Length: 27.8 km (17.3 mi) or 20.2 km (12.6 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 429m or 273m
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 ¼ or 4 ½ hours
Toughness: 7 out of 10 or 4 out of 10
Take the 09.30 Banbury train from Marylebone (High Wycombe 09.57),
arriving Haddenham & Thame Parkway at 10.11.
Return trains: xx.14, xx.34, xx.42.
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, which should be fine this time of year and
after a long dry period.
A shortcut reducing the effort to 4 out of 10 is
described.
Lunch: 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.
On the short walk: The Hundred of Ashendon (12.9 km/8.0 mi, food all day) in Ashendon.
Tea: The Hundred of Ashendon (in Ashendon, food to 15.30), The
Rising Sun (900m before the station).
For walk directions, map, height profile, photos
and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.191
1 comment:
Another walk with three stops: an hour and a half for lunch at The Pheasant, on the terrace, a generous half hour at the wonderful The Hundred of Ashendon for 'tea', also outside, and a half hour at The Rising Sun for 'Farewell to Haddenham' drinks.
A group of n=5 on this walk with low cloud initially, quickly breaking to sunny, then sunny with some clouds late afternoon, in very fine temperatures, ie w=mostly-sunny
We saw kites and sheep as you would expect, but also donkeys and alpacas together in one field, which we certainly didn't expect.
There were also plenty of fields with cattle, cows, cows with calves or young bulls, incl. at the notorious Wombwell Farm, but all were extremely docile, incl. the bulls. No aggressive dog darted out of the also notorious Stud Farm. The grassy verges were all freshly mown, the hedges mostly cut back for autumn, arable fields were harvested (apart from corn), most also ploughed but the soil had absorbed all the rain of the last weeks and walking was quite easy. A little bit unpleasant proved a couple of fields with multi-year growth and only a narrow path through them. A very minor grumble that...
Group cohesion: 10/10.
19.34 train after all that.
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