What we’re about
The Berkshire Walkers are a walking and social group aimed at people in their 20s and 30s and is part of The Ramblers.
We are based in Berkshire, mainly around Reading, Newbury and Slough, and provide walks at a variety of lengths on weekends and summer evenings. We also have regular socials such as pub meets, meals out, ten-pin bowling and trips to museums and places of interest. All are welcome to join the Berkshire Walkers for a walk, whether you are already a keen walker, or just starting down the path.
Your first three walks are FREE for new members. We are part of the Ramblers and we are always keen to meet new members. You can join here.
Annual membership is exceptionally reasonable (just over £3pm on Direct Debit). Membership also gives you access to our social events that aren't advertised on Meetup and socials happen at least two-three times a month. With membership, you can also join any of the other 500 Ramblers groups, including other Berkshire groups and those nearby in Surrey, Sussex, Oxfordshire, and Hampshire.
Joining The Ramblers in general brings all the benefits of being part of the UK's largest walking organisation, with discounts available in many walking shops (e.g. 15% at Cotswold Outdoor). You will also receive a magazine 4 times a year, about walking in the UK and things that affect your rights to walk through our amazing and varied countryside. Your membership fees also contribute to The Ramblers' efforts to promote walking as a healthy pastime, to campaign for access and to fight for maintained access to our rights of way. What's not to like?
Not all our members are on Meetup, so there will be more people on walks than are shown on Meetup. For a general idea, we typically get 10–20 people on our walks. Please note that our social events are not usually listed on Meetup: our socials are for our walkers only (including those new to the group with an interest in joining), and can be found on our website.
PLEASE NOTE: This event costs £15 per person. To purchase your ticket, you must complete the Google Form and transfer £15 per ticket to the BW bank account.
We hope you’ll join the Berkshire Walkers for our grand SUMMER SPECTACULAR Ceilidh on Saturday 2nd August. It will be an evening of ceilidh dancing, with Scottish Country Dance Band Strathallan providing the live music.
We hope to see as many past and present BW members as possible, as well as friends and family, and ramblers from our neighbouring groups. Please note, there's only 60 tickets on sale, so if you're interested in attending, please show your interest as soon as possible as well as buying a ticket.
Doors will open at 18:30 for a 19:00 start.
If you're planning on driving, there's a car park with limited spaces for those using the village hall on hire. Alternatively, there's a larger public car park opposite the village hall, where a parking fee of £1 applies. There are also regular train services from Reading and Didcot, with the station being roughly a 5-minute walk from the station.
For those of you new to ceilidh dancing – don’t fear! We’ll have a ‘caller’ – a person who will teach us the dance moves and shout out the moves we need to do next, making it easy for anyone to join in, no matter how much ceilidh dancing experience you have. We’ll have two sets of dancing from approximately 19:00 to 20:15, and 20:45 to 22:00.
To keep costs down, we won’t be providing food and drink, but you are encouraged to bring your own on the night. There’s also a Co-op down the road.
This event is being organised by the Berkshire Walkers 25th anniversary subcommittee team: Andrew, Ed, Georgia, Michael, Paul, and Shannon.
Terms & conditions. The Berkshire Walkers account is used only to streamline payments to suppliers. In the event of a supplier failure, Ramblers and Berkshire Walkers are not liable for reimbursement. We are not able to offer refunds for this event. By signing up for this event, you are accepting these T&Cs.
As far as we are aware, the BWs first hosted a ceilidh to celebrate the group’s 10th anniversary. This proved popular, so the group has held several ceilidhs since. We also held a ceilidh for the National Young Ramblers (NYR) weekend when we hosted it in Berkshire, which, in part, led to a ceilidh being a regular feature on NYR weekends. We therefore thought a ceilidh was the ideal way to celebrate the group’s successful 25 years!
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Committee Meeting - July 2025Needs location
The Berkshire Walkers are run by a dedicated committee team which meets once a month. The committee is voted in each year at the AGM in October. Members of the committee hold their positions for one year.
The July committee meeting will be held on the evening of Thursday 31st July fom 19:00 to 21:00 (UTC+1, London). The meeting will be a virtual one, via Google Meet.
All our members are welcome to attend committee meetings, though only committee members will be able to vote on meeting matters. Please contact our secretary Ed (ed@berkshirewalkers.co.uk) if you’d like to attend.
The meeting link and agenda will be circulated to attendees nearer the time. - Berkshire Walkers’ 25th Anniversary SUMMER SPECTACULAR CeilidhPangbourne Village Hall , Pangbourne, Reading
PLEASE NOTE: This event costs £15 per person. To purchase your ticket, you must complete the Google Form and transfer £15 per ticket to the BW bank account.
We hope you’ll join the Berkshire Walkers for our grand SUMMER SPECTACULAR Ceilidh on Saturday 2nd August. It will be an evening of ceilidh dancing, with Scottish Country Dance Band Strathallan providing the live music.
We hope to see as many past and present BW members as possible, as well as friends and family, and ramblers from our neighbouring groups. Please note, there's only 60 tickets on sale, so if you're interested in attending, please show your interest as soon as possible as well as buying a ticket.
Doors will open at 18:30 for a 19:00 start.
If you're planning on driving, there's a car park with limited spaces for those using the village hall on hire. Alternatively, there's a larger public car park opposite the village hall, where a parking fee of £1 applies. There are also regular train services from Reading and Didcot, with the station being roughly a 5-minute walk from the station.
For those of you new to ceilidh dancing – don’t fear! We’ll have a ‘caller’ – a person who will teach us the dance moves and shout out the moves we need to do next, making it easy for anyone to join in, no matter how much ceilidh dancing experience you have. We’ll have two sets of dancing from approximately 19:00 to 20:15, and 20:45 to 22:00.
To keep costs down, we won’t be providing food and drink, but you are encouraged to bring your own on the night. There’s also a Co-op down the road.
This event is being organised by the Berkshire Walkers 25th anniversary subcommittee team: Andrew, Ed, Georgia, Michael, Paul, and Shannon.
Terms & conditions. The Berkshire Walkers account is used only to streamline payments to suppliers. In the event of a supplier failure, Ramblers and Berkshire Walkers are not liable for reimbursement. We are not able to offer refunds for this event. By signing up for this event, you are accepting these T&Cs.
As far as we are aware, the BWs first hosted a ceilidh to celebrate the group’s 10th anniversary. This proved popular, so the group has held several ceilidhs since. We also held a ceilidh for the National Young Ramblers (NYR) weekend when we hosted it in Berkshire, which, in part, led to a ceilidh being a regular feature on NYR weekends. We therefore thought a ceilidh was the ideal way to celebrate the group’s successful 25 years!
- A victory walk around Greenham Common, 8.5 miles, leisurelyNewbury railway station, Newbury
Today’s walk is a repeat of a walk that I led back in November 2024, of which the details can be found here. As this year is the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2 and VJ Day, we’ll be doing a full loop of the former RAF/USAF base at Greenham Common.
Starting at Newbury station, we’ll start off by heading towards Stroud Green, where we’ll walk past it along Greenham Road towards the car park at the western edge of Greenham Common. Here, we’ll walk through it to enter the common before doing a complete loop of both Greenham and Crookham Commons, with a lunch stop at the former control tower. We'll also have a chance to look around the control tower, if it's fully open. Near the end of the loop, we’ll turn towards Burys Bank Road, of which we cross over to New Road to take us past St Mary’s Church and back towards Stroud Green. At this point, we’ll make our way back to Newbury station to finish the walk. For those who want a pint at the end, we’ll be stopping off at The Dolphin, which is only a short walk from the station.
Ascent: 60m.
This walk will be led by Michael v..
Please see our website for more information about the group.
TRAINS:
The recommended train to get from Reading is the 09:43 GWR service that arrives in Newbury at 10:11. Please note, that the walk starts on the SOUTH (Station Road) side of the station.
DRIVING:
There's a good size car park at Newbury station, where parking fees apply. As this is on the north side of the station, you'll need to walk around to get to the walk's starting point.
DOGS:
Dogs are welcome on this walk as long as they're well behaved. Please note, that cows, and sometimes deer, roam on the common, so dogs may need to be on a lead if this is the case.
Please contact the leader directly if you are delayed on the day or can't find the group (find contact details on our website). We are unlikely to respond to Meetup comments or messages sent on the day in enough time to be helpful.
- Yorkshire Three Peaks in Three DaysIngleton Hostel, Carnforth
On this trip, we’ll be heading to the western edge of the Yorkshire Dales, home to spectacular hillsides, waterfalls, dry stone walls, Wensleydale cheese, and more!
The walks planned by the trip organiser are described in brief below, and will be reasonably strenuous hill walking, with more ascent and rougher terrain than found in our local area. However, while these will require some degree of fitness, previous hill-walking experience is not assumed, and you’re very welcome on the trip whatever your level of experience and however long you’ve been a member.
There are plenty of options for other walks in the area, however, and other leaders are very welcome to offer alternatives to broaden the range of choices.
Please sign up via the linked form if you’d like to come (especially if you’d like space in the hostel, as these may fill up quickly!) If you have any questions before or after you sign up, please contact the organiser. As with all our trips away, you need to be a Ramblers member to take part, but members of other groups are welcome to join us.
Provisional Schedule
The main walks programme for the trip consists of a walk taking in one of the “Yorkshire Three Peaks” on each of the full days of the trip (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), though please note this is subject to change depending on weather conditions etc. Depending what time people are arriving and heading home, there may be an option for additional short walks on Thursday afternoon or Monday morning.Thursday 7th: arrival; possible short afternoon walk
Friday 8th: Ingleborough and surrounds. This will be an 8–12 mile circuit from the hostel with 600–750m ascent, depending on exact route to be confirmed.
Saturday 9th: Pen-y-Ghent and surrounds. This will be a 7–10 mile circuit from nearby Horton-in-Ribblesdale, with 500–600m ascent.
Sunday 10th: Whernside. The longest of the “Three Peak” walks, this will be a 13–15 mile circuit from the hostel, with 700–850m ascent.
Monday 11th: check out; possible short morning walk; travel home.As mentioned above, alternative offerings from other walk leaders are very welcome, or some of these may be able to split into a shorter and longer variant if there’s a second leader – please get in touch with the organiser if interested, or indicate this on the form when you sign up.
Other attractions
If you fancy something less strenuous on one of the days, there are a number of other attractions in the area, for example:- A number of waterfalls that can be seen with only a short walk.
- Show caves such as White Scar Cave and Ingleborough Cave.
- Nearby Hawes is England’s hightest market town and home to the Dales Country Museum and Wensleydale Creamery.
Accommodation
We have booked a set of rooms in the YHA-affiliated Ingleton Hostel for the group, with a total of 16 beds. These will be 4-bed rooms shared with other members of our group. The final cost for hostel accommodation for the four nights will be between £133 and £164 per person*, depending how many spaces we fill.Please sign up as soon as possible to be sure of a space in the hostel, and by 1st June at the latest! A deposit of £55 per person will be required to confirm your space in the hostel once you sign up, with the balance due in the first week of June.
If hostelling isn’t your thing, you are also welcome to book your own accommodation – there are a number of options either in Ingleton itself or a short drive away, including B&Bs, holiday homes and campsites. Please do still complete the sign-up form though, so that the organiser knows you’re coming.
For those staying in the hostel, we’ll be organising to cook and eat together as on previous such trips (volunteers will be very welcome for this!) and costs will be shared amongst those taking part (likely to be around £15 each). We’ll also aim to have one evening meal out during the trip as well if we can find a suitable venue, giving an opportunity for those at the hostel and elsewhere to eat and socialise together.
Travel
Journey time by public transport from Reading is about 5–6 hours hours by train to Settle, followed by the 581 bus to Ingleton. By car it’s about 250 miles, probably taking a similar time depending on traffic, and we’ll try to coordinate car sharing among those who wish to do so.There are plenty of walking options from Ingleton itself (including Ingleborough and Whernside), or making use of local public transport (including Pen-y-Ghent). However, if we have enough cars to transport people to and fro during the trip, it will certainly expand the options for alternative walks and make Pen-y-Ghent simpler, but it’s by no means essential.
Notes
* T&Cs for hostel booking: Spaces will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis, and you will need to pay before your place is confirmed. Payment details will be sent to you by the trip organiser if a space is available, after you submit the form. Due to the nature of the group, once you have paid and secured your place, if you then decide to cancel, you will only be able to receive a refund for the accommodation once the trip is full and a replacement participant has been found to take your place – and payment has been received from all participants, including the replacement participant. If the trip is cancelled by the hostel, we will only be able to give refunds if we receive the money back from the hostel. The Berkshire Walkers account is used only to streamline payments to suppliers. In the event of a supplier failure Ramblers and Berkshire Walkers are not liable for reimbursement.Thanks to Caroline for providing photos from the area, taken on a previous visit.
