Length: 13 km 8.1 miles. Toughness: 3/10
A variant of the Saunderton/Bledlow Chilterns walk, following an S-shaped route to Princes Risborough. It shares the same mid-section and lunch pub but the start and end are different.
Directions: Walk page here.
Start with the alternative “Finish in Princes Risborough “ directions (these take you over the main road, along the other side of the valley. They cross the road again to briefly join the main "Download Walk" directions).
After lunch in the Lions, the alternative directions take you to Princes Risborough station. (On leaving the pub, turn right, back down the road 560m to a T junction. Here, rejoin the alternative directions at “In 400 metres at a T junction turn left down the road”)
Both alternative sections are on the GPS route.
Trains: Get the 9:53 Aylesbury train from Marylebone arriving Saunderton 10:52.
Return from Princes Risborough at xx:22 or xx:51. Get a return to Princes Risborough.
Lunch: The Lions Bledlow 01844 343 345.
Bledlow's Lyde Garden is worth a quick visit and is a possible picnic place. The entrance is near the church. Note that the Whip Inn in Lacey Green has closed.
Tea: Following the “into Princes Risborough” directions over the rail bridge would bring you to the Bird in Hand at the other side of the station 01844 345602
If there are any walkers with see-in-the-dark glasses who’d rather take the conventional ending to Saunderton (a walk of 12.6 miles in total), trains back from there are at xx:57. The Golden Cross pub is nearby.
t=2.2.variant
4 comments:
n=6
Six of us met at the station under a sky that was dazzlingly blue and unapologetically cold. Temperatures hovered just below freezing, which proved to be an unexpected ally. The Chilterns were looking crisp rather than claggy, with almost no mud to speak of. What little mud we did encounter was confined to well-lit, south-facing hillsides where the sun had thawed just enough to create a small amount of stickiness — nothing dramatic, and certainly nothing boot-threatening.
We were not alone. Early on, on the train and the platform, we encountered a sizeable competing walking group, later identified as the Capital Walkers. They outnumbered us comfortably, but numbers are not everything. Propelled briskly by sunshine, cold air, and quiet determination, we left them behind without fuss, scaling a series of hills at a respectable pace and staying together as a group of six all the way to the recommended lunch stop.
Lunch created a natural fracture line. Four of us opted for the pub, while two chose sandwiches outside. The pub itself was cosy, busy, and pleasingly walker- and dog-friendly. Service was quick, portions generous, and spirits high. We lingered for just under an hour, including a post-mains coffee — long enough to refuel properly, but not so long as to risk ossification.
After lunch, the group scattered. The two sandwich-eaters struck off independently, hunting for a new route back to Saunderton. The four pub-powered walkers, emboldened by both food and warmth, decided to abandon the recommended short post-lunch section and instead improvise a longer return too. By combining sections of the original route with a judicious shortcut, we assembled a satisfying 17.1km walk, covered in 3 hours and 45 minutes. Definitely worth the ticket cost and longish train travel.
We reached Saunderton station with a luxurious twenty minutes to spare, where fate — and the Capital Walkers — caught up with us again. One of our number was briefly observed fraternising with the rival group but was swiftly reclaimed and returned to his rightful mother group.
As if that were not enough social excitement, a swarm of young walkers descended on the platform. We were later informed, by a well-placed source (one of the early-departing sandwich walkers), that this youthful contingent numbered around 160, had earlier overwhelmed a local pub, and that fewer than half were even intending to take our train. We felt quietly relieved.
The walk itself was brisk and thoroughly enjoyable, with good, wide-ranging conversations throughout. Overhead, red kites circled in impressive numbers, though none showed any inclination to prey on walkers like us — fit, fast, and clearly not the weakest or frailest members of the herd.
At ground level, we passed numerous sheep and, to particular delight of your rapporteur, belted Galloway cattle, their luxuriant coats clearly well suited to the cold. They are part of conservation efforts to keep the Chilterns’ chalky hillsides from being overrun by scrub, and they looked both purposeful and extremely cosy.
We also encountered many friendly dogs, and one notably affectionate farm cat who sought cuddles from the two most visibly cat-friendly walkers in the group.
All in all: a sunny, cold, mud-minimal Chilterns walk, efficiently propelled in its first stage by weather and terrain, and in its second by a very decent pub lunch. Highly recommended.
The group of younger walkers, which claimed to number 160, were called HIKEZ and were led by a Scotsman with an overhead 360 degree video camera as seen on the BBC Winter Walks. They had an earlier start, taking the 08.53 from Marylebone.
Perhaps we should rebrand as Saturday Walkerz?
Or maybe HIKZ?
S@turday WalkRz
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