This walk passes four pubs during opening hours (plus a 5th one a little off-route in Stone), while offering flexible lengths as the route crosses the A 418 several times, where the 280/X8 Oxford to Aylesbury bus runs frequently to get you back to Haddenham or on to Aylesbury.
Length: from 10.3 km (6.4 mi) to 23.3 km (14.5 mi)
Ascent/Descent: up to 180 m
Net Walking Time: from
ca. 2 hours to 5 hours
Toughness: from 1/10 to 3/10
Take the 09.00 Oxford train from
Marylebone (Beaconsfield 09.25), arrives Haddenham & Thame Parkway
at 09.50.
Return trains from
Haddenham: xx.35 and xx.58 to 16.58 last (65 mins and 52 minutes journey time resp.).
Return trains
from Aylesbury: xx.00 to 16.00 last hours
(75 mins journey time, via Princes Risborough).
Buy a Haddenham & Thame
return, this covers the return journey to London from Princes Risborough onwards.
You then need an Aylesbury to Risborough single as well…
This pleasant walk through the scenic heart of
Aylesbury Vale passes through the tranquil Thame Valley in the morning, linking
up several unspoilt and picturesque hamlets with gentle views to the surrounding
hills, while passing three good village pubs en-route. After lunch several
grassy fields and a substantial, newly planted community woodland are passed
through. Later the stately mansion of Hartwell House is rounded, before the
route heads into Aylesbury for tea.
The regular Oxford to Aylesbury bus service is
never far away from the route, making it easy to choose a shorter option.
Lunch: The Bottle and Glass in Gibraltar
(10.3 km/6.4 mi, food all day) or The
Seven Stars in Dinton (10.9 km/6.8 mi). There’s also The Crown at Cuddington early
on (7.1 km/4.4 mi, from 11.00).
Tea: The
Bugle Horn (open all day) and Hartwell House Spa Cafe
and Bar, both in Hartwell (3.5 km from the end); and numerous
options in Aylesbury, recommended is The King’s Head (for others, check
page 2 of the pdf).
For walk directions, map, height
profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here.
T=swc.193
1 comment:
Only n=1 walker emerged from the very crowded 4 car train (going on to Bicester Village) for this easy walk in w=dry-with-sunny-intervals weather. There are two imponderables on this route: the water levels of the Thame and its tributaries after heavy rain, and the current effect of HS2 works on the rights of way near Aylesbury. Both were to throw up challenges...
The Thame crossing early on was just about walkable, ie neither the bridges nor the path between them were fully submerged. A little further along though, by Long Mead Copse, the bridge over a tributary was more than ankle deep under water, with the stream now also too wide to jump across and without a nearby alternative crossing. Cue some trespassing through a couple of fields and a longish road stretch along Crendon Road into Chearsley. The Thame meadows past Chearsley then were mildly under water, but eminently negotiable until one got to the far away field gate to leave the meadow. There it was a question of using the wire fence as support to only have the tip of the boots in the water.
The upside of the waterlogged meadows was that there were very large numbers of geese and what looked and sounded like seagulls, all chaotically flying around. Maybe due to the handful of birds of prey that were circling above?
Also seen (and heard) crossing the skies: a helicopter flying in the general direction of Waddesdon Manor. Dropping off a Rothschild or two for the Crimbo festivities, perchance?
I got to The Seven Stars in Dinton bang on 12.00 hours, which was just as well, as they were fully booked for later times but could 'squeeze me in' for that early sitting.
There was more standing water later on in other fields, but it was nothing special for the time of year.
On then to Bishopstone, Sedrup and Hartwell. Rounding Hartwell House's grounds, a dog walker had forewarned me that the footpath NE of Hartwell is now closed for the foreseeable due to HS2 works. Last year, the footpath had been put between high wire fences across the stretch where the line will later run (on stilts), so why was it now closed? Turns out all they have done in 15 months is put down a tarmac work access road across the footpath, but obviously the £100 Billion HS2 budget does not have any contingencies for a temporary footbridge over said work access road!
That closure now leaves a grand total of one right of way still open to the SW of Aylesbury. Madness.
For me, it was back to the bus stop at The Bugle Horn for the next bus back to Haddenham, which neatly connected to the 15.35 train. That train was almost empty, as it originated from Banbury, not Oxford (via Bicester Village)...
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