Pete’s Walks

Very good walk again today, on a delightfully sunny autumn day.

I parked at the car park in Wendover Woods, and took a track heading south through the woods to Boddington Hill, where I passed the site of another Iron-age hillfort. There were occasional good views out through the trees to my right, over Wendover and the flat expanse of the Vale of Aylesbury. I continued on the track, descending Boddington Hill, turning sharp right when it came to a junction, and reached Hale Lane. I followed this to the right for about half a mile, reaching the edge of Wendover, then turned left and then left again along Hogtrough Lane. 

I’d walked here before on a couple of long-distance paths. There were good views over the valley of The Hale on my left, with Boddington Hill prominent. Just past a farm, I turned left as The Ridgeway path started climbing steadily through Barn Wood. Near the top of the long slope I turned right on a short path, then left on a track, still in part of Barn Wood. Just after crossing another path, I turned left. This new path soon left the wood, and continued through a belt of trees with small ploughed fields either side.

For about the next four miles I roughly followed the line of Grim’s Ditch, an ancient earthwork. At first this was apparent as a raised bank, elseweher it was a larged ditch. I started following it through woodland, then along a short section of lane a few yards to the right of the earthwork. A footpath then followed the line of the earthwork through a field, a small wood and another smaller field. Then I followed a bridleway on the line of the earthwork, which was not at all evident here. The bridleway was on a farm drive that was also the county boundary, so I walked along the centre of the drive, imagining my left leg to be in Hertfordshire and my right in Buckinghamshire! Much of the rest of this section I’d walked before on the Chiltern Way, following Grim’s Ditch mainly along a thin belt of trees, eventually reaching the village of Wigginton.

I turned left to go through the village, stopping to have my lunch by a small playing field. On the far side of the village I turned left into Tring Park and followed King Charles Ride, a long level track above the steep slopes of the Chiltern Escarpment, named after Charles I who stayed at the grand house of Tring Park. On the far side of the park I followed some lanes through Hastoe, before turning right on a byway (curiously there are four connected byways here – Id be interested to know why they are all byways rather than bridleways). After passing a couple of houses it descended quite steeply through Grove Wood.

At the bottom of the slope, the byway continued as a track between hedges, with mainly paddocks either side. At a T-junction I turned right onto another similar byway. This passed a couple of houses, then continued on the other side of a lane. I turned left onto a path, now with the wooded slopes of Aston Hill ahead of me, and the slopes of Grove Wood and Pavis Wood over to my left. The path followed a hedgerow through two fields to a lane.

A little to the right I took another path, rising just inside the edge of a wood towards the top of Aston Hill. Initially there was a field to mt right, so occasionally there were good views out over the Vale of Aylesbury. Beyond the field, the path fully entered the wood and reached the top of Aston Hill. I then followed a fram drive to reach a road. on the other side, I followed a fairly level path that took me to the drive to the car park where I started.

This was a really good walk on a fantastic day. Lots of good sections through woods, interspersed with a few field paths. The remains of the Hillfort and Grim’s Ditch added historic interest. There were some good views out over the Vale of Aylesbury in a couple of places, and nice views elsewhere too, though the trees are not yet at there autumn best, being mainly still green.

I’m going to add photos of some of these Chiltern Walks I’ve been doing to the web site soon – they’ll do the walks more justice than my feeble descriptions!

Today I did a circular walk starting from West Wycombe (which is just west of High Wycombe, curiously enough!) and passing through the grounds of Hughenden Manor, once the home of Benjamin Disraeli and now run by the National Trust.

I started about 10am at the car park in West Wycombe, and took the permissive path climbing West Wycombe Hill to the Mausoleum. This was created for the Dashwood family in 1764-5 and is still used by them today. Behind the Mausoleum, I passed St Lawrence’s church, which stands within the boundaries of an iron-age hillfort.

I then followed a nice clear path heading north, generally through woodland, following the top of a long hill with valleys either side. At Nobles Farm the path joined the tarmac farm drive and continued northwards. There were two or three Red Kites around a pasture on the left (I’d seen my first Kite of the day at the car park!). The drive eventually descended to a lane, where I continued on a path on the other side which rose steadily to the top of Slough Hill.

Here I turned sharply right, crossing a field of stubble on a path where I saw some lovely Common Toadflax. I soon reached the lane I’d just crossed, and followed it into the village of Saunderton, passing the station on my left. I crossed a main road and continued eastwards along a narrow lane. I turned right at a farm, and now headed south, walking beside the edge of Park Wood – I was now on the far side of the valley that had been on my right earlier.

When the wood eventually turned left, I continued ahead along a hedgerow across two fields, then crossed a narrow empty pasture to reach Bradenham. This is a very attractive village, dating back to the Domesday Book. Around the large almost triangular village green was a church, the manor house (owned by the National Trust but rented out), another large house called the White House and several othe attractive cottages and houses.

From Bradenham, I took a bridleway back up the hillside into the woodlands of Naphill Common. This was a pleasant part of the walk, but there were so many paths and bridleways, which didn’t always seem to correspond with those shown on the map, that it was rather confusing and for sometime I wasn’t sure exactly where I was. I was never really lost, and knew generally which direction to go when I came to  a path juncton, but I couldn’t really pinpoint where I was on the map.

Finally I crossed a drive, which showed me exactly where I was, and I then easily navigated myself through the trees to the end of the lane. A short distance down the lane, I re-entered the trees on my right, then went left at a path junction. This path took me to Flagmore Wood, where I turned right on a good track. I stopped here to have lunch. Just before reaching the end of the wood, I turned left and then right. I was now on a nice contouring path that soon left the wood and then curved round to the left, with the wood on my left and fields and pastures on my right.

This path led me into the grounds of Hughenden Manor. I took a quick photo of the house (I had a look round it with my parents and my niece Emily earlier this year), then took a nice bridleway that went between fields to another wood, and on to the village of Downley. From here I took a series of paths and a farm drive that took me back to the very attractive village of West Wycombe, with its old houses and coaching inns.

A superb walk today, one of the best I’ve ever done in the south of England!

I parked in a small car park immediately south of Pulpit Hill, about 2 miles NW of Princes Risborough. I took a bridleway going south through woods, then turned almost east, following a hedgerow beside a series of ploughed fields. A Red Kite, the first of several I’d see today, flew low overhead at one point. The path eventually joined a tarmac farm drive which led through woods again to a road.

I took another farm drive almost opposite, then followed a permissive path to avoid going through the gardens of the former farm house. The path went steadily uphill (I saw a Buzzard here), and entered another wood, still heading roughly east. The path left the wood and followed a hedge though a couple more ploughed fields (there was a burnt out tractor here!). I went a short distance through another area of woodland, then turned right at a path junction, reaching the remote and tiny village of Little Hampden after a couple of hundred yards.

I was here just 8 days ago on my walk from Coombe Hill, but I took a different route out of the village this time, a path descending steeply eastwards through the lovely beech woods. Near the valley bottom, I emerged from the woods and followed a hedge betweeen two ploughed fields. I entered a wood on the other side of the valley, where a path led quite steeply uphill. Near the top of the hill I turned right at a crossing of paths – I now had a delightful walk through the trees on a level path, with occasionally an attractive view across the valley now on my right.

I soon crossed the Chiltern Way (between Little Hampden and Cobblershill on my left), as I continued on this fairly level path between the trees for about 3/4 mile until I reached a lane. I followed it to my right, heading south – it was very narrow and I had to squeeze into the hedge when a car came along. Where the lane ended at a road, I took a woodland path almost opposite. This took me steadily uphill through the trees, then I turned right and crossed a large ploughed field (nice views again) to reach a minor road.

A dog barked fiercely from the other side of a fence as the next footpath took me through the grounds of a house, then I followed a hedge on my right through yet another ploughed field – yet more stunning views when the hedge ended. I was soon back in more attractive woodland, then a short road walk and a private road took me to Great Hampden.

Here there was the church, an impressive building called Tower House and the manor house, Hampden House, which was the home of John Hampden, the leading parliamentarian in the years leading up to the Civil War. I took a path running south from the church which lead across a sequence of fields to the village of Hampden Common. From here I took a path beside the cricket pitch, which then went through yet another wood to reach a road by a crossroads. A path continued SW from the crossroads, still in woodlands – this was a bridleway runing alongside a wire fence, with signs indicating that horse should keep left of the fence, walkers to the right.

On the far side of this wood, the bridleway continued a short distance between hedges. At crossroads of tracks I turned right onto Lily Bottom Lane (a RUPP, or Road Used as Public Path) which was very muddy in places. I passed Lily Farm and then Lily Bottom Farm, where the track became a tarmac lane and I recrossed the Chiltern Way. I continued along the lane a short distance (seeing a muntjac deer emerge from the hedge just a short way in front of me before turning and running back the way it came) to reach Parslow’s Hillock by the Pink and Lily pub, famous for its connection with Rupert Brooke, the poet.

I was now close to the northern escarpment of the Chilterns again, and as I followed another woodland bridleway northwards, I occasionally had views out over the Vale of Aylesbury. A memorial seat, carved in a tree trunk, was positioned to take advantage of one such view, and I stopped here for my lunch about 12.50.

The bridleway ended at a road were I went a short distance left, then rentered the woods on the far side – the next path was the only one all day that was slightly unclear in places, though this wasn’t a problem as I needed only to keep close to a field to the left of the wood. I soon reached a path junction where I turned left on a bridleway. At the next junction I turned right,  then left again- this path now passed through some nice areas of tall beech trees, with the wood dropping away steeply into a valley on my right, and more fields just yards away to my left.

Eventually I met a well-surfaced track, part of the Ridgeway, where I turned right (northwards) and soon reached the neolithic barrow on top of Whitleaf Hill. Carved in the steep slope below the barrow, is Whiteleaf Cross, a chalk figure of a cross on top of a large triangle. There were good views out over Princes Risborough below and across the Vale of Aylesbury. There were 21 panels telling the history of Whiteleaf Hill (I didn’t have time to read all of them, but noted that the barrow dated to about 3700BC).

I followed the Ridgeway northwards as it descended very steeply through yet another beech wood to reach a pub on the edge of Cadsden. I continued on the Ridgeway as it skirted the eastern slope of Pulpit Hill (I remembered coming here to look for wildflowers this summer). I reached the signpost where the North Bucks Way sets off for Wolverton, 35 miles away, but almost immediately afterwards I left the Ridgeway and followed a rising path that went round just to the north of the top of Pulpit Hill.

As the path levelled out then started to descend, I came to a crossing path, where a sign indicated the hillfort on top of Pulpit Hill was to the right. I’d seen the fort marked on the map and had often wondered what it was like, but the map doesn’t show any paths to it. Anyway I went right, and after 1/4 mile reached the iron age hillfort – not as impressive as Cholesbury fort (see Day 6 of my Chiltern Heritage Trail walk), but the remains of a ditch and bank were still clearly visible. I returned to the path  crossroads, and took the path now on my right, which went steeply downhill back to where my car was parked.

This was a glorious walk, one of the best I’ve done in the Chilterns – I’m struggling to think of a better one. It had everything I’d want from a Chiltern walk – probably over 50% was through woods, there were several short but quite steep ups and downs as I crossed the rolling hills and valleys, there were small and attractive villages, I saw buzzards and red kites, there were good views over the woods and fields, more good views from the escarpment over the Vale of Aylesbury, and there were several places with historic interest – a neolithic barrow, an iron age hillfort, the home of a leading ’roundhead’ and a pub associated with a poet who died during WWI. This was a walk I’ll remember for a long time!

I bought a new pair of boots yesterday, Scarpa Rangers for about the fifth time! I found there is a good outdoors shop in Stony Stratford (now part of Milton Keynes, where I started the MK Boundary Trail) – I found it by chance on the internet while researching boots, they had a good web site and had all the boots I was thinking of trying, so I was delighted when I saw their shop was only 40 minutes drive away. I wanted to try another Scarpa boot, the ZG65 XCR, but they didn’t have them in my size (second shop where that’s happened!) and didn’t know when they’ll have them in. I tried some Meindl boots, which I’ve read many good things about, but they were too narrow for my feet. Tried a different Scarpa boot, nice fit, very comfortable feel – except I could feel it pressing down on my big toes. Tried it in the next size up (47), but while the toes were now OK, of course the rest of my foot was loose and sliding up and down all over the place. So I bought the Rangers again, as they fit my feet very well – I’m just disappointed how quickly the last pair cracked over the bottom of the toes, the cracks eventually leading to actual holes in the leather. I probably managed to get 1800 miles out of them, so I shouldn’t really complain.

This morning I did a short local walk for just over 2 hours, in order to start breaking the new boots in. I walked up the road for quarter of a mile, then took the path that led downhill and then further up the valley to meet the path round the quarry. I followed this round to the left, crossed over the drive to the quarry, and made my way to the top of Dunstable Downs. It was very misty thus far – I hadn’t actually seen the quarry as I went by, though I’d heard the diggers and trucks working away there.

I turned left along the downs. Beyond the new visitor centre I saw both Red and White Campion growing. I took the bridleway going left towards Whipsnade – I’d walked this on my longer local walk on Monday, but this time instead of forking right I stayed on the path that took me to part of the green at Whipsnade, close to the Old Hunter’s Lodge restaurant. I went half-right across the green, going uphill and across the road to reach the church. I said hello to some people cutting the hedges as I walked through the churchyard. The footpath then took me along the edge of a meadow, before I turned right along another hedgerow to reach the old lane between Whipsnade and Holywell.

I turned left, again on the route of Monday’s walk, but instead of turning right alongside the zoo fence, I carried on further down the lane and turned right immediately before the first house in Holywell. I was now on a very pleasant and clear path that took me across three or four fields (stubble or ploughed) to Studham church. I didn’t actually enter the churchyard, but turned left with the churchyard on my right.

A short distance further on, I turned left at a path crosroads and followed a hedgeline on my left to reach the Studham-Whipsnade Heath road. A path on the other side led through a wood and then across a field, befoere running along the back of some gardens in Holywell, and eventually reaching Buckwood Lane. I went up Dovehouse Lane almost opposite, before crossing a couple of fields (where I heard and saw a skylark). It was then a short distance along the Whipsnade road back to my home in Kensworth (the last part of this walk, from Holywell on, was the same as the finish to Monday’s walk).

No problems with the new boots, they inevitably felt a bit stiff and new as I set off, but that soon wore off and they felt really comfortable by the time I got home.

11/07/10

Today I walked round Ashridge and Berkhamsted Common again, pretty much the same walk as I did last Thursday. This time, though, I did it with a friend. It was the first time Tim Bertuchi and I had actually met up, but we’ve been exchanging emails for some time. Like me, Tim is keen on walking long-distance paths and has a web site with journals and photos of his walks. I came across his site http://www.bertuchi.co.uk/  when researching the Hertfordshire Chain Walk.

We met at the car park by the monument at Ashridge, then took my usual more direct up-and-down route to Ivinghoe Beacon (we saw a buzzard being mobbed by crows on the way). Unfortunately it was very hazy and quite misty in places, so the normally very extensive views from the beacon were greatly restricted – we could just about make out the Whipsnade Downs and the Zoo, but Dunstable Downs were hidden in the mist. It was quite atmospheric and interesting, but as Tim hadn’t been there before it was a shame he didn’t get to see the views at their best.

We followed the Ridgeway path over Steps Hill, past Incombe Hole, to Pitstone Hill. Sadly the views were still very restricted – we could only just make out the Beacon in the mist behind us! As always it was then a nice walk through the woods, and then across the golf course – the last short bit into Aldbury was familiar to Tim as he’d walked the Hertfordshire Way.

From Aldbury we followed part of the Chiltern Way uphill to Tom’s Hill, then a bit more of the Hertfordshire Way as we re-entered the woods of Ashridge and Berkhamsted. We stopped and ate lunch as we sat on a fallen tree. Last week I had a surprisingly close view of a large Fallow buck – well, this time we saw one even closer, just a bit further on than last week. It was lying down just behind a tree, so at first we couldn’t see much more than one of its antlers sticking out. As we went on a few paces we, got a better view and took some photos after it stood up – it didn’t run off, but just wandered a little further away from us.

A little further on, our route crossed a private drive and as we reached it I advised Tim to look to the left as I’ve seen deer there a few times in the past. Sure enough, there were a group of hinds not too far along the drive. We continued on our way, soon following the road to Berkhamsted for a short distance, then a private drive past a small estate in Northchurch. After passing a school on the right (no soccer match this time!), we turned left and followed a hedgerow through three or four fields (I saw a few field pansies here – this was the first place I ever saw them, about a year ago).

We then followed a really nice path, just inside the edge of a wood, following the side of a valley for over half a mile. We then turned and headed back towards the monument, at first passing close to part of Berkhamsted Golf Course, and then passing through Frithsden Beeches, an area of impressive old beech trees that has been coppiced over many centuries.

Our route took us through more woodland, now with a lot of bracken under the trees, and along the fine avenue of beeches to cross the Berkhamsted road again. In the large field next to the road we could see a group of deer. After we’d turned right at a path crossroads we reached a point where we got a better view of the deer, and I did a rough count of about 100 deer. This path took us back to the drive to the monument, and we were back at our cars at about 4.10pm, after walking about 14.5 miles.

It was great to meet Tim – we had a good chat about walking and web sites, and numerous other topics. We both agreed we’d like to meet up again sometime for another walk somewhere.

I’m feeling a bit tired this evening! Today’s local walk was probably 16-17 miles, the furthest I’ve walked for a while.

I went down Hollicks Lane to reach the old part of Kensworth at Church End (there is a footpath on the other side of a hedge for most of the way). I took the path through the churchyard and made my way to the path that goes round Kensworth Quarry. I turned right and followed the path round the quarry for over a mile – I think the vast chalk quarry is actually an impressive site. A kestrel flew up from the other side of a fence at one point, and then perched on the fence about 30 yards ahead of me. I took a photo and crept nearer, taking a couple more shots before it flew off when I got to within about 20 yards. Eventually, I turned right to leave the quarry path and made my way the short remaining distance to Dunstable Downs.

I turned right to walk along the top of the downs, admiring the stunning views as usual (a bit hazy, so they were not as good as they can be). A new path and car park were being built, and when I reached the Five Knolls burial site I found some archaelogists (the ‘Albion Archaeology’ on their yellow jackets was a bit of a clue!) who told me that they were putting in some test trenches ahead of the new path that the National Trust were building.

I went down the slope towards Dunstable, then turned left to pick up the path that goes all along the foot of the downs. I soon saw a Comma butterfly on some Ragwort, and later saw some White Campion and Common Toadflax. After passing the London Gliding Club to my right, I took  apath going left that climbed the steep slope of the Downs at a reasonable angle to reach the car park on Bison Hill.

Here I turned left, along the top of the hill again, now in a very large sheep pasture, where I saw a flock of goldfinches. Just past a wood, I turned right on a bridleway, finally leaving the downs behind. At a fork in the path I went right to join a private drive, then turned righton a path that took me across two fields to join another bridleway, where I turned left to reach Whipsnade (I could have taken this bridleway directly from Bison Hill if I’d wanted to shorten the walk). I followed a hedge round part of the green at Whipsnade until I reached a lane by the former pub, where I went right.

The lane soon ended for traffic and I continued on what was now a path, before turning right alongside the zoo fence. I saw the usual small deer and wallabies. At a junction, I turned right to stay alonside the zoo fence, and now saw two or three types of larger deer in an enclosure. The path then took me across about five fairways of Whipsnade Golf Club. At a T-junction of paths I went left, following the edge of another fairway.

The path then crossed the corner of a field, before running alongside the right-hand hedge of another field and entering a wood. Here I turned right and then left, to emerge on the dead-end lane to Studham church. I went right (away from the church), and at the end of the lane turned right. The road descended into a valley where I turned left on a footpath that took me past Studham School and on to Studham Common. I took a path that forked left through some trees, then crossed a road to reach part of the common that is just grass and wildflowers. I noticed a new sign about the common here, and then stopped on a bench to eat my lunch. It was 1pm and I’d been walking almost 3.5 hours.

After eating my sandwiches, I continued along the edge of the common, turning right on a path beside a wood. I then went left, on a very pleasant path through the wood which led on to a surfaced track running through more woodland. I then passed a farm and some cottages where some caged dogs barked as usual. I went left at a crossroads of tracks. I descended a small valley and rose up the other side, the track reaching Roe End Lane, where I turned right.

After quarter of a mile or so, having passed a farm on the left and a cottage on the right (barking dog absent this time!), I went left on a footpath alongside a right-hand hedge, with the farm I’d just passed visible across the grass field on my left. The path then went through a hedge gap and then forked – I took the left fork which took me in a straight line to the edge of Markyate (the right fork just takes a sem-circular route to come to the same place!).

I followed Buckwood Road a short distance to the left to leave Markyate, then took a path going left. This is one of my favourite local paths, which I only discovered a couple of years ago. It follows a hedgerow on the left through a number of fields, running along the bottom of a small valley that gradually peters out. It then follows the edge of a wood on the right for about another half mile – this is a good area for seeing buzzards, but not today.

I then turned right, following  a path through the edge of a wood to Byslips Road. I went left for a hundred yards or so, then took a path on the right. This went for about half a mile across a vast field, currently stubble, passing another small wood on the way. The path then went through another small wood to reach the edge of Holywell, where I took the path going right to emerge on Buckwood Lane (the continuation of Buckwood Road which I’d been on in Markyate earlier) almost opposite the end of Dovehouse Lane. I followed the latter for a short distance, before turning left on a path across two fields to reach the Whipsnade Road where I turned right and within a few hundred yards was back home in Kensworth.

Another very enjoyable walk. Good views from the downs, good mixture of field paths and woods, reasonable amount of wildlife (on top of the things I’ve already mentioned, I saw three green woodpeckers and a shrew).

This afternoon I did a 7 mile circular walk from Coombe Hill, passing through the small and isolated villages of Little Hampden and Dunsmore. It was the most enjoyable walk I’ve had for some time, following some good bridleways through Chiltern beech woods and finishing with a long steady climb to the top of Coombe Hill with its magnificent views over the Vale of Aylesbury.

I parked in the car park for Coombe Hill. I didn’t take the 1/2 mile path to the monument as I’d be coming back that way, instead I followed a path parallel to the road to the car park until it met the route of the Ridgeway. Here I turned left and followed the long-distance path through the beech trees to the road. I went a short distance down the road, then the Ridgeway continued on the other side, contouring round the hillside through a longer section of mainly beech trees.

At a junction, the Ridgeway went right, quite steeply downhill. It was heading towards the Prime Minister’s country retreat of Chequers, but I soon turned left, now on the route of the South Bucks Way. Still in the woods, I followed another pleasant bridleway gradually climbing back uphill, then took a path forking left which took me to Little Hampden.

Here I turned very sharply left, and followed another good bridleway through the beech woods, gradually descending. At a path crossroads in a valley bottom, I continued ahead, the bridleway soon turning right as it started to ascend the steep opposite side of the valley. There was a nice view out from the trees over some fields as I neared the top of the slope, and then I almost doubled back on myself as I took another very sharp left turn onto another bridleway.

This eventually left the trees and became a tarmac lane as it entered the remote and attractive village of Dunsmore. I crossed over a lane here and continued in the same direction on another lane that became a bridleway as it left the village. I kept left at a fork, and then the bridleway followed a fence for a mile or more through yet another charming beech wood. The bridleway eventually reached a junction where it went half-right, and then took a very long and leisurely descent over Bacombe Hill, still in the trees, to almost reach the edge of Wendover. 

Just before reaching a road, I again turned very sharply left and almost doubled back on myself. I now followed the Ridgeway again, as it steadily rose over Bacombe Hill. I was almost parallel to the path I’d just come down, but whereas that was in the trees, here I was on grassy scrubland with views to my left over the Vale of Aylesbury. There were still a lot of wildflowers here, including Harebell, Carline Thistle, Common Knapweed and even Clustered Bellflower.

The long but fairly gentle ascent eventually brought me to the monument on top of Coombe Hill. It was rather grey and hazy so the views were nowhere near as extensive as they can be, but three hot-air balloons added some interest to the panorama. There were a lot of people here – the car park had been very busy and I’d come across a lot of other people at the start of the walk.

I now just had to follow the broad and level path  back about 1/2 a mile to the car park, and so completed a thoroughly enjoyable walk. It was so good, I’m sure I’ll do it again sometime.

I updated my web site today, adding the journal for Swan’s Way and a couple more wildflower photos.

Today was the first nice day for almost a week, and I made the most of it by doing a 15-mile walk round the Ashridge and Berkhamsted Common area. After my walk to Hudnall and Nettlebed, this is probably my favourite local walk. I prefer it to the Ashridge Estate Boundary Trail (created by the National Trust) which goes round the same area.

Starting from the car park by the Bridgewater Museum, I took the main path towards Ivinghoe Beacon but almost immediately left it on a path going half-left. This steadily descended the steep north slope of the Chilterns, emerging from the trees at the bottom of the slope. I then crossed three fields, the third a large cattle pasture heading uphill again to the woods. The path continued steeply uphill through the trees to rejoin the main path, which I then followed to the left – a short distance along here I saw a fox in the field on my left. The track took me all the way to the Ringshall road.  A short distance to the left I reached the car park for Ivinghoe Beacon, and took the well-worn path towards the Beacon.

Near the foot of the Beacon I chatted to  a birdwatcher – I saw a group of goldfinches, and he’d just seen a stonechat. After admiring the far-reaching views from the top of the Beacon (I could see as far west as Didcot Power Station, which must be 30-40 miles away at least) I retraced my steps a short distance, crossed the road and took the path that went uphill a short distance and took me on to the end of Incombe Hole, a steep-sided gully cutting into Steps Hill. It was then a pleasant stroll to Pitstone Hill, another great viewing point, and a walk through the woods of Aldbury Nowers, before crossing a golf course and a couple of fields to reach Aldbury ( a picture postcard village, with pond and stocks).

I took a fairly steepish path up from Aldbury to a hairpin bend in a road, then followed a private drive a short distance before re-entering the woods. For the next half mile I tried to stay fairly close to a fence on my right. I then passed some isolated buildings at the end of a lane, before heading back into the trees. The path descended, again close to a fence on my right. I saw a Fallow Buck with big antlers cross the path about 50 yards in front of me. When I got to that point, I looked and saw he was standing just 30-35 yards away, staring back at me! Normally they run away, I’ve never been so close to one before, but as it’s the rut and he’s trying to impress the lady deer he obviously wasn’t going to flee. I took a couple of quick photos and moved on.

The path rose and fell a couple of times, still staying close to the fence, before rising again to reach a road just outside Northchurch, a part of Berkhamsted. I followed the road a short distance to the right, then took a private drive past a small group of houses – there were paddocks to the right of the drive where I’ve seen large numbers of deer occasionally, but none today. I continued on along a path passing a school and its playing fields (a class was playing soccer, the team in blue bibs hit the post as I went by!).

I turned right alongside a hedge, switching to the other side of the hedge for the next field, where I stopped for lunch on a convenient seat with pleasant views towards Berkhamsted. The path went through two more fields, dropping into a valley then climbing halfway up the other side to reach a large area of trees again. I turned right along one of my favourite paths, which followed the valley for half a mile, keeping just inside the edge of the wood. I had another close view of a deer, a young buck this time with tiny antlers.

The next section took me through part of Berkhamsted Golf Course, and then I passed through another area of trees to reach Frithsden Beches, an area of impressive old beech trees. I followed the edge of a large grassy field surrounded by trees for a while, before heading once more into the woods. I saw two more large Fallow Bucks, or at least their heads and antlers above the intervening bracken. A bit farther on I saw a small group of Fallow Hinds.

I reached a well-known avenue of old beech trees, often photographed for calendars and suchlike. I should mention that the trees today were generally in the early stages of changing into their autumn colours, but many trees, especially beech trees, remained green. I crossed the road at the end of the avenue, and continued on the bridleway on the other side. At a crossroads of tracks I turned right, and half a mile further reached the drive to the monument and my parked car.

I completed Swan’s Way today! I did this final section ‘backwards’, parking in Goring and first walking back to Grim’s Ditch where I finished the previous walk, then turning round and heading back to Goring. 

It took almost an hour and a half to drive to Goring, including stopping for petrol – this is just about the longest drive for any of my walks. It was much colder today, with a stiff NE wind – I wore a warm shirt, but also had to put on my waterproof jacket because the wind was so cold.

From Grim’s Ditch, the ancient earthwork, I followed a lane a short distance, then continued on a bridleway. This ran through an almost imperceptible valley called Drunken Bottom (!) and continued onwards in the same southerly direction, running paralle to the line of the Chiltern Hills. I crossed a couple of lanes and eventually reached a main road – the route so far was shown on the map as being that of the ancient Icknield Way.

Just after the main road I turned right on a pleasant bridleway that went around or over a couple of hillocks, Watch Folly and White Hill. I could see Didcot Power Station in the Oxfordshire Plain, and across the Thames to the Wessex Downs. I next turned left along a road – rather busy, I had to step onto a rough uneven verge whenever a car came by – and after half a mile went right, down a lane into the village of South Stoke.

I’d been here before, last summer on the first day of my Berks-Essex Walk. It’s an attractive village, with a very large number of old houses and cottages of different styles. A path led on from there, soon becoming  a private drive which ran through the gardens of some smart residences with the Thames a short distance to my right. The drive ended at a lane that led down to a riverside pub, and I continued on  a bridleway, eventually reaching Cleve Road in Goring, the end of Swan’s Way.

This was a shorter walk than normal, only about 4 hours in total. A very pleasant an enjoyable walk, with some nice views to the Chilterns, over the Oxfordshir Plain, and across the Thames to the Wessex Downs. I timed it just right – it started raining as I drove out of Goring.