HIKE HISTORY
The Three Towers Hike™ is a down-land footpath competition hike organised by Reading Central District Scouts with the assitance of neighbouring Taceham Hundred and Pang Valley districts. It normally takes place over the third weekend of March each year, sometimes it takes place in early April. The event is proudly sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, Berkshire's leading supplier of outdoor equipment.
Early Days
The first Three Towers Hike took place during the 1970's, long before many of today's competitors were even born. 2003 was the hike's 25th anniversary. Only a few years have missed an event; most recently in 2001 when Foot and Mouth plagued the countryside and again in 2006 due to non-availability of resources.
In the early days the event was based around the north and west of Reading and covered a route, much of which is now a housing estate on the northern edges of Reading. The hike gets its name from its early days when the route passed three large water towers including Emmer Green in northern Reading. Today, Tilehurst Water Tower is the most noticeable and is the only remaining tower visible on the route!
In hikes of the past, teams joined the event from every part of the country. Like most similar events, it had its peak popularity in the late 1970's and early 1980's when the event saw hundreds of teams. At that time, there was only the main event, though there were lots of classes and categories, some of which are reflected in the trophies we award today.
Renaissance
The late 1980's saw the event's renaissance with alterations to the route to include more rural paths, a move that was repeated in 2003 when a large section od road was removed from the start of the main event and the route extended westward.
The Junior event was introduced in the 1990's for Scouts, who at the time operated upto 16 years. This was immediately popular and in 2003, following the introduction of the Explorer Scout section in the movement across the country, the hike introduced an intermediate Explorer Route, equating to roughly the latter two-thirds of the Senior event route.
2008
The event has become more and more popular in recent years, particularly with the Junior route, to the expense of fewer adults entering the Senior route. In 2008 the event will embrace the traditional values of a long hike with a focus on the Senior route; this is now the Hike's Classic event. At the same time, the Hike will restrict the Junior event to its original target audience, Scout Troop members.