A Berkshire chalk river from the Marlborough Downs to the Thames at Reading, shadowed most of the way by a canal
The Kennet rises on the chalk above Marlborough and runs east to join the Thames at Reading. From Newbury downstream it shares its valley with the Kennet & Avon Canal, which uses the river itself in places and runs in its own cut in others, so a walk along the towpath gives you both. The upper river above Marlborough is a winterbourne: it dries back to its springs in a dry summer and fills again after autumn rain.
It is a chalk stream with the usual company of water crowfoot, brown trout and, increasingly rarely, water voles. Abstraction for public supply has been a long-running worry along this valley, and low flows in the upper reaches are a recurring story.
For getting alongside it, the towpath is the answer. Newbury Station sits a couple of minutes from the water, and you can walk west towards Kintbury and Hungerford or east towards Theale, picking up river and canal by turns. Donnington Castle stands on the hill above Newbury if you want a destination.
