Scutchamer Knob – View from Bury Down Car Park loop from West Berkshire

Mountain biking trails

Scutchamer Knob – View from Bury Down Car Park loop from West Berkshire

Moderate

5.0

(1)

riders

Scutchamer Knob – View from Bury Down Car Park loop from West Berkshire

03:42

48.4km

490m

Mountain biking

Moderate mountain bike ride. Good fitness required. Advanced riding skills necessary. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: August 27, 2026

Tips

Includes a segment in which cycling is not permitted

After 22.7 km for 66 m

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

Get Directions

13.3 km

Flowy and Fast Trail

Highlight • Trail

16.8 km

Heath Copse

Forest

17.1 km

Bluebell Woods in North Wessex Downs

Highlight (Segment) • Natural Monument

lovely in spring when bluebells are out

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19.9 km

Little Allens

Forest

22.7 km

Scutchamer Knob

Highlight • Viewpoint

Great northern place to park up and start the King Alfred's Way

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23.5 km

View of South Oxfordshire from the Ridgeway

Highlight • Viewpoint

The beginning of the descent towards Harwell, offers an excellent view of South Oxfordshire from the top and is easily accessible from the Ridgeway. The surface is a combination of bumpy grass and hardpack gravel, at speed you’re going to need more than a gravel bike to cope with the run down if you’re planning on doing this at speed.

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25.5 km

View from Bury Down Car Park

Highlight • Parking

Handy access from A34 and straight on the Ridgeway for multiple route options

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34.5 km

View of the North Wessex Downs

Highlight • Viewpoint

36.1 km

St Mary's Church, Aldworth

Highlight • Religious Site

Visit St Marys Church to see the 9 Giants. All details below.

The effigies, known as the Aldworth Giants and carved between 1300-1350, are of the de La Beche family, who owned land in Berkshire. There are various explanations for their name. One is that they were once believed to belong to local literal giants that used to live here. Another is from the size of the effigies, Another, and probably a more practical theory, is that they depict a family that stood above average height in Medieval England.

The de la Beches were a Norman family that rose in status under William the Conqueror and continued to maintain a place at subsequent Medieval royal courts. Sources also mention a castle owned by the family , Beaumys Castle, just off the River Loddon near Reading. A writer in 1880 stated that remains of the moat (used at the time as a duck pond) and a pile of flint and stone were all that remained of the fortress, and that it was in ruins by the sixteenth century. The De La Beches also owned another Aldworth property, probably a mansion house, that once stood on the site of Beech Farm.

The de La Beches seems to have had a bit of a tumultuous history.

Tip by

41.0 km

Hampstead Norreys Community Shop & Café

Highlight • Cafe

Cyclists friendly cafe with really welcoming staff. The food on offer in the cafe and shop is excellent. The hosts couldn’t be more accommodating. Make sure you have plenty of space in your pockets for all of the food that you’ll want to take with you.

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