GetWokingham welcomes its newest online columnist this month. Abbie Bennington worked as a TV producer for BBC News at Ten before changing careers to fulfill a lifelong ambition to work in food and drink. She trained at Leiths School of Food and Wine.

Abbie has a passion for baking and works as a wine consultant for award winning wine tasting company ThirtyFifty. She has recently moved to Wokingham.

Over the coming months I hope to share with you a journey of discovery.

Having lived in London for many years I have now moved to Wokingham and it will be my great pleasure to explore the town, its environs and to write about those experiences.

New beginnings are never easy, the hustle and the bustle of city life has much to offer but it’s fair to say that coming to Wokingham has been a lovely surprise.

Working as a freelance writer, wine taster and baker has its advantages. My days are flexible enough to explore the region and bring my top picks of what there is to see, eat, drink and do when you are new to Wokingham. Whether you’ve lived here all your life or are relatively new to the area I hope to bring an insight and fresh take on the wonders of Wokingham!

I always think it’s best to get to know a region by foot and on my first free day in this new town I went to find a walk that would show me a hint of the country. I was in search of a bit of green that would whet the appetite of any would be rambler.

After a little research on the internet and one or two wrong turns I found a great walk that transports you from the busy roads in the town to the twitter of birds in less than five minutes. For those who wish to know the details it is a variation on the BBC website: Berkshire Way, walk number 12.

Heading out of town towards Tesco there is a little path on the left just before the roundabout. Walk down there and you will be transported to a world of green, horses graze in fields and wildlife is abundant. The footpath will take you past an old almshouse, onto a field of long haired cattle and into a forest. Ignoring the BBC walk to the Look Out take a sudden left when the forest path gets thicker along a narrow woodland trail.

This will lead you to fields of polytunnels housing what I guess will be our summer fruits, then onto a pheasant farm with cawing birds before heading across the railway bridge and onto Gypsy Lane.

The smell in the air along here is like honey, a type of blossom I think that is particularly fragrant this time of year. Eventually the lane leads you back into town, in time for a coffee perhaps, or something stronger. All this walking has made me hungry and I hope to share my foody thoughts with you next time…

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