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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Saturday, 17 December 2022

Saturday Walk - Haddenham Circular, with Picnic Lunch only on the 20 km version

[Stargazer is away]
 
Length: 20.2 km (12.6 mi) or 27.8 km (17.3 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 273m or 429m
Net Walking Time: ca. 4 ½ hours or 6 ¼ hours
Toughness: 4 out of 10 or 7 out of 10 
 
Take the 09.00 Oxford Parkway train from Marylebone (stops Beaconsfield, High Wycombe & Princes Risborough), arriving Haddenham & Thame Parkway at 09.50. 
Return trains: xx.35 & xx.58. Last train at 16.58! 
 
For this train strike day, it is not easy finding a train connection to a walk of decent length that hasn't already been posted on a Saturday this year and with late enough return trains to not risking getting stuck in the countryside over night. Here is one. The short (20 km) version is a safe bet for making a return train. The long one? Make your own judgement. 
 
The blurb for the long walk:
This is a very rewarding walk through the pleasant rolling countryside of the north westerly parts of Aylesbury Vale, just north of The Chilterns, with some far views on clear days.
The walk first crosses the Thame Valley north of Haddenham and then passes through the area of the ancient Bernwood Royal Hunting Forest on a wide circular route to return south on a different route back through the Thame Valley to Haddenham.
The lunch stop is in any one of two charming pubs in the ancient hilltop village of Brill. A short loop around the village, providing far views into five counties, passes its well-preserved windmill in a prominent position on Brill Common, before a long descent from this steep-sided village follows.
There are a few ascents throughout the walk at regular intervals, with the third one – up to lunch in Brill – the longest, as the walk links a total of four hilltop villages and crosses one other hill chain.
It also contains several arable field crossings.
 
Lunch: The Hundred of Ashendon (12.9 km/8.0 mi, no food, drinks only!) in Ashendon. 
On the long walk: The Pointer (12.1 km/7.5 mi, food all day) or The Pheasant (12.9 km/8.0 mi, food all day) in Brill. 
Tea: The Rising Sun (900m before the station). 
 
For walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.191.a

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