A short, exceptionally clean chalk stream running down from racehorse country on the Lambourn Downs to the Kennet
Seventeen miles from Lambourn to Newbury, and for most of that the Lambourn is shallow, fast and startlingly clear over gravel. Its top end is a winterbourne, dry through summer, and it is that seasonal switching that suits the plants and insects here. It is one of the least damaged chalk streams in the country, which is why the protection here covers the whole watercourse rather than a single patch of ground.
Racing is the other thing the valley is known for. The gallops on the downs above use the same springy chalk turf that lets the river run so clean, and strings of horses cross the lanes early in the morning.
The easiest stretches to reach are around Eastbury and Boxford, where lanes and footpaths cross the water and you can see straight to the bottom. Welford Park opens for its snowdrops in February with the river running through the grounds. Below that the Lambourn joins the Kennet at Newbury, and Newbury Station is the nearest train.
