I have always wanted to walk from Slough to Eton, having heard from locals how easy it is. With both my kids at school, I finally did it and I was so surprised at how close Slough is to Eton. I had walked from the urban to the quaint in just 40 minutes and it was such a beautiful walk too. The route I had chosen is along the main roads, which can easily be done if you have a baby in a pushchair as it’s all flat. There is a bench half way if you need to rest your legs too. I know there are other way to get there too, via a footbridge over The Myrke, and once they rebuild that footbridge at the end of Upton Court Park. This is my route, and I am also sharing 15 interesting things to see along the way.
Location:
Start at Slough Railway Station, Brunel Way SL1 1XW
End at The Brocas, Eton SL4 6BW
Length: 2 mile walk, approx 40 minutes to complete. It will take longer if you are stopping to rest or take photos or play Pokemon Go 😉 At the end of the walk, you can get the train from Windsor & Eton Central Station back to Slough (6 minute journey, £2.90 for a single) if you don’t want to walk back.
Parking: If you need to drive in to Slough to start the walk, there are plenty of car parks in Slough (check car park you are using for prices). Assuming locals will adapt their starting point depending on where you live!
Food: You will be walking by Slough High Street and ending at Eton High Street so there are coffee shops, cafes, newagents along the way. A large McDonalds as you are leaving Slough.
Toilets: Yes. In the cafes/restaurants.
Pushchair-friendly: Yes
Playground: Yes there is a playground in Eton on South Meadow Lane. It’s just outside my trail but I will point it out in my directions.
Map
(click to enlarge and print)
The Trail
1) Slough Train Station
Starting at Slough Train Station on Brunel Way in Slough, step back and admire the beautiful Victorian architecture. Most of the buildings in Slough are modern, but here is one piece of history that has been saved. You can read more about its history here.
Walk down the street with the station behind you towards Wellington Street and turn right towards The Curve/Moxy Hotel. Turn left at The Curve and you will be walking down Windsor Road. Cross the crossroads and stop when you get to Herschel Street on your left.
2) Sir William Herschel Sculpture
At Herschel Street, the building on the corner has a sculpture in front of it that is dedicated to Sir William Herschel – he discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 and lived in Slough.
Now carry on walking down Windsor Road, you will walk past a Premier Inn and modern residential blocks of flats.
3) Herschel Park entrance
At the crossroads, when you have crossed the road you will see an entrance to Herschel Park on your left. This is a very pretty street and if you want to take a detour, you can take a walk down here – but I’d say save that for another day. Keep walking down Windsor Road, past the curvy new build flats and bus stop. You will see a side road with pretty character houses (Vale Grove). McDonalds is here across the road if you fancy stopping for a cheeky cheeseburger.
4) Jubilee River
Keep going, under the M4 bridge and at the other side you will find the Jubilee River. Across the road is our very own weir! There is a small car park here off the roundabout, so you can come back another day to do a riverside walk.
Just ahead of the river is the roundabout, where you turn left towards Eton/Datchet. There is a bench at the corner, so you can take a rest if you need to. We are halfway to Eton now, it will have taken 20 minutes walking to get here.
You are now walking down Slough Road, a pretty tree-lined street. It will feel like you’ve left Slough for sure! Private fields at the side, there was a tractor as I was walking past.
Keep walking about 5/10 minutes, past the mini roundabout and you will see Eton College up ahead. You are in Eton!
The next points of interest have been found with the help of The Eton Walkway Official Guide and Pokemon Go.
5) Ancient Milestone
Before the bridge there is this pretty house on the left, and just infront of the fence is this ancient milestone from 1874.
6) The Wall Games Steps
Walk over the bridge and as you get closer to Eton College, you will see these steps in the wall.
The wall has been here since 1717, and in the 1800s The Wall Games were played on the other side. Steps were put into the wall so boys could climb up and watch the games.
7) Victorian Lamppost – The Burning Bush
Keep walking, the road narrows and it’s oh so quaint and pretty. Literally like another world from Slough. On your right, in front of a grand building (Eton College Library) is a listed Victorian Lamppost called The Burning Bush.
8) Eton College
This area is all Eton College. The architecture of all the buildings here look amazing. I also saw lots of Eton boys walking around, looking very smart in their long black coats, lots of happy laughter and well-spoken accents in the air.
9) Gold Phone Box – Book Share
On your right, walk down Keats Lane, and when you get to the junction with Eton Wick Road, you will see a gold phone box. This is the local book share, where you can leave and take books. This phone box has been painted gold to honour Eton College former pupil Constantine Louloudis, who won gold in the 2016 Olympics for rowing.
At this phone box, if you walk down the road to its left – South Meadow Lane – there is a children’s playground up ahead on the right, behind a gated area. It’s very cute with an enclosed younger kids area and the older kids area in the open. There is so much green space too. Well, I guess the clue is in the name of the road… meadow!
10) Baldwin’s Bridge
Walk back up Keats Lane to the High Street and keep walking right. You will come to Baldwin’s Bridge. It is a very historic bridge, and today there is a peaceful seating area underneath.
11) Eton Porny School Inscription
Next you have the Eton Porny School from the 1800s and there is an inscription between 29 and 29a High Street to Mark Antony Porny, who instructed for the school to be established in his will from 1802.
12) The Christopher Inn
Walk down and there are lots of quaint shops with old-fashioned windows. It’s so pretty.
The Christopher Inn is a former 18th century coaching inn which was originally by the college in the 1500s. It moved to its current position on the high street as it was too “riotous and demoralizing” for the college boys when the railway opened in the 1800s, mainly due to the behaviour of visitors. Lol.
If you turn into Eton Court (the road on your right), there’s a few benches and these bricks with inscriptions.
13) Rare Grade II Listed Pillar Box
Back on the High Street and on the left is a rare Grade II listed pillar-box dating from 1856, only 15 years after the first postage stamps. It is one of only ten surviving, with its unusual vertical slot for posting letters. Earlier post boxes had been painted green, to blend in, but people kept walking into them. Eton was the first village in England to have a post office.
Next to it you will see a building under scaffolding – this is a medieval house that must be under repair or restoration at the moment.
We are nearing the end of our walk, and if you wish, you can stop off for a coffee break at Costa. They have a pretty outside terrace. The Costa is next to a cute blue shop which is the tourist visitor centre.
14) Curious Lens and Windsor Bridge
You are at the end of the High Street now, and you’ll see a curious lens thing by the Flaming Cow restaurant, just before Windsor Bridge.
The views from Windsor Bridge are beautiful, and if you cross to the other end, you will be in Windsor.
15) The Brocas and River Thames
Turn back and walk down Brocas Street and you will come to The Brocas, which is the huge green meadow you can see when you are sitting along the river on the Windsor side. It’s interesting to see the other side. You can stop here to have a picnic if you like, and decide whether you want to walk back to Slough or get the train from Windsor & Eton Central.
I hope you found this post useful and are inspired to to a walk from Slough to Eton. Let me know if you do it, I’d love to hear what you thought of it.
Sabrina x
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