Holies Down

Streatley is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in Berkshire, England. The village faces Goring-on-Thames. The two places share in their shops, services, leisure, sports and much of their transport. Across the river is Goring & Streatley railway station and the village cluster adjoins a lock and weir. The west of the village is a mixture of agriculture and woodland plus a golf course. The village has a riverside hotel. Much of Streatley is at steeply varying elevations, ranging from 51m AOD to 185m at Streatley Warren, a hilltop point on its western border forming the eastern end of the Berkshire Downs. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is topped by the 87-mile The Ridgeway path, which crosses the Thames at Goring and Streatley Bridge.

Goring and Streatley Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England. The bridge links the twin villages of Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, and Streatley, Berkshire, and is adjacent to Goring Lock. The present bridge was built in 1923, and is in two parts: The western bridge is from Streatley to an island in the river (overlooking The Swan hotel, once owned by Danny La Rue); The eastern bridge is from the island to Goring and overlooks Goring Lock. The bridge consists of timber struts supporting a metal roadway. Both the Thames Path and The Ridgeway cross the Thames on this bridge. A bridge was first built here in 1837 being a flat timber bridge of beams on posts. Prior to this there was a ferry although occasionally people would ride across, even driving in a one-horse chaise. In 1674 the ferry turned over in the weir pool with the loss of sixty lives. In the 1970s a Citroën Dyane crashed through the railings at the Streatley end of the bridge landing on a concrete weir 16 feet below. The local Citroën dealer used the photo to illustrate the inherent strength of their upmarket 2CV.

Goring Lock is a lock and weir situated on the River Thames in England at the Goring Gap in the Chiltern Hills. The lock is located on the Oxfordshire bank at Goring-On-Thames, with Streatley, Berkshire on the opposite side of the river. It is just upstream of Goring and Streatley Bridge. The lock was first built in 1787 by the Thames Navigation Commissioners The weir runs back to an island under the bridge and then another weir goes from there to the Streatley bank.

The Goring Gap is the narrow valley, occupied by the River Thames, between the Chiltern Hills and the Berkshire Downs. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) upstream of Reading and 27 miles (43 km) downstream of Oxford. The river here delimits Berkshire from Oxfordshire. The village of Goring, on the Oxfordshire side of the Thames, gives its name to the gap.

Lardon Chase is a 14.9-hectare (37-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Streatley in Berkshire. It is in the North Wessex Downs, which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is part of the Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down National Trust property.This sloping site on the Berkshire Downs is unimproved chalk grassland. Steep areas on thin soils are grazed by rabbits. The site is particularly important for its butterfly species, including chalkhill blue, marbled white and the rare adonis blue at its last known locality in the county.There is access from Streatley Hill.

Genetic Studios (also known as Genetic Sound) was a recording studio in Streatley, England.

Goring-on-Thames (or Goring) is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire, England. It is located about 5+1⁄2 mi (9 km) south of Wallingford and 8 mi (13 km) north-west of Reading. It had a population of 3,187 in the 2011 census and was estimated to have increased to 3,335 by 2019.Most land is farmland, with woodland on the Goring Gap outcrop of the Chiltern Hills. Its riverside plain encloses the residential area, including a high street with shops, pubs and restaurants. Goring & Streatley railway station lies on the Great Western Main Line, providing trains between London and Oxford. The village church is dedicated to St Thomas Becket with a nave that was built within 50 years of the saint's death, in the early 13th century, along with a later bell tower. Goring faces the smaller Streatley across the Thames; the two are linked by Goring and Streatley Bridge.

Goring & Streatley railway station is on the Great Western Main Line, serving the twin villages of Goring-on-Thames in Oxfordshire and Streatley in Berkshire. The station is located in Goring-on-Thames, adjacent to the village centre, and is five minutes' walk from Goring and Streatley Bridge; this connects the village with Streatley, across the River Thames. It is 44 miles 60 chains (72.0 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Pangbourne to the east and Cholsey to the west. It is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway (GWR)

Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down is a National Trust countryside property in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated on the edge of the Berkshire Downs above the village of Streatley and overlooking the Goring Gap. The property comprises an outstanding area of 27 hectares (67 acres) of downland and woodland with many attractive walks and views. Lardon Chase, and a part of the Holies known as Holies Down, are also designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The property lies within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and in an area known for the presence of several Neolithic and Iron Age forts.Lardon Chase and Lough Down comprise a spur of downland which lies to the west of Goring and Streatley. Since it was acquired by the National Trust, the land has been managed by a mixture of scrub clearance and cattle grazing, so as to encourage the growth of chalk-loving plants. The Holies is a woodland fringed grassy coombe which is separated from Lardon Chase and Lough Down by the B4009 road from Streatley to Newbury. Before acquisition by the National Trust, the Holies was used for motorbike scrambling and turf stripping, resulting in considerable damage to the ground. The National Trust is encouraging the natural recolonisation of the area by chalk-loving plant species. There are three turf mazes in the Holies.The slopes of the property form one of the largest remaining areas of chalk grassland in the county and support a wide range of flowers and butterflies. Plants found in the grassland include autumn gentian, clustered bellflower, blue fleabane, vervain, common rock-rose, horseshoe vetch, kidney vetch, marjoram, yellow-wort, purging flax, wild carrot, chalk milkwort, stemless thistle, eyebright, mouse-ear hawkweed, salad burnet, ragwort, wild thyme, hairy violet, squinancywort, hawkweed ox-tongue, common spotted orchid and pyramidal orchid. Scattered bands of hawthorn scrub provide shelter for insect life and several butterfly species can be found, including chalkhill blue, marbled white, adonis blue, grizzled skipper and dingy skipper.The property is accessible from a car park located on the B4009, or by steeply climbing footpaths from Streatley village. The Holies is also accessible (on foot only) from the A329 road south of Streatley, whilst Lough Down can be accessed from the ancient track of The Ridgeway on its northern boundary. Access is free, and available at all times. The property adjoins the Goring & Streatley Golf Club.

Goring & Streatley Golf Club is a golf course in the village of Streatley, in the English county of Berkshire. It takes its name partly from that village, and partly from the adjoining village of Goring-on-Thames in the county of Oxfordshire. The course adjoins the National Trust properties of Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down. The club has an 18-hole 6,355-yard (5,811 m), par-71 golf course, which has magnificent views of the Thames, the Goring Gap and the Ridgeway. It was established in 1895 and is famous for producing touring professional Carl Mason.The course was designed by Harry Colt, who also designed courses such as; Stoke Park, Sunningdale, Muirfield, Hoylake and Wentworth. The Pro Shop is run by the JD Gold Academy which currently also runs Drayton Park, Carswell and The Springs. The Club Professional is Lyle Hastie. Apart from golf, the club runs a successful restaurant called Woodlands which holds Sunday lunches every Sunday and has the capacity to cater for large functions, including weddings and funerals.

Gatehampton Railway Bridge, otherwise referred to as Gatehampton Viaduct, is a railway bridge carrying the Great Western Main Line over the River Thames in Lower Basildon, Berkshire, England. It takes the line between the stations at Goring and Streatley and Pangbourne, and crosses the Thames on the reach between Whitchurch Lock and Goring Lock. The western viaduct is the older of the two, having been engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and was constructed at the same time as Maidenhead Railway Bridge and Moulsford Railway Bridge. It was built between 1838 and 1840, opening later that same year. A second phase of work, conducted between 1890 and 1893, involved the construction of the east relief bridge along with the refurbishment of the west bridge. They have become prominent manmade features of the local riverside landscape; on 19 June 1984, they became formally protected as a Grade II listed structure.

Basildon is a civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It comprises the small villages of Upper Basildon and Lower Basildon, named for their respective heights above the River Thames.