Attractions and Places To See around Crowthorne - Top 20

This junction is a great place to meet up or find your way around the trails and Swinley Forest

Approaching Coombes Lane from the east, the light begins to change. The shadows stretch too long, too early. The gravel beneath your wheels seems to hum—low, nearly imperceptible, like a pressure change behind your ears. Some say it’s just the trees. Others claim it’s a localized temporal anomaly, like brushing the edge of a vortex or slipping sideways through time. Either way, once you cross the threshold, things feel different. This junction once marked part of the old Bearwood estate. Before the event, “Bearwood” might’ve referred to ancient bear hunts across the land. Now it seems to describe the path itself—bare, worn, and faintly haunted by old instincts. Stripped-back gravel flows down the sandy track, smooth enough for fast two-wheel traversal—if you don’t stop moving. The lane runs tight along the perimeter of a forgotten golf course, its greens now gone to seed. Golf Men still roam there—solitary figures locked in endless loops, trailing white objects with ritualistic obsession. No one knows if they ever finish a round, but the low groans they emit suggest occasional joy, frequent regret, and a heavy air of bunked sadness. Keep your distance. Don’t try to help. And above all, don’t retrieve the ball. Reports of large wild cats once circulated here. Some say they’re still around—shadows with tails, low to the ground, seen only between blinks. Add that to the interference in your comms, occasional compass spin, and persistent sense of déjà vu, and Coombes Lane earns its reputation. A hidden bunker is rumored somewhere near the lane, though most agree it’s more likely the ghost of an ancient Roman outpost. Caesar’s Camp isn’t far off, and the landscape still holds the scars of older empires. Byways peel off into Barkham Woods, a tangled sprawl of secondary paths, watchpoints, and blind corners. Good for exploration. Also good for ambushes. Z movement has been mapped here. Canine patrols, too—some with collars, some without. Assume neither is friendly. This trail was once favored by the Finchmen—a band of gravel-bike scavengers known for their speed, discipline, and strict adherence to the old countryside code. You’d do well to ride in their spirit: leave no trace, close all gates, pack out your trash, and never—ever—feed the Golf Men. If you’re looking for quiet exploration with a side of strangeness and the feeling that time might not run quite right here… Coombes Lane delivers.

Sick place to ride, loads of trails and the burns are great👌.

Easy route

It should come as no surprise that a statue of the long-time regent Elizabeth II (1926 to 2022) is located in the vicinity of royal Windsor Castle. With the exception of the coat of arms, the brick base of the monument erected in her honor is comparatively simple. It depicts the Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who is also known for her love of horses, in a riding pose. It is an extremely familiar image, as she has often been seen in this manner, for example at her official birthday celebrations, the "Trooping the Colour," sitting on a horse and receiving the parade. A very familiar image, as she was often seen in the same way, for example at her official birthday celebration, the "Trooping the Color".

more stuff plundered by the British Empire... Originally from Libya! 🤣

interesting, but you have to walk a little bit

North African Roman ruins in leafy Windsor Great Park! This is a really interesting story and worth reading more about after you've seen the ruins. Possibly inspired by Lord Elgin, British officer Hanmer Warrington shipped the ruins of the Temple of Augustus in 1817, with the intention of selling them to The British Museum. However, the museum was not interested, so the Roman temple ruins sat outside the museum for 8 years before being taken to Windsor and erected next to Virginia Water. A fascinating tale of Imperial plunder: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/roman-ruins-windsor-castle/550199/