Sonning Hill is a hill near the village of Sonning

Sonning

Sonning, occasionally called Sonning-on-Thames is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Wokingham in the English county of Berkshire, a few miles east of Reading. The village is situated on the River Thames and was described by Jerome K...

 in Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, close to the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

.

Local area

The Sonning Cutting

Sonning Cutting

Sonning Cutting is on the original Great Western Railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It is to the east of Reading station and to the west of Twyford station near the village of Sonning in Berkshire, England. It had been intended to route the railway around the north of Sonning Hill past the...

 takes the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

 through part of the hill between Twyford

Twyford

Twyford is the name of more than one place. The place name is Anglo-Saxon and means 'double ford'.-Places:In the United Kingdom:*Twyford, Berkshire*Twyford, Buckinghamshire*Twyford, Derbyshire*Twyford, Dorset*Twyford, Hampshire*Twyford, Herefordshire...

 and Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

. There was an early railway accident at Sonning Cutting

Railway accident at Sonning Cutting

The Sonning Cutting railway accident occurred during the early hours of 24 December 1841 in the Sonning Cutting through Sonning Hill, near Reading, Berkshire. A Great Western Railway luggage train travelling from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads station entered Sonning Cutting...

 on 24 December 1841.

There are good walks by the river in this area. At the foot of the hill by the Thames is Ali's Pond Local Nature Reserve

Ali's Pond Local Nature Reserve

Ali's Pond Local Nature Reserve is, a Local Nature Reserve close to the village of Sonning on the Berkshire bank of the River Thames in southern England....

, a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 laid out with paths and large ponds in 1997.
The UK headquarters of two major software companies, Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

 and Oracle Corporation

Oracle Corporation

Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...

 are also located here on the Thames Valley Park

Thames Valley Park

Thames Valley Park is a high-tech business park adjacent to the River Thames on the eastern outskirts of Reading in the English county of Berkshire.-Location and companies:The park partially lies within the civil parish of Sonning...

 business park.

Island

At this point in the River Thames, towards the Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

side of the main river channel, there is a long thin island creating two branches of the river.