26/12/2007 by pete.

This walk was the reverse of a walk I did two months ago, which I put on my web site - http://www.petes-walks.co.uk/Chiltern%20Hills/Wendover%20Woods/Wendover%20Woods%201.htm. It took about 4 hours to do the approximately 12.6 miles, starting at 9.40.

I saw (and heard!) some Jays as I walked back down the drive to the car park. I then followed a path through the woods that soon joined the drive to a house and went through it’s garden to reach a road at Aston Hill. I crossed over and followed a farm drive opposite, soon glimpsing a Muntjac Deer in the Mountain Biking Area on my left. At the farm I followed a path through the trees that soon headed steeply downhill, with  a field just to my left. Across a road I followed a path along the edge of an arable field, then turned right on a byway running between hedges.

I crossed a lane, and continued past a couple of cottages. I soon turned left on another byway, with paddocks beyond the hedges either side. The byway gradually curved to the right and came to a junction with another byway at the foot of a steep wooded hillside. I turned right, and followed the rising track through Grove Wood, quite steep in places. At the top of the hill I followed a private drive a few hundred yards to reach Hastoe, Hertfordshire’s highest hamlet (nice alliteration there, don’t you think!).

I turned left and followed a lane through the tiny hamlet. I went left at a junction, then turned right on a path through Tring Park - much of this was along King Charles Ride, along the top of the Chiltern escarpment above Tring. It took me to Wigginton, where I partly retraced my route through the village from two days ago before turning right along the main road. I then turned right on to the route of the Chiltern Way, crossing an empty pasture and then following a line of gorse bushes and then a belt of trees, which marked th course of Grim’s Ditch which I’d be following for 3-4 miles.

I went through a small wood and crossed a lane. I followed a path on the same line through another wood, and on across a stubble field to reach another belt of trees. At the end of the trees I left the Chiltern Way, going a few yards right and then turning left again. A short section along a narrow lane then followed - it was surprisingly busy with at least 6 cars passing me in a short space of time. The lane ended at a T-junction, where I carried on ahead on a footpath, still on the line of Grim’s Ditch, or a little to the left of it.

I carried on through woods for some distance, then took a short path on my right to reach another section of the Ridgeway. I followed this downhill through the woods, and then turned right along Hogtrough Lane (basically a long farm drive - as well as the Ridgeway, it’s part of the Chiltern Link which I walked a couple of years or so ago). At the end I turned right, and soon turned right again into Hale Lane (the Hale is the name of an attractive valley here, ringed by wooded slopes). After about half a mile, I took a track on the left that rose steadily back into the woods. At a junction I turned left, the path gradualy curving round to the right as it neared the top of Boddington Hill. Is topped for my lunch on a bench here, with a nice view out over Wendover and the Vale of Aylesbury. I then continued along the path, meeting hordes of people with children and dogs as I got back to the car park in the middle of Wendover Woods.

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26/12/2007 by pete.

24/12/07 

Sorry I’m a bit late - Happy Christmas!

Today I did a circular walk from the car park at Pitstone Hill, on the borders of Herts and Bucks. From the car park, I actually walked away from Pitstone Hill, going north in the direction of Steps Hill, before turning right on a path that rose steadily across the steep escarpment of the Chilterns. Near the top I joined the main track between Ashridge and Ivinghoe Beacon. I went right here, but only for a short distance before turning right on a path just before the kennels. This path, which was new to me, went steadily downhill through a large empty pasture. Near the bottom of the slope it joined a track between hedges, which soon reached the drve to Duncombe Farm.

I turned left along the drive, then went right where a footpath crossed. Back on familiar territory, I followed the path across two fields, then turned left on a bridleway that entered the woods of Ashridge and again rose steadily up the Chiltern escarpment. Near the top of the slope, instead of taking my normal route and forking left on a footpath, I took the right fork, and followed the bridleway as it contoured along the escarpment, passing a couple of cottages in the trees, with the Bridgewater Monument just a short distance to my right. I saw som Fallow deer here - three large bucks with impressive antlers.

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A bit further on, I reached the main path heading down from the Monument to Aldbury. Almost at once I saw a flock of small birds in the trees and bushes, including Long-tailed tits and a Goldcrest. When I got down to Aldbury, I took the usual photo of the stocks and village pond, then turned right. I soon turned right again to pass through the village allotments, and took the usual path back uphill through the woods again to a bend in a road. Here I took the drive to the small industrial estate at Tom’s Hill, and beyond that continued on downhill on a bridleway (I was following the route of the Chiltern Way now).

Emerging from the trees at a gate, I turned left and followed the familiar route of the Chiltern Way across three fields to a farm (where I noticed a paddock with a few Alpacas in it). I continued onwards,soon crossing a footbridge over a railway line, then turning right along a lane to reach Cow Roast. I followed a good track on the other side of the old A40, then went under a bridge beneath the new dual carriageway A40. Across a field and a large paddock I reached a wood. Here I left the route of the Chiltern Way and walked straight through the wood, then continued on a clear path through three or four empty pastures or meadows to reach the village of Wigginton.

I walked through the village to reach the route of the Ridgeway, which I’d follow all the way back to Pitstone Hill. I followed a field boundary through some small fields, crossed a lane, then continued through a couple more fields before crossing the A40 dual carriageway on a quite spectacular footbridge. I carried on to reach Tring Station, and after a short road walk took a path going left. The Ridgeway soon turned left again at a crossroads of bridleways - there were high hedges each side of the bridleway and I came acros a small flock of Fieldfares along here. I passed the Aldbury Nowers nature reserve (good for butterflies) and then followed the clear path through the woods, contouring round a hillside. Finally the path went through a kissing gate and emerged onto the grassy slopes of Pitstone Hill. I followed the path as it gently climbed to the top of the hill, following the line of an earthwork called Grim’s Ditch. I then just had to walk down the other side of the hill, over a small hillock and down to the car park.

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