River Lambourn - Lambourn To Thatcham

Lambourn To Thatcham

The river leaves the wood and enters Lambourn under a bridge crossed by the Goose Green Road, here it flows more quickly as the channel narrows to four to six feet across and six to eight inches deep. It is constricted by the houses built on the riverbank, which were partily flooded in July 2007 as numerous weeds clogged the river under the many small bridges (and even one garden shed) built over it. It passes by The Lamb and the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and runs between the houses on the south side of the Newbury Road and the playing fields to the north of Bockhampton Road. There is a ford next to the Bockhampton Road bridge which is used by horses (and accidentally by a car in March 2009, which had to be pulled out) and the river leaves the town through Bockhampton Manor Farm. Bernard's Ford is found to the west of Eastbury, which is also suitable only for tractors and horses. Here the Lambourn forced its banks in July 2007 and flowed down the Newbury Road for over a hundred yards before rejoining the river. The Lambourn runs through the middle of Eastbury, and past The Plough Inn, which holds The Great Eastbury Duck Race on the river in May. In East Garston there are many houses are built on one bank with their own bridges from the front door to the road opposite. The river splits into several channels at Great Shefford, and is joined by many small streams, which join as it leaves the village under the A338 Swan Bridge and behind The Swan. From Lambourn to Newbury the river remains roughly parallel to the Newbury Road (which becomes the Lambourn Road) which crosses it many times. In Newbury it runs between Donnington and Speen and south of Shaw House until it joins the River Kennet to the south of the The Nature Discovery Centre. The River Kennet joins the River Thames at Reading.