Pete’s Walks

(This is an edited and expanded version of an entry in my WAB blog – I’m a bit tired tonight!)

Red Kite

A great walk in the Chilterns today, about 14 miles I should think. Very cold (about 3C) when I started but nice and warm by the afternoon, though there was still frost in some shady spots. I started at West Wycombe and headed south, through Lane End to Fingest (which has an amazing Norman church, with a double-gabled tower). I then headed back via Cadmore End, Studley Green, Radnage and Bledlow Ridge.

This walk was basically a combination of parts of two of the ‘exploratory’ walks I did for my Chiltern Chain Walk – I did both those walks to check out possible paths to cross the M40, and ended up selecting a route from each of them. The section from just south of the M40 through Lane End to Fingest was new to me though – I didn’t like part of the route I used last time, mainly because it involved a very dangerous road section. I had to go through a housing estate in Lane End, but the rest of the new section was brilliant, a very clear and well-maintained path through woods and fields with some lovely views.
Red Kite
I hoped I’d get a few Red Kite photos, as I new from previous walks that the area around Fingest was a good place to see them. In fact I saw them on numerous occasions, including about 10 in the skies above Fingest and then 22 or 23 above Studley Green, the biggest group I’ve ever seen. I got a few photos, bu none that were too good – I’ll have another go on my next walk, which will also go through Fingest.

I also saw several buzzards today, on two or three occasions in the air with the Red Kites, a phenomenon I’ve noticed many times before.

Common Buzzard

As I walked through Hanger Wood, Fingest, I saw about 30 Fallow Deer cross the track about 100 yards in front of me – below is the best of the photos I took. I also saw Muntjac deer twice today, but they were off too quick for me to get a photo. Near Radnage I think I saw a weasel, but it was too fleeting a glimpse for me to be really sure.

Fallow Deer

(Entry copied from my WAB blog)

Red Kite

I’m so excited! At long last I’ve seen a Red Kite here in Kensworth! It flew over at about 12.45pm today as I was out photographing birds in the garden again. So I was able to get this poor quality photo of it.

I love these birds – every time I see one they lift my spirits, especially when I’m out walking. I love their colouring, the distinctive shape of their tail, their plaintive calls and the way that they don’t seem to fear humans the way other birds of prey do. They have often flown very low over my head as I’ve been out walking, and they are often to be seen in towns and villages, not just out in the country.

It’s been an ambition of mine to see a Red Kite in Kensworth for a couple of years or more. I often see them in the western part of the Chilterns, but they are only gradually spreading eastwards towards Bedfordshire.

The other interesting sighting today was a Long-tailed Tit tapping on the dining room window!

(This is an edited and expanded version of an entry in my WAB blog)

Muntjac Deer, near Bradenham, Bucks.

Today I did a 13-mile circular walk around the Saunderton Valley – this is a broad gap in the northern escarpment of the Chiltern Hills, immediately south of Princes Risborough. The beautiful warm sunny weather of the last few days has gone, and the day started cold (2-3C) and very grey. The sun started to break through the clouds about 1pm though, and I ended the walk under blue skies and hazy sunshine.

 I started at the village of Bledlow Ridge, on top of the hills west of the Saunderton valley, and followed a footpath that headed north, gradually descending into the valley. This was very familiar to me, as it’s part of the Chiltern Way. I then joined part of the Ridgeway national trail, and headed up and over Lodge Hill, before rejoining the Chiltern Way and crossing the broad Saunderton valley via a number of arable fields. I then climbed up the eastern side, passing through the adjoining villages of Loosley Row and Lacey Green. I headed eastwards into the hills for about a mile, before turning south on a path just inside the edge of a beech wood. I then headed back west, touching on Lacey Green again. I then turned south for a couple of miles to reach the attractive village of Bradenham, before recrossing the valley, following a path over Slough Hill  and heading back to Bledlow Ridge.

Red Kite, Bradenham, Bucks.

As usual, I saw several Red Kites in and around Bledlow Ridge, and saw at least one Buzzard too. I saw many more kites throughout the walk, and a couple more buzzards near the end. I saw a Jay and a Green Woodpecker too. I also came across a Muntjac deer as I walked towards Bradenham, and saw another one cross my path as I was heading back to Bledlow Ridge.

This was a very enjoyable walk – and not just because I had so many good sightings of Red Kites! It was actually quite up and down, and when the grey clouds had gone there were some nice views across and along the Saunderton valley. The first half of the walk was on familiar territory, almost all of it on the Chiltern Way or the Ridgeway, but the remainder I’d only walked once on a couple of my ‘exploratory’ walks and there was a short section beyond Bradenham that was new to me. I’m looking forward to doing the walk in the opposite (anti-clockwise) direction in a couple of months time when I walk my proposed Chiltern Chain Walk for real..

(Entry copied from my WAB blog)

Siskin

I spent about an hour and a half photographing birds in the garden again this morning. Undoubted star of the show was this siskin, the first I’ve ever seen in my parents’ garden I think (my parents say they sees Siskins occasionally every winter). Otherwise it was just the ‘usual suspects’ – Blue Tits, Great Tits and Chaffinches. A Dunnock landed briefly near me, before realising I was there and flying off. A Robin appeared now and again, and occasionally a blackbird flew low across the garden. There was frequently the delightful sound of jackdaws overhead, and I think I got a glimpse of a yellowhammer again.

Blue Tit

Great Tit

In the afternoon, I saw four Long-tailed Tits on the bird feeders.

Chaffinch (female)

Regular readers of this drivel may be wondering why I seem to have been walking round in circles for the last few months – normally my walks are ‘there and back’ along sections of long-distance paths, suddenly I seem to have developed a penchant for circular walks. Not only that, but you may have noticed that I only seem to be walking about 12 miles a day instead of my more usual 15 miles.

You may remember that a couple of months ago I revealed that I was looking at creating my own unofficial long-distance path. I wanted to research and design a long-distance route of my own, and then walk it and write a journal for it. Well, the time has come to reveal that I’m calling my long-distance path the Chiltern Chain Walk. It will consist of 20 circular walks that connect to each other, so that on a map they look like a ‘chain’, stretching from Dunstable Downs in the northeast of the Chiltern Hills to Goring-on-Thames. And yes, I freely admit that I nicked the idea from the Hertfordshire Chain Walk! There are already several long-distance paths through the Chilterns, so I thought that if I was going to create another one, I ought to make it a bit different.

Each of the circular walks will be about 12 miles long. I decided on that distance because, as far as I can tell, most walking groups only do walks of up to 11-12 miles. So if I’d made the walks 15 miles long, the route would have appealed to fewer people. Having said that, I’m not really expecting other people to walk the route – it is simply a personal challenge to devise and walk my own long-distance route. But I will document the walks so that if other people want to do them they can. Certainly some of the walks are so good that it would be a shame if no-one else tried them out – when I’ve finished, I will contact some local branches of the Ramblers Association and let them know about it.

I have more or less finished planning the Chiltern Chain Walk, and have walked about 95% of the route already (either where it overlaps other long-distance routes that I’ve done already, or else on one of the ‘research’ walks I’ve been doing over the last few months). The 20 circular walks split fairly evenly between clockwise and anti-clockwise (usually a fairly arbitrary decision on my part). I am currently walking them all in the ‘wrong’ direction, partly because I want to check that I have chosen the best direction (clockwise/anti-clockwise) for them, partly to check out the few remaining sections that I have yet to walk, and partly because I want to be able able to say that I’ve walked the route in both directions, as I have with most of the long-distance paths that I’ve walked.

I hope to walk and journal the route in the ‘correct’ direction in the Spring, when the wildflowers will be an added attraction to the route.

In the meantime, I have just updated my web site with the walk I did yesterday – it is in the ‘Chiltern Hills’ section and called ‘Coombe Hill and the Hampdens’. The walk is one section of my proposed Chiltern Chain Walk but in the wrong (clockwise) direction.

Yet again I returned to one of my favourite areas in the Chilterns, walking from Coombe Hill through the villages of Little Hampden and Great Hampden and returning via the great viewing point of Whiteleaf Hill. I’m not going to say anything more about the route, as in the next day or so I intend adding the walk to my web site (about time I added another walk to it!).

I was in two minds about doing the walk today – I wanted to do it on a fine day, and today was forecast to be the last day of the gorgeous weather we’ve had for almost a week now. On the other hand, walking today would mean my fourth walk in five days and I didn’t want such an enjoyable walk marred by aching limbs. Anyway, I’m very glad I did decide to go, although I’m feeling pretty tired right now!

It took me almost five hours to walk about 12.5 miles, which is ridiculously slow, but then I did stop to take just over 100 photos (I fiddled with the camera settings much more than usual too, as I struggle to improve my photography) – and my legs were tired after my previous walks.

Another glorious day, and another 12 mile circular walk (sometime soon I may get around to explaining why I’m wandering round in circles at the moment!). Frosty this morning and I had to wear my coat for the first 45 minures, but after that it was a lovely warm day with blue skies and plenty of bird song every time I went through woodland.

I parked at the picnic site near Cobblershill,  a few miles south of Wendover. The first half mile or so was new to me, as I crossed a horse gallop and then  followed a hedgerow gradually uphill through a very large empty pasture. In the wood at the top of the hill I soon picked up a path I was familiar with – it went downhill through the wood, followed a hedge across the valley bottom and then climbed uphill again through another wood to reach the attractive hamlet of Little Hampden.

Having been heading west so far, I now turned south and was soon following a long path beside a hedgerow that gradually descended over a long distance down to a road in the wide and attractive valley of Hampden Bottom. I followed the road left a short distance, before turning right on a woodland path that gradually went uphill to reach another road, right on the edge of the substantial village of Prestwood.

I was soon back into the countryside, following a very pleasant path through a sequence of empty pastures. It then descended through a wood before joining a farm drive that led to a lane. I went left for a short distance down the lane (a bit dangerous as there were no verges, but it was wider than I remembered it). There then followed a very steep climb back uphill, through another beech wood, definitely one of the steepest paths I’ve come across in the Chilterns. The path continued alongside a fence separating two fields, through a small wood and across the end of a pasture in a small valley, soon reaching a road in another part of Prestwood.

Across the road and down a drive I was soon back into another lovely beech wood. As always it was a joy to walk through these lovely trees, though the path was rather muddy in some places. Across another road, I was soon following the path round two sides of a large orchard. After a short stretch along a hedged track, I went half-left on a path that crossed a very large arable field diagonally. On the far side, I emerged on a road on the edge of the village of Little Kingshill (I was here again on Saturday).

I was soon leaving the village again, on a path that started by going through a pub garden, now heading back north and on the route of the Chiltern Heritage Trail. I followed a path between fences and hedges, with paddocks to my left and cattle pastures to my right beyond the hedge. After a short interlude through trees and shrubs I crossed a ploughed field following tractor tracks, then went over a grassy field to reach a lane by a farmhouse. I turned left, but soon left the lane by taking a tarmac farm drive on the right. I soon branched slightly left on an attractive bridleway running between hedges that dropped down slowly to a wood. Here I left the bridleway, going through a metal kissing gate and following a sketchy path marked out by white arrows on the trees. Once out of the wood, I followed a curving hedgerow and then made my way to a farm drive that took me back to yet another part of Prestwood.

Leaving the Chiltern Heritage Trail, I followed a cul-de-sac road and then an alley, before turning right and going over a crossroads. I left the village by turning right on a path that started along a farm drive, and continued between fences and hedges, with paddocks again to my left. The path then went slightly right and descended steadily through yet another charming wood. It then ran between a hedge on the left and a fence to the right, to reach a road with Great Missenden a short distance to my right. I soon took a farm drive on the opposite side of the road. The path soon forked off slightly left to run between hedges, then turned to the right and ascended gently through a wood. At the end of the wood, I sat on a stile to eat my lunch.

The path then turned left along the edge of the wood, before re-entering it. I soon heard a couple of woodpeckers, but was unable to see them. On the far side of the wood I turned right onto a bridleway. I followed this muddy track for about a mile (stopping briefly to chat to a dog walker and then for a bit longer chat to another walker), almost into the hamlet of Cobblershill, before forking right onto a bridleway that descended through yet another wood and took me back to the picnic site where I’d started from.

Again this walk was about 12 miles and took me about four hours. The weather was amazingly good for the time of year, it really felt as if Spring had come early.

(Entry copied from my WAB blog)

Spent some more time trying to photograph birds in the back garden again today. I’m still trying out new things with my new camera, rather than always relying on the ‘automatic’ mode. As it was such a bright day (glorious blue skies and warm for the time of year), I set on ‘Shutter Priority’ mode and set it to a high shutter speed, with the idea of getting sharper images but with less depth of field.

Blue Tit

Previously when I’ve been taking photos in the garden, I’ve put some bird food out on two large branches on the apple tree where the bird feeders are. Of course, I would then focus on one branch and the birds would visit the other one – I’d refocus on that branch, and the birds would simultaneously switch to the first branch (or so it seemed!). So I just put the extra food on one branch this time. I positioned myself with my camera and tripod about 30 feet away.

Unfortunately not a lot turned up – perhaps I was too close and too obviously visible. Great Tits, Blue Tits and Chaffinches were the only birds that came to feed, and so I at least got some better photos of those. A buzzard flew overhead, and a wren and a robin also appeared in the garden. I managed to get a very distant shot of a Yellowhammer in a tree at the bottom of a neighbour’s garden – it came into our garden and landed on a bush behind the apple tree, but hidden from my view by some branches. I see these birds often on my walks, but it is a very rare visitor indeed to our garden.

Great Tit

Two Collared Doves fluttered low across the garden, and later on I saw a Sparrowhawk fly across the rooftops. But there was no sign of the regular ‘Greenfinch gang’, let alone the Bramblings and Greater Spotted Woodpecker that have visited the garden recently. At least I’d managed to spot a Long-tailed Tit on the feeders while I had my breakfast.

Today’s was my third 12-mile walk in four days, and the first time I’ve walked on successive days for 9-10 months. So I found it a bit more of a struggle today, and I’m feeling more tired than usual now.

I started at Old Amersham, which I passed through on yesterday’s walk. I began about 10 am, and first walked along the very attractive High Street, full of old coaching inns and mainly Georgian buildings. I passed the church and the market, where there were a few stalls. I then followed the valley of the river Misbourne westward, soon passing the grand house of Shardeloes on top of a hill on my left, while on my right was a large ornamental pond formed by damming the river.

I continued through empty pastures to reach Little Missenden, where I turned left and followed the road all the way through what is one of my favourite villages from all my walks. I passed the church, one of the most interesting I’ve visited with its Saxon walls and mediaeval wall paintings. I then turned left on a footpath that passed through a paddock and then some fields, very gradually climbing the end of a hill. At one point I turned to look back and admire the view – I saw a large bird in the sky at some distance, which I later saw was a Red Kite when I expanded a photo on my PC.

The path took me to Little Kingshill, where I turned left and followed the road for about half a mile. I then turned left on a footpath that began by the Baptist chapel. This was a pleasant path between a fence and a hedge, which soon descended into a small valley, where I turned left into a wood. After a short distance, I turned right and slightly uphill, to reach a stile on the edge of the wood. I went ahead and then left round two sides of an empty pasture, and continued through a sequence of paddocks to a road. I turned right, then went left at a mini-roundabout, and followed a road through Holmer Green for about half a mile.

Shortly after passing a sports field and a pub, I took an alleyway going right, soon turning left into another alley. I continued ahead along a residential street to reach the start of a footpath on the edge of the village. I descended into a small wood in a valley and continued up the other side, following a hedgerow through a field to reach a lane.

On the other side, the path continued between hedges and fences a short distance to reach Toby’s Lane, a track between hedges leading to Little Missenden to my left. But I went right instead – I would now be following the route of the Chiltern Hertage Trail the rest of the way. The guide book or leaflet for that walk warns that Toby’s Lane can be very muddy in Winter and advises using a parallel lane when that’s the case. The short section I followed was really muddy – I had to cling to branches in the hedge as I edged myself along the side of the track, avoiding the worst of the soft, inches-deep mud. Fortunately I soon turned right onto a footpath which crossed an empty pasture and then joined a private drive past a few houses and a farm. I turned left at the end, and soon reached a main road.

On the other side, I then had a long and enjoyable section through Penn Wood, which is managed by the Woodland Trust – a notice said it was being grazed by cattle, but I didn’t see any. On the far side of the wood I reached the village of Penn Street. I followed the road alongside a cricket pitch, and turned left at a junction, still with the cricket pitch on my left. I took a path on the right that went down a drive and then crossed a field diagonally to a wood. The path ran along just inside the edge of the wood, then crossed an empty pasture, before runing between hedges a short distance to reach the village of Winchmore Hill.

I sat on a bench here and ate my lunch as it was now almost 1pm. The route to the next village, Coleshill, was very familiar to me, as it’s part of the Chiltern Way as well as the Chiltern Heritage Trail. I left Winchmore Hill opposite a chapel, and followed a hedgerow on my right to a small wood with a short and very muddy track through it. I crossed a rough pasture to a stile, and then the path ran betwen fences and hedges to reach a gravel drive between properties in Coleshill.

I crossed a road and followed an alley passing right of the church to another road. I turned left and followed the road for about half a mile, until it turned right. I took a path going ahead, initially on a farm drive and then through an empty pasture. I then turned right and followed a path that gradually descened towards Old Amersham which I could now see in the valley ahead of me. I went over a bridge over the bypass, and followed paths round an empty field of rough grass, emerging close to the High Street and the car park.

Again it took me 4 hours to walk 12 miles, a disappointing speed considering I took hardly any photos and had few other stops at all. It was another glorious day – I didn’t need my coat at all as it was so warm, and there were bright blue skies throughout. I must make the most of this weather while it lasts!

A beautiful day for a walk today – clear blue skies and so warm that I took my coat off after half an hour and never needed it again. It felt more like Spring than early February! I started at Chalfont St Giles and walked a circular route of about 12 miles.

From Chalfont St Giles I followed the route of the South Bucks Way for a few miles, heading northwest along the valley of the river Misbourne towards Old Amersham (initially retracing part of my last walk). I saw some Periwinkle growing by a lane (not sure if it was greater or lesser periwinkle), and later saw a Red Kite fly up from the ground as I crossed a paddock. I left the route of the South Bucks Way and crossed a field and then a footbridge over the small river (I saw two buzzards about here), before turning left and following the edge of the river into Old Amersham.

I was now on part of the Chiltern Heritage Trail, and I continued on its route as I turned left along a main road then right at a roundabout. I turned left along a footpath on the edge of Old Amersham, with a large field sloping uphill to my right. When I reached the start of a cemetery, I decided to take a small detour – I turned right and followed a footpath uphill to reach the Martyr’s Memorial, set up to commemorate seven Protestant martyrs burned at the stake for their beliefs in 1521 (in two cases the children of the victim were made to light the fire).

I returned the way I came and continued past the cemetery, turning left over a brick bridge and walking through the churchyard, going left of the impressive church in Amersham old town. I now rejoined the South Bucks Way and headed back in the direction I’d come, back down the Misbourne valley. But before reaching the point where I’d turned off the SBW before, I turned right and headed diagonally across a couple of fields, going steadily uphill. I passed through a corner of a wood, and continued through four more recently ploughed fields, on a clear and pleasant path with nice views to either side.

I passed through a farm and stable complex either side of a lane, and continued on a bridleway – this was a good track, heading fairly gently uphill. I passed another farm, and then left the track as it turned left and crossed a small field to a lane. On the other side, I had a very pleasant stroll through a wood – with all the birdsong and the blue skies it really felt like Spring had come early. I crossed a field of rough grass, and continued on a path between overgrown hedges to reach a road junction on the edge of Seer Green.

I turned left, and then took a path going right. I passed another stables and then followed a hedgerow through an empty pasture. Over a stile, I followed a driveway to a road on the edge of the village of Jordans. I turned right and followed the road through the village. I took another slight detour to walk through the grounds of the Old Quaker Meeting House, which is still being renovated after a serious fire – the area around the graves of William Penn and his family were cordoned off because of the building works.

I turned left along a lane, soon passing the youth hostel on my right. It was a narrow lane with no verges, but fortunately not much traffic. I turned left along a farm drive, and then followed a path through a sequence of horse paddocks. I then turned right, along  a fenced path beside a farm track. I saw a Jay fly off here. I then stopped and ate my lunch as I sat on a chopped up tree trunk here. I soon took a path going right, between two overgrown hedges, turning left at the end to reach a road.

Across the road I continued on another good path enclosed between hedges or fences. This ran on for about a mile or so, again with nice views. I crossed a track or lane and went up and down a dip, continuing beside sports pitches and then down a tarmac path as I re-entered Chalfont St Giles. At the end of the path, I turned right, passing Milton’s Cottage (also closed for repairs!) as I amde my way back to the car park.

This was a very pleasant walk on a gorgeous day. It took me just under four hours to walk the approximate 12 miles, and I was home very early at about 2.50pm.