Length: 25.9 km (16.1 mi) [shorter walks possible,
see below]
Ascent/Descent: 263/260m
Net Walking Time: 5 ½ hours
Toughness: 5 out of 10
Take the 09.57 Aylesbury Vale Parkway train
from Marylebone (10.09 Harrow-on-the-Hill, then all stations via
Amersham), arrives Aylesbury Vale Parkway 11.03.
Return trains: xx.20,
xx.33, xx.50 (but not 19.50 or 20.50).
This walk links up a few quiet hilltop villages
north of Aylesbury in the rolling landscape of East Buckinghamshire, providing
for good views into the Aylesbury Vale and back to the Chiltern Range.
After an inauspicious start along the pavement of an A-road the walk leads
along the River Thame and some of its tributaries, past the site of the
deserted medieval village of Quarrendon and on to the picturesque villages of
Weedon and Hardwick. After ascending to and skirting around the site of the
medieval Bolebec castle mound in Whitchurch, the route leads eastwards to Aston
Abbotts with views across to the Chilterns, and then south back down into the
Thame Valley, mostly along pastures.
You pass St. Osyth’s Well in Bierton and negotiate a quiet route through one of
the many new villages that have sprung up around Aylesbury, to finish with an
extended stretch along a branch of the Grand Union Canal and crossing over into
Aylesbury’s historic centre for tea.
Walk Options:
It is possible to shorten the walk in two ways.
Shortcuts I and II are mutually exclusive though:
Shortcut I from Weedon to Rowsham cuts out 6.2 km length and 84m
ascent/descent (lunch in Weedon);
Shortcut II from Hardwick to Aston Abbotts cuts out 2.8 km length and
51m descent/re-ascent (lunch in Hardwick or Aston Abbotts).
Several useful bus stops are passed en route and have a Sunday service (check the route map for their exact
location):
·
Lines 60 (Buckingham-Aylesbury) and X60 (Milton
Keynes-Aylesbury) travel along the A413 through Hardwick (an early lunch stop)
and Whitchurch (a later lunch stop). Between them, they provide an at least
hourly service Mondays to Saturdays and some buses on Sundays/Bank Holidays;
·
Lines 100, 101 and 150 (Milton Keynes-Leighton
Buzzard-Aylesbury) run along the A418, with stops at Rowsham (8 km from the end
of the walk) and Bierton (5 km from the end). Between them, they provide a
frequent service Mondays to Saturdays, and a two-hourly one on Sundays/Bank
Holidays.
Lunch: Four Pubs on or just off
route, after 5.3, 7.0, 9.6 and 14.5 km respectively (for details, see webpage
or pdf).
Tea: A plethora of options in Aylesbury City
Centre
(see the Walk Directions pdf), recommended is: The King’s
Head in the King’s Head Passage, just off Market Square.
For summary, route map, height
profile, photos, walk directions and gpx/kml files click here.T=swc.194
1 comment:
Having written this walk, I can't ever have been walking it in May, as I was surprised that it is a top-notch buttercup (and cow parsley) walk. Between leaving the A road at the start behind and reaching Aylesbury's suburbia near the end, you spend about 2/3 of the time surrounded by the wee buggers. Some fields were so intensely yellow that from distance they resembled rape oil seed fields in high season. There was also one patch of very pungent wild garlic.
Other than that we had the usual advantages of the Aylesbury Vale: fine far views for very little effort in regard of climbing upwards; pretty and quiet villages with characterful old houses; a spread of pubs en route and a half-hourly train service on the way back. We stopped at The Bell in Hardwick for early lunch in their front garden and then again at The White Swan in Whitchurch for seconds, sitting in their lush back garden. The re-worked route around the latest bit of suburbia works quite well, and the bridge over the Union Canal branch has re-opened, so the diversion there is not needed anymore.
Wildlife: hairy goats, kites, heron, canada geese, partridges, chicken, sheep with lambs, horses with foals. Return train: 18.20.
Weather: w=sunny-with-passing-clouds-and-a-breeze
Attendees: n=3
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