On John Betjeman's trail at Farnborough

John Betjeman (1906–84) has been described as the most popular poet of the 20th century. With his infectious laugh, air of eccentricity and sense of fun, he was an immensely popular character, and having been born into the television age, he was a natural performer for that particular medium. He loved the camera and it loved him in return.

Home on the Downs

Over the years Betjeman has been the subject of many distinguished television documentaries – intimate portraits that reflected the man's true identity and personality. They demonstrated his love for architecture, for historic landmarks and endangered buildings, illustrating to the viewer how he brought them to life in his own highly individual style.

However, few of these TV biographies make any mention of his home in the splendid Old Rectory in the tiny Berkshire village of Farnborough. Betjeman and his wife Penelope moved here in 1945, and in the summer of that year she wrote to a friend:

'Father has bought us a beautiful William and Mary house 700ft up on the downs above Wantage with 12 acres of land, including a wood and two fields. It is a dream of beauty but has no water, no light and is falling down and needs six servants, so it will probably kill us in the end'.

Betjeman spent World War II as a press attaché in Dublin, and when it was finally over, he and Penelope returned to their beloved Berkshire. He worked mainly in London, mixing with writers, poets and Oxbridge intellectuals. But he was most at home in the peace and tranquillity of the countryside – especially the Vale of the White Horse, then still within Berkshire. Betjeman loved to explore the downs on foot, while Penelope galloped along the Ridgeway on Moti, her Arab mare.

An inspiration

During the six years he lived in Farnborough, Betjeman was typically productive in his work output. His collection of verse, New Bats in Old Belfries, was published in 1945, and in 1948 his Selected Poems won the Heinemann Award for Literature. He also worked on Murray's Architectural Guide for Berkshire, published in 1949.

The Betjemans moved to Wantage in 1951. It wasn't far away, and here the poet continued to indulge his love of the English countryside. In a TV interview in 1984, the year he died, Betjeman said that 'poetry makes life worth living', believing that the greatest thing he had done in his own life was to use his eyes and his feelings.

Follow the road out of West Ilsley, passing the village signs. At the first gap in the hedge walk on the footpath parallel to the road. Take the first bridleway on the left and follow the track past Starveall Farm uphill to a gate. Continue ahead, with the field boundary on your right. Bear left through a gate at the next junction onto an ancient track. Soon bear right, passing a broken stile, to follow the path across a large field. Go straight ahead at the waymarked corner and keep ahead in the next field, with the fence on your right. Follow the path across the field to the road, passing a water tower. By Upper Farm veer left and go past the Old Rectory, to your right, and continue along the road to Farnborough Church (on the left, at the bend).

Walk back along the road to the farm, rejoin the track beside the outbuildings and look for a waymark and a pair of galvanised gates after about 60yds (55m). A field footpath and two tracks can be seen here. Keep right, directly beside the farm. Cut between trees, bushes and margins of vegetation and soon cross a footpath junction. Go further on between dense hedges. Continue ahead to a junction with a byway and bridleway. Keep ahead, going through woodland, following the Ilsley Downs Riding Route. Make for the next junction, where you can see a field beyond the trees – bear right and follow the clear path through the woods.

Keep right at the road, and when it bends right, go straight on along a bridleway running across the fields towards trees. The bridleway eventually becomes a byway. Keep ahead when you reach a bend and walk along to a waymarked track on the left. Follow it into the woodland and down the slope. As you approach a gap in the hedge, with a field seen ahead, veer right to follow a path running through the trees. Eventually it climbs gently to a junction. The walk turns left, but it is worth stepping to your right for several paces to admire the timeless view of Woolvers Barn and Woolvers Down.

Follow the byway, avoiding the public footpath on your right, and take the next bridleway on the left. Keep right at the next junction and cut between hedges. When the track bends left, there is a memorable view of West Ilsley sitting snugly in its downland setting. Keep right at the next junction, following the track alongside West Ilsley Stables. Cross a cattle grid and turn left along the drive. Walk down to the road and turn left. As it bends right by a bridleway sign, go straight on by Keeper's Stables. Swing left as you reach the centre of West Ilsley and pass All Saints Church to return to the start.