The afternoon route is more level, but still features the hilltop village of Wing and ends with a fairly tranquil descent into Linslade (for Leighton Buzzard station).
Disclaimers: There are several arable field crossings to contend with, generally along well-cleared paths though. There is also a (relatively undramatic) level crossing of the dual carriageway Leighton Buzzard-bypass road near the end of the walk.
Lunch: No Pub Options, i.e. picnic. [The Unicorn in Cublington (13.9 km/8.7 mi) has been closed since 09/24 and there is a fundraiser to buy it as a Community Asset: https://savetheunicorn.org/, and (a little earlier and 250m off-route) the Royal Oak Inn in Aston Abbotts (11.5 km/7.1 mi) closed in 2021.]
Tea: several pubs listed in the directions, they are all in the Linslade part of town, i.e.: close to the station. There is also The Black Lion in Leighton Buzzard’s centre (at 20 High Street), a bit further away, which has been voted ‘CAMRA Pub of the Year Bedfordshire’ in its first year. Or The Bald Buzzard, a micropub at 6 Hockcliffe Street.
For walk directions, map, height profile, comments, and gpx/kml files click here.t=swc.195
3 comments:
Do i have to register?
No. Just turn up on the day.
3 SWC regulars alighted from the train, noticing 4 other walkers off the train who dashed out into the car park though to meet a 5th, a friend of theirs. They were SWC irregulars and relayed that they'd start with us but would likely fall behind and may catch up at some point. Which is exactly what happened.
We started together into the cold, soon negotiating the bumpy and still half-frozen grassy margin of a road. That set the tone: the sun was out and the topsoil was mostly slithery when earth or wet when grass. Crossing arable fields led to assembling mud on boots, but there would surely be grassy meadows or pastures soon to get rid of it again. Fine if your boots are fully waterproof...
Views were fine and the 3 at the front had lunch on a bench by the church in Cublington, opposite the pub, not without first checking out the pub site. And there it was, nailed to the door: a Planning Notice about an 'Application for the Opening of a Licensed Premises', dated 20 Dec 2025. The pub will come back, as a pub.
On then, now under mostly cloudy skies and into the cold wind. The 2 faster of the three couldn't resist the lure of The Cock Inn in Wing. Just to bridge the wait for walker 3, you see!
We phoned number 3 to pick us up and saw the other 5 as we walked past the church again, them entering it for a visit as we waved goodbye. We eventually got to LB Station with a few minutes to spare to the 16.42 train.
At Euston we decamped to The Euston Tap for an early farewell to 2025.
Seen: muntjac in three places, lots of kites.
n=8 w=cold-sunny-then-cloudy
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