Knowl Hill - Bowsey Hill - Rebecca's Well - Crazies Hill

05 Feb 05

• Total distance : 3.5 miles.
• Start point : Layby outside the Seven Stars inn, Knowl Hill SU 823794.
• Weather : Dull, dark, windless. Temperature at start +9C
• Muddiness rating (*=dry, *****=awful) **** in places
• People passed : One miserable septuagenarian who walked past without acknowledging my good-morning, along with his equally taciturn dog.
• Camera : Olympus C-5060W. Images taken before deletions = 88.

The day was so flat, and the lack of light so apparent, that I doubt if I'd have bothered to extract a film camera loaded with mono film from its bag. It was clear that any photo taken today would need subsequent work to increase contrast, so for the first time I felt glad to be carrying a digital camera. True, an image recorded on film could have been manipulated in the darkroom or digitally, but only if the full tonal range available had been been recorded. That would have been difficult to be sure of when working with film, but the digital camera allowed me to look at the histograms straight away and adjust my exposures accordingly. I needed to do so surprisingly often, especially when in forestry.

Like the Coopers Brick and Tile Works in Pinkneys Green (see PinkneysGreen), the Star Brick Works at Knowl Hill owes its existence to the local surfacing of the layer of clay known as the Reading Beds. I assume that this material made better bricks than the London Clays found to the east and around Maidenhead - although most of London is built with local bricks and plenty of it's still standing.

The snag was that the clay beds in this area are only around 10 feet thick. As transport improved and mechanical extrusion advanced, the industry gravitated towards the much deeper clay layers north of London, and local brickmaking came to an end after hundreds of years. The old works are now owned by Grundon who bury waste there. There are so many "Keep Out" signs to the left of the path going up Bowsey Hill that any self-respecting walker feels compelled to hop over for a shufti. But there's not a lot to see apart from a big hole with black plastic sheets in it.

At the top of Bowsey Hill I diverted left and headed along a smaller path through mixed woodland. This gives way to a patch of conifers after a gentle climb, then back to large beeches before emerging onto a road. I turned right and then, after twenty yards or so, left again, off the road and along a little path which is muddy whatever the weather. Don't give up though, because you're about to discover Rebecca's Well, undoubtedly one of the Berkshire's least expected curiosities.

Built around 1870, and previously known variously as Rebra's Well and Phillimore's Well, the spring is said to have provided water to the village of Crazies Hill, though that seems unlikely now as the volume of water issuing from it seems tiny. The well is in a small enclosure which has tilted over the years. It was refurbished a few years ago.

The light was minimal so I set the camera to IS0400, the highest setting available, to avoid camera shake and to get a reasonable depth of field. Magazine reviewers had warned me to expect "noise" at this setting, but none was apparent even when heavily enlarged. Perhaps it would be more obvious on a big area of uniform tone such as a grey sky.

The path spills out onto the road at Crazies Hill, home for many years of the actor Robert Morley. Around the village there are plenty of interesting footpaths but my route took me past The Horns, a good pub and restaurant, to which I'd gladly provide a link had not the wonders of Google, the internet and Virtualcities.com instead guided me to The Olive Tree restaurant in Aberdeen. Looks like a terrific place, mind.

Click here for map > RebeccasMap

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-- RodBird - 11 Feb 2005