Tackley-Woodstock
Ordnance Survey Explorer maps (1:25,000):
180: Oxford
191: Banbury, Bicester & Chipping Norton
Length: 19.5km (12 miles).
Duration: 5.5 to 6.5 hours.
Train Station: Tackley
Start: Tackley, Woodstock or Wootton.
Public Houses:
Gardiner Arms, Tackley: 01869 331266
The Killingworth Castle, Wootton: 01993 811 401
Rock of Gibraltar, Enslow: 01869 331373
(Closed for refurbishment?)
You might take a train, but do take a map.
One big advantage of this walk it is easily accessible with public transport, with buses to Woodstock and a train service to Tackley. Another is that it is generally easy to follow, especially those sections along the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, where you basically follow the Oxford Canal towpath. However, there are some sections where the path is much less clear. Therefore, as usual, I would recommend that you take a map with you.
Much of the eastern section of the walk follows the River Cherwell or the Oxford Canal. The river is navigable along this section and from Cropedy (just north of Banbury) southwards to Thrupp (just north of Kidlington) the river and canal run side by side and often combine.
Coals from Coventry
The Oxford Canal was among the earliest canals to have been cut. It was opened in sections between 1774 and 1790 with the aim of transporting coal from Coventry to Oxford and onto London, via the River Thames. For many years it was highly profitable, however the opening of the Grand Junction Canal, linking Braunston to London, broke the monopoly of the Oxford Canal and effectively bypassed the southern half of the Canal. However, the Grand Junction brought more traffic to the northern section of the Oxford Canal, which soon required upgrading. The original Oxford Canal had been constructed using the contour method. While this method reduced construction works and meant the canal could call at many villages en route, it also made transit times lengthy. In the 1830s the northern section of the canal was straightened and widened. However, the southern section between Napton and Oxford remained unimproved and retained its meandering character. Trade along the canal began to decline seriously after the Second World War, but continued well into the 1960s. Today, of course, its use is mainly for leisure.
On this section of the walk, along the canal, you will find the Rock of Gibraltar, a public House that is (or was) popular with narrow boaters. I say was because the pub has a checkered history of closures. It has received excellent reviews in the past, but when I stopped by in 2019 it had a rather rundown feel and it subsequently closed for refurbishment. As of March 2021, it was still boarded up. Let us hope it reopens as it is a good watering hole for this walk.
A Trigonometrical Walk
One of the features of this walk that I found particularly enjoyable was watching a flock of about a dozen red kites swirling above me in bright, blue skies. This was at a high point of the walk to the west of Tackley. You’ll know when you get there as there is a trig point (or should I say Trig pillar) at the spot.
I have always known these structures as trig points, but I see people in the know call them trig pillar. When I say in the know, I mean those dedicated people who have websites dedicated to the bagging of trig pillar, for example www.trigbagging.co.uk and www.trigpointing.uk. I did not realise that Trig pillar bagging was a thing. It seems to be a bit like geo-cashing, but with a focus on trig pillars. There are nearly 1,200 to bag. There is even a guide to Trig Point Walks on the Isle of Skye. Well apparently, the one near Tackley is S7199/TP6298 - Tacknell and sits at an altitude of 115m. Regardless whether you are there to admire the trig pillar or not, this is a place to loiter, as not only might you be rewarded with a flight of red kites, but there is also a sweeping view down the Cherwell valley, southwards toward Oxford.
Directly to the south is Oxford airport, known as London Oxford Airport, or as I noted on Google Maps, Oxford International Airport. The southern section of the walk takes right past the end of the runway. The airport specialises in general and business aviation and is home to the Oxford Aviation Academy, the largest air training school in Europe. It was originally established in 1935 by Oxford City Council as a municipal airport and was an RAF base (RAF Kidlington) during World War II. The base started life as a training location, but then moved onto an operational base for gliders, support operations and fighter planes.
Bookshops and Tragic Tales
West of the airport is Woodstock and Blenheim Palace – the birth place of Winston Churchill. Woodstock is well worth wondering through. That it relies heavily on the tourist trade is evident from the number of arts and craft shops, and tea rooms. There is also a goodly number of public houses and hotels, and also a wonderful independent bookshop, assuming it survives the enforced closure caused by the Covid 19 lockdowns.
The name Woodstock is derived from the Old English meaning a "clearing in the woods". It has had various spellings in the past including Wodestock, Wodestok and Wodestole, and was described in the Domesday Book as a royal forest. The market of the town was established by royal charter in 1179, by King Henry II. Woodstock Palace was located near the town and was popular with several English kings throughout the medieval period. It was also the scene of King Henry II's courtship of Rosamund Clifford.
Rosamund was renowned for her exceptional beauty and was also known as "The Fair Rosamund" or the "Rose of the World"; her beauty inspired many ballads and poems at the time. Tradition has it that King Henry II adopted her as his mistress and concealed their illicit liaisons from his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, within the innermost recesses of a maze Henry had constructed in the park of Woodstock Palace. However, Queen Eleanor heard rumours of the affair and penetrated the maze where she confronted Rosamund, giving her choice of death either by a dagger or a bowl of poison. Rosamund chose the latter. Interestingly, this story is not detailed in any accounts of the time and does not appear for another two hundred years. Nevertheless, as you can imagine, this tragic story of love, jealousy and death has spawned countless novels, which I am sure the Woodstock Bookshop would be very happy to order for you (01993 812760 info@woodstockbookshop.co.uk).
Woodstock Palace was destroyed during the English Civil War and 60 years later the ruins were cleared for the building of Blenheim Palace. The palace became the permanent residence of 1st Duke of Marlborough in the 17th century.
Gliding Past the Glyme
To the north of Woodstock the path follows the route of the River Glyme which rises about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of Chipping Norton and joins the River Evenlode just south of Blenheim Park. The river's name is derived from the Brittonic (Celtic) for bright stream. The River Dorn, which you cross just east of Wootton, is one of the Glyme’s tributaries. The river is dammed in a number of places, but most notably at Blenheim, where Capability Brown used the river to form the lake in front of the Palace.
Planes, Trains, Boots and Beer.
This is a walk of contrasts from the easy stroll along the historic canal, to a walk across the wide plateau west of Tackley (with its convenient train station) and through the historic town of Woodstock and finally past the thoroughly modern setting of Oxford Airport. And it benefits from a good number of places to stops for refreshments and, if desire, a good meal. I hope you enjoy it. If you have any comments to make on the walk, or my website, please feel free to post them on my Facebook Page.
