Wind through the Willows: Maidenhead-Cookham-Winter Hill

Just north of the roar of the M4, lies Cookham. A sleepy Berkshire village floating alongside the Thames, frozen in time, beneath the watchful gaze of Cleveden House; an incongruously grandiose Italinate mansion, perched forty metres above the River; a place known for Nazi sympathisers, illicit affairs (the Profumo Scandal), and prohibitively expensive sausage rolls sold by the now owners, the National Trust. 

This is a walk of water, of willows bowing to the river or draping over streams: we'll follow them up the Thames until we hit Cookham; we'll meet them again as we return, crossing Widbrook Common, a conservation area whose name derives from the stream's traditional name, 'Withe Brook', which refers to the 'withe' (willow) trees that line its banks.

Willow trees can be appreciated from different perspectives: aesthetically, they "weep", seemingly drawing strength from the waters they overhang, whilst also retaining a melancholic or sinister spirit which inspired one of the most poetic death scenes in all of English literature. Shakespeare's Ophelia (Hamlet) fell to her death after a willow branch broke (this scene, which I've abridged, inspired John Everett Millais' captivating, eponymous, and haunting painting, Ophelia): 

"There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream:

There with fantastic garlands did she come…

There on the pendant boughs her coronet weeds
Clamb’ring to hang, an envious sliver broke,
…. and herself
Fell in the weeping brook.

Her clothes spread wide
And mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up…

But long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death."

From a scientific perspective, willow bark was used by the Greeks and Egyptians as a pain-reliever (analgesic). It contains salicin, a compound metabolised in the body to make salicylic acid, a precursor to aspirin. However, it took several thousand years, until the late 19th century, to fully realise the potential of willow bark. Chemists eventually succeeded in synthesising a derivative of salicin, acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), which was better tolerated by humans. Thus paving the way for the modern pharmaceutical industry and providing another tool in the arsenal of human ingenuity: the alleviation of physical pain and human suffering. Aspirin is amongst the most widely used drugs, with around fourty thousand tonnes being produced each year globally. Willow trees take their essential place in creating one of the most important medicines in human history. 

Beyond my obsession with willow trees, Cookham is the birthplace of renowned artist, Sir Stanley Spencer, who referred to it as a "village in Heaven". His noteworthy paintings are "The Resurrection, Cookham" and "Double Nude Portait- Leg of Mutton Nude". The latter painting contains too many genitals to share in this event description unfortunately but worth a look up (you can smell the sexual frustration; his second wife was a lesbian and they never consummated their marriage...). 

• It might be possible to visit The Stanley Spencer Gallery whilst in Cookham. It isn't free unfortunately and costs £7.50 per adult or £3.50 if you've got an ArtPass. This might be worth a stop if you're interested in (quickly) soaking up some culture. If you'd rather forego this and soak up a few pints, the Bel & Dragon across the road awaits!

Before the madness of Christmas, come for a walk by the Thames, let it give you the "knowledge...of the calm that Nature breathes". 

"Beauteous Stream

Make ceaseless music through the night and day

Which with its steady cadence, tempering

Our human waywardness, compos'd my thoughts...

Giving me, 

Among the fretful dwellings of mankind...

A knowledge, a dim earnest, of the calm

That Nature breathes"

The Prelude (Wordsworth, 1805)

Distance: 12km if weather is poor or 18km if weather fine (we'll add Winter Hill to the walk from Cookham). 

Route overview: start at Maidenhead station, walking through Maidenhead till we reach the Thames, and up towards Cookham; if the weather is amenable, we'll continue north of Cookham up to Winter Hill and then return through Cookham, back to Maidenhead station. 

Elevation: approx. 80m.

Time walking: 3 hours if 12km or 4-5hours if 18km. It'll get dark just before 4pm so the pace of this walk will be brisk. 

Don't waste that space!

With less winter walks please only book if you know you can make it. If your plans change please free up the space for someone else.

Is it dog friendly? 

Dogs are welcome on the walk, but unfortunately they aren’t allowed into the gardens at Wallingford Castle and please abide by the Countryside Code (https://tinyurl.com/rlqvp3h). Please also remember not everyone loves dogs as much as you do so please be mindful of other members.

New Members

Please feel free to join this as your first OutdoorLads event. If you have any questions then feel free to message me, or go to the "My First Event" section under "About Us".

Image / photo credits:  All leader's own images.

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