The wonders of West Berkshire

Hampstead Marshall – St Mary’s lovely wood carving

West Berkshire Three Churches

If you drive one hour in a Westerly direction chances are you will come to some lovely countryside. West, along the M4, turning off at junctions 13 or 14 takes you into some lovely Berkshire Downlands.

Racehorses, the gallops along which they are exercised everyday and mansions for senior Vodafone executives are dotted here abouts.

Land intersected by the Ridgeway.

This is Betjeman country; A memorial window, designed by John Piper, in All Saints' Church, Farnborough, Berkshire, where Betjeman lived in the nearby Rectory.

This is a part of the country that I discovered on cycle rides with my good friend Ricardo.

Now he and I did return in September, churching with three particular churches in mind, selected from Jenkins’ Bible - England's Thousand Best Churches, by Simon Jenkins.

Lambourn – St Michael, a cathedral in the downs

Wickham – St Swithun, elephants in the rafters