Walks from Bramley

Highly recommended: Little known but quietly wonderful. Beautiful rather than spectacular, in a humble English village pathways sort of manner. Mostly secluded.

Remnants of Calleva Atrebatum: includes ruins ofthe original walls, and a large amphitheatre where gladiatorial combats entertained up to 7,000 people at a time.

St Mary the Virgin Church: on the site of a Roman temple.

Time: 3h30–6h30

1 lunch spot: the Calleva Arms (1h30–3h30 in; excellent)

1 end-of-walk reward: the Bramley Inn

Adapted from: The Rough Guide to Walks in London & the South East (3rd edition).

Similar walk: Reading to Basingstoke Community Rail Partnership.

Mostly flat farmland, Bramley Frith Wood and the Roman walls of Calleva Atrebatum at Silchester, with a 12th-century church and a stretch of the Camino Ingles pilgrim route.

Calleva Atrebatum: The remains of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, with substantial surviving flint walls and an amphitheatre.

St Mary the Virgin Church: on the site of a Roman temple.

Time: 3h

Walk details: Reading to Basingstoke Community Rail Partnership (turn-by-turn directions).

Very flat fields and woodland to a midway pub at Little London, with the frescoes of St James Church on the Camino Ingles pilgrim route.

Time: 2h30

Lunch: The Plough Inn at Little London is the midway destination pub; booking ahead is advised.

Walk details: Reading to Basingstoke Community Rail Partnership (turn-by-turn directions).

Recommended: A relaxing rural walk mainly on traffic-free footpaths through meadows, fields and woodland, with a particularly pretty middle section along the River Loddon. Urban footpaths out of Hook; can be very muddy in places, the Loddon is prone to flooding. Lots of gates and bridges and a few stiles. Follows the way-marked Brenda Parker Way for much of its length, alongside the River Loddon. The plotted route has been diverted slightly between Lilly Mill and the A33.

Time: 3h–6h

1 lunch spot: the Coach and Horses

End-of-walk reward: Bramley has The Bramley Inn and a bakery cafe near the station.

Warnings: The crossing of the A33 (Basingstoke Road) requires a long wait for a safe gap. The riverside section is prone to flooding, so check the way is clear after wet weather. There are gates and stiles.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A route of three parts: easy pavement and on-road walking through Bramley and Basingstoke's suburbs, with a more challenging middle section on rural footpaths through woodland that is muddy, rutted, waterlogged and narrow, with open ditches and occasional fallen trees. You need to be sure-footed and brambles and nettles encroach in summer. The medieval parish church at Bramley is worth a short detour.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Time: 2h30–4h30

Lunch: No facilities in the middle section.

End-of-walk reward: Bramley has shops, a bakery cafe and The Bramley Inn near the station.

Warnings: Cufaude Lane is narrow with surprising amounts of traffic and no pavement, so care is needed. The woodland middle section has open ditches, flooding and fallen trees. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.