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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 16 November 2016

Wednesday Walk - the Chilterns, a Windmill, Monkton Wood and Bryant's Bottom

Book 1, Walk 45 - Princes Risborough to Great Missenden

Length: 15.1 km (9.4 miles)
Toughness: 6 out of 10 (but see below)

London Marylebone: 10-13 hrs - Aylesbury train
Arrive Princes Risborough:   10-59 hrs

Return: Great Missenden to Marylebone: 15-59; 16-29; 16-59; 17-26; 18-01 & 18-32 hrs.

Rail ticket: as the two Chilterns stations are on different branch lines, the safest bet is to buy a day return to Aylesbury all routes permitted.

This is my favourite Chilterns walk, and the best time to do it is in late autumn (today !) when there should still be some leaf colour in Monkton Wood ( a beech wood).

Please do not be put off by the Toughness rating. There is a short, steep incline just before lunch (which can be avoided by some road walking) and, per usual, an incline immediately after lunch. Otherwise, the walk rates no more than 3 out of 10.

Leaving Princes Ris you walk along a short section of the Upper Icknield Way, then over open farm land to Monkton Wood and onwards to your lunch stop, the usually reliable Gate Inn in Bryant's Bottom. Your e.t.a is 13-30 hrs, and best 'phone ahead with numbers.

After lunch your afternoon leg ( one and a half hours) is equally nice - a mixture of open spaces, lovely views and woods. It's easy to get lost in the woods after you pass the Polecat Inn, so please follow the directions with care.

Entering Great Missenden via some final woods, you should head for the Cafe Twit, the suggested tea stop and part of the Roald Dahl museum. The cafe is "swizzfigglingly flushbunkingly gloriumptious " - so its got to be good, then, hasn't it ?.

T=1.45
Walk Directions: L=1.45

Next Week, Wednesday 23 November: Book 1, Walk 53-Wye Circular

1 comment:

Walker said...

N=15 on this walk, including one on an earlier train who we met up with at lunch. It proved to be an inspired pick by our walk poster because the colours in the Chilterns beechwoods were simply stunning - a riot of yellow and gold (see the SWC Facebook page): I have never seen them so good. For the connoisseur there were also golden larches and bright yellow field maple, and quite a lot of golden oaks. Definitely autumn's last gasp I would say.

The weather was w=quite-sunny-in-the-morning-but-grey-later. Nine of us had a cosy lunch by the fire in The Gate. For tea most sailed past the Cafe Twit (where three of us were the only customers) and went to the pub. Quite a few of us were on the 4.59 train.