Length: 27.5 km (17.1 mi) or 20.0 km (12.4 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 458 m or 302m; Net Walking Time: ca. 6 ¼ or 4 ½ hours
Toughness: 8 out of 10 or 5 out of 10
Take the 10.00 Oxford train from Marylebone (High Wycombe 10.28), arriving Haddenham
& Thame Parkway at 10.41
Return trains: 15.07, 15.41, 16.17, 16.29,
16.40, 17.08, 17.40, 18.16, 18.41 etc
This is a long and strenuous – but 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 5 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.
Picnic on the Short
Walk, as the marvellous Hundred of Ashendon pub is not serving food
before May 17…
Tea: The Hundred of Ashendon (in Ashendon), The Rising Sun, en-route to the station.
For walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.191
7 comments:
To reconfirm, since the walk page says 9:30 start: this Saturday will be a 10am start, correct?
which walk page? 10.00 train...
It's here: https://www.walkingclub.org.uk/walk/haddenham-circular-via-brill/index.html
"Saturday Walkers’ Club: Take the train closest to 9.30 hours."
That said: 10am - check!
ah, OK. cudve taken the 9.46 but it's a slower train
The “take the train closest to” in the walk document is a guide for the walk posters (or people doing the walk by themselves), Matthew. It helps the poster to pick a train that will enable the group to get to the lunch pub in time. Using this advice, the poster then checks the train times on the day and picks the one he/she thinks most suitable. So the train time in the walk post is always the one to take.
Consider this a Thank you on Matthew's behalf.
Sunshine, blue skies, mid-teens degrees, a breeze most of the times: these (in my book) are absolutely ideal conditions for walking. And today we had those and were rewarded with superlative far views, bone-dry field crossings, rape oil seed fields in yellow, kites everywhere, plenty cute villages, lots of mono-chrome cows (loads of white ones, but also plenty of black and brown ones) - all docile and non-aggressive. And we even saw some bluebells in good condition (in one wooded belt, for about 5 seconds)!
The group split into 5 long walkers and 4 short ones. And us longies had our picnic by the windmill in Brill, with those fabulous views into Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. We then joined the 1 luncher amongst us at The Pheasant for a drink. Later, the opportunity for a 'tea' stop in Ashendon was turned down and on we went. The dangerous dog at the stud farm on Musk Hill did indeed dart out from the barn as usual, but he seems to have lost a bit of his aggro: no snapping at calves this time around.
17.40 train for most of us longies.
1 walker had been abandoned on a field boundary just outside Ashendon (to lie down and stretch out his malfunctioning back), he caught the train an hour later.
n=9 w=sunny
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