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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Saturday 20 August 2016

Saturday 2nd Walk - Aylesbury Vale & 2 Rothschild Estates: Waddesdon Manor (NT Top 10) & Eythrope


SWC Walk 192 Haddenham to Aylesbury via Waddesdon (Manor)
                  
Length: 25.2 km (15.7 mi) [shorter version possible, see pdf for details]
Ascent/Descent: 300m; Net Walking Time: 5 ½ hours
Toughness:  6/10                       

Take the 09.05 Oxford Parkway train from Marylebone, arrives Haddenham & Thame Parkway 09.40 (or the 10.05, arrives 10.40). The early-ish train is chosen for those wishing to explore the grounds of Waddesdon Manor, one of the National Trust's Top 10 most visited properties with over 360,000 visitors p.a., while still lunching at a reasonable time. Else the later train is fully sufficient to get to Waddesdon village in time for lunch.
Return trains are on xx.18, xx.29 and xx.48, journey time 62 or 67 mins.
Buy an Aylesbury (any route permitted) return, [i.e.: NOT an ‘Aylesbury (via Chalfont & Latimer) Return’], this covers the outward journey up to Princes Risborough. You might then have to pay on board for a one stop Princes Risborough to Haddenham extension.

This walk through some scenic northerly parts of Aylesbury Vale combines tranquil stretches of the Thame Valley Walk with more energetic climbs in between, heading north through Upper Wichenden and the Rothschild’s Waddesdon estate, finally along a long tree-lined avenue up to Waddesdon Manor, situated on a prominent hill. After lunch either at the Manor or in Waddesdon village, Eythrope Park (another Rothschild estate) is passed through and the route follows the Thame River and Bear Brook into Aylesbury.

Lunch is possible at Waddesdon Manor either at their Manor Restaurant (food to 15.00 [booking recommended], tea thereafter) or at the Stables Café, else the recommended of the two pubs in Waddesdon village is The Long Dog (13.7 km/8.5 mi, food all day). There is also The Lion (food to 14.00). For tea there is lots of choice in Aylesbury, see the pdf for details.

For summary, map, height profile, some photos, walk directions and gpx/kml files click here.
T=swc.192

3 comments:

Kelda said...

I'm bringing Mum!

Anonymous said...

I'm planning to catch the 0905hr train. Anyone else doing the same?

Thomas G said...

8 walkers off the early train. Rolling wheat fields and fine vistas to lunch, the weather being w=windy-but-dry-with-sunny-breaks (with the wind from the back), 1 dropped off, the other 7 had a long look at Waddesdon Manor's Grounds, Aviary and House, before decamping to The Long Dog for a lovely lunch, where they were belatedly joined by the 8th walker and 5 others, off the later train. Most of the n=13 walkers then waited for the one serious shower of the day to pass before setting off again, and had only a couple of short showers to contend with in the p.m.
A couple of convivial drinks in the medieval courtyard of the King's Head rounded off a fine day out. 18.18 train for 10 of us.