The Master (and friends) walk(s) the Ridgeway – progress report
in aid of the Fuellers Charitable Trust and JDRF
This report covers the first six walks undertaken by James, Margaret, Maia, Theia and others before James and Margaret left for a fortnight on Cape Cod on August 8th.
1. Saturday May 26th. Bledlow. Lodge Hill and Saunderton - Walk 15 in ‘The Ridgeway, A Dog Walker’s Guide’ by Debbie Kendall and Nigel Vile (the ‘Guide’).
We were joined by Richard, our second son who was over from New York, Julia, our eldest daughter, and Ben Hamilton, her fiancé. We parked in the Lion pub car park in Bledlow, with the plans including a stay in the garden at the end of the walk …. so the dogs could recuperate if required.
In practice this was an enjoyable, if not terribly challenging, walk. We meandered in sunshine through the Chiltern countryside with some fine views, in particular from Lodge Hill, a walk through Princes Risborough golf course and a railway crossing of a single track followed immediately by noise from another single track on which the trains travel in the opposite in the other direction: the topography means this is one of the very few English locations where two tracks have to split. As we moved into our final half mile the heavens opened and we decided to return home and dry off. Maia and Theia were clearly more enthusiastic for their tea than a pub.
Total distance: 5 miles
2. Sunday July 21. Crowell - Walk 14
This walk started, in the Guide, at the (now closed) Shepherd’s Crook pub in Crowell, Bucks, where there is no longer any public parking. We therefore parked on nearby Kingston Hill and joined the Ridgeway a short walk away, with this section following the dismantled railway between Princes Risborough and Watlington on a wide tree-lined bridleway. We then took a loop (and a fairly steep, at times, ascent and descent) through the Aston Rowant Nature Reserve and National Trust ancient beech woodland before rejoining the Ridgeway and retracing our earlier steps back to the car. This was a beautiful walk in glorious sunshine with lovely views especially from the Aston Rowant Nature Reserve and interesting sculptures along the sculpture trail. The only drawback was the intermittent noise from the M40, which cut a wide path through the countryside.
Total distance: 6 miles
Completed mileage : 11
3. Sunday, 28th July. Swan Bottom and Hale Wood – walk 18
A beautiful walk on which we were joined by our son-in-law, Ben Hamilton and again by our friend MaryAnne who brought another local friend, Sam. Fortunately the walks through Lordling Wood, Hale and Barn Woods (all at the southern end of Wendover Woods) were delightfully cool on an otherwise hot day. We managed to lose our way slightly at the very end of the walk and so completed 5 miles against the 4.5 in the Guide!
Total distance: 5 miles
Completed mileage: 16
4. Thursday August 1st: Combe Hill and Chequers -Walk 17.
A very hot day but the views from the top of Combe HIll (the highest view point in the Chilterns) and its Boer War monument did not fail to amaze. Sad, though, to see the swathe of construction of HS2 cutting across the landscape. James, Theia, Maia and I were joined by our friend, MaryAnne. The walk began with a steep and very warm descent from Combe Hill down to the Ellesborough golf course and across a hot, sunny field to the beautiful 15th Century church of St Peter and St Paul at Ellesborough. Then on to Pulpit Hill and a climb along the side of the hill on a very welcome set of steps carved into the hillside with wooden railings and shade. From there we soon joined the Ridgeway footpath which eventually crosses directly in front of Chequers. We stopped at the wonderful Buckmore End farm shop for water, a delicious homemade scotch egg (each) and venison and duck treats for Maia and Theia before a long slow climb uphill (fortunately through woods) back up to Combe Hill, rather longer than it should have been as we missed a turning.
Total distance: 6 miles
Completed mileage: 22
5. Saturday August 3rd - Watlington HIll and Swyncombe - Walk 13
We were blessed by cooler weather and a lovely breeze for the walk at Watlington Hill and Swyncombe. We were also delighted to be joined by Past Masters Jan and Peter Harrison and Past Master Vaughan Williams, his wife Susie and their cocker spaniel, Poppy as well as our daughters, Julia and Theresa, and Julia’s husband, Ben Hamilton. It was a terrific crew to be with to set off through beautiful scenery. We started at the top of Watlington Hill with gorgeous views of the surrounding Oxfordshire countryside and soon descended down onto the Ridgeway on open grassy paths, woodland and open fields all the way to Swyncombe and St Botolph’s Church which sits adjacent to the RIdgeway (a 1000 year old church probably built by Saxon workers under command of their new Norman overlords). Sadly at this point we parted company with Vaughan and Susie who needed to get on to a previous engagement. We then continued on through woods and fields to Cookley Green and returned to the Ridgeway where we retraced our steps along the Ridgeway back toward Watlington Hill. There was a final climb up to the top of Watlington Hill which, although steep at times, was made more enjoyable by walking through some beautiful beech woods.
Total distance: 8.5 miles
Completed mileage: 30
6. Monday August 5th. Nuffield – Walk 12.
We set off for this 7 mile walk with a smaller crew - just James, Margaret, Maia and Theia. The walk began on the Ridgeway. We crossed Huntercombe golf course and then passed the local church before a two miles plus largely straight and wooded section of Grimms Ditch - one of the many Grimms Ditches which exist across the country and are believed to be pre-Saxon earth works the purpose of which has drawn much and varied speculation. We then followed an alternative footpath which should have brought us to the village of Hailey (and what looked to be a very attractive pub!) but managed to take a wrong turning….. and climbed back uphill to enjoy some beautiful far-reaching views over the Oxfordshire countryside. We were set straight by Past Master Vaughan Williams (whose farm we were crossing) who very kindly confirmed our directions led back to our planned route, but with the pub now some way behind us. At this point we realised a walk back to the pub, even if only for a short visit, would make us late for (what proved to be a very enjoyable) dinner with friends. So we continued uphill through some beautiful beech woods and open fields until we re-joined the Ridgeway and retraced our steps from the start of Grimms Ditch.
Total distance: 7.5 miles.
Completed mileage: 37 miles
We will be walking the remaining routes after our return from Cape Cod on August 22nd with the short term schedule:
24th August - Whiteleaf and Pulpit Hill, walk 16 - 3 miles
26th August - South Stoke, walk 11 - 4.5 miles
3rd Sept - Lambourn Downs, walk 7- 7 miles
6th Sept - Bishopstone and Uffington, walks 5 and 6 - 4 and 3.5 miles
We will continue to report on our walks and update our miles completed. The plan remains to have covered all 100 plus miles by the end of September.
We would much appreciate if you are willing to sponsor us with a contribution to the Fuellers Charitable Trust and JDRF. We have set up a fundraising page on GiveWheel.
James and Margaret
August, 2024
HOW TO DONATE
You can make a donation via GiveWheel
All donations are split equally between the Fullers Charitable Trust Fund and JDRF.
