grandpont Park playing fields. Here veer slightly left and head for a point roughly half way along the far side of the field where there is a bench, and just behind it the entrance to Grandpont Nature Park (No. 35). Following the paths through the park you will have the railway line running to your left and the river, unseen, to your right. One option is to continue alongside the railway until you reach the river at the railway bridge (No. 7) and then turn right to follow Route (a). Alternatively you can cut the corner slightly by keeping an eye to your right, and at the field where you glimpse a steeple in the distance you should also see a part of a bridge at the corner of the field to the left of the steeple (No.36). Walk across to this exit which is bridge No 9, and continue along Route (a) from there. Oxford bound: map of recommended walk no.2 from Botley & North Hinksey Community

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5 15 14 7 10 11 20 13 23 8 9 17 21 22 12 19 24 36 18 35

25 34 33 32

31 30 29 26 27 28 Oxford bound: photographs of recommended walk no.2 from Botley & North Hinksey Community

No. 1 No. 2 No. 3

No. 4 No. 5 No. 6

No. 7 No. 8 No. 9

No. 10 No. 11 No. 12

No. 13 No. 14 No. 15

No. 16 No. 17 No. 18 No. 19 No. 20 No. 21

No. 22 No. 23 No. 24

No. 25 No. 26 No. 27

No. 28 No. 29 No. 30

No. 31 No. 32 No. 33

No. 34 No. 35 No. 36