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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.

Wednesday 2 November 2016

Wednesday Walk - Rolling Bucks Countryside with some very fine views

SWC Walk 191a – Haddenham Circular (omitting Brill)

Length:  20.1 km (12.5 mi)
Ascent/Descent:  300 m; Net Walking Time: ca. 4 ½ hours
Toughness:  5 out of 10 
                      
Take the 10.05 Oxford Parkway train from Marylebone, arriving Haddenham & Thame Parkway at 10.39
Return trains:  15.13, 15.38, 16.13, 16.38, 17.14, 17.49, 18.13, 18.25, 18.50 etc. (journey time from 49 mins)

“This is a walk through the pleasant rolling countryside of the north westerly parts of Aylesbury Vale, just north of The Chilterns, with some fine views. 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 circular route to return south on a different route back through the Thame Valley back to Haddenham. There are a few ascents throughout the walk at regular intervals, as the walk links some hilltop villages and crosses one other hill chain.”
This short walk cuts out the beautifully located hilltop village of Brill, but still provides some fine far views across the rolling landscape and to the Chilterns.

The lunch pub is the The Hundred of Ashendon (11.5 km/7.2 mi, food to 14.45), which has been awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand 2016 & 2017 for its cuisine. They also serve sandwiches and more traditional dishes from a Bar Snack Menu. For tea the Little Italy Espresso Bar in Haddenham village is the café option (open until 16.30), while The Rising Sun  en-route to the station is the pub option.
                                                                                                               
For walk directions, map, height profile, photos, and gpx/kml files click here.
T=swc.191.a

Next Week:   Book 1 Walk 47 Ockley to Warnham; 16.5 km; 3/10 rating.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Intend going and will print 2 spare copies of the walk for those without access to a printer.

Thomas G said...

n=10 walkers on a w=sunny day with light northerly winds, meaning very clear air providing for fantastic, far views. A perfect day for this walk, as the ground was dry throughout, which with several large fields to cross made quite a difference.
En route we had a look into the NT-run Long Crendon Court House, which had a pretty comprehensive exhibition on the lives and times in the area, and also had several short breaks for views and watering.
The Hundred of Ashendon pub was strangely empty (as we learned, due to the road through the village being closed for 3 months), so we had a free choice of the tables. A pretty faultless gatro-pub meal was served (fixed price menu: 2 courses for £14) and one walker couldn't resist the quince trifle for closure. The SWC lunch monitor even suggested posting this walk again in the week b4 Xmas, as the Xmas set menu looks very appealing...
Only one of the sandwichers had moved on, so 9 of us trundled on together, with some more fine views towards the Chilterns.
Our long stay at the pub unfortunately meant that we got back to Haddenham in the middle of the 'dead' half hour between the cafe shutting and the pub re-opening for the evening, so we went straight to the platform, where a delayed, then cancelled train (signalling problems at Bicester apparently) meant a 1 hour wait (in the comfy, draught-free waiting room though).
The train was then quite full, mainly because 'Spurs were going to Wembley', but we survived in good enough spirits to have a farewell drink at the Marylebone station pub. A very fine day out.