Book 1, Walk 5 (R) - Amersham to Great Missenden
Length: 16.3 km (10.1 miles)
Toughness: 4 out of 10
London Marylebone: 09-57 hrs
Arrive Amersham: 10-32 hrs
OR take a Met.Line train from Baker Street to arrive at Amersham by 10-30 hrs
Return: Great Missenden to Marylebone: 16-02, 16-32, 17-02, 17-29 and 18-04 hrs
Rail ticket: use your railcard to Amersham (extending it where necessary). For your return journey, a single from Great Miss. to Amersham should suffice.
There's nothing like a "backwards" walk at the start of the year to test your map reading skills - although those hand-held gizmos showing line of route make life easier for you. It's cheating, of course.......
This walk works well in both directions, and this may be the first time it's posted "backwards". Why ? - I'm difficult and like to be awkward - and I prefer ending a walk in Great Miss to Amersham. Leaving Amersham (as quickly as possible !) we head for the hills above the old town (some nice views) to Coleshill and then Winchmore Hill. Lunch can be taken here, at the Squirrel pub or the Hit or Miss pub, both usually good - but I am tempted to suggest we keep going at take lunch one hour later in the pretty village of Little Missenden, at the Crown pub or (recommended) the Red Lion. The leg between Winchmore Hill and Little Miss takes you through Penn Wood, which can be muddy in winter, and then along Toby,s Lane, which is often waterlogged in places (requiring you to tippy-toe through fields on either side of the path).
After Little Miss you cross the A413 road and head northwards through woods, across fields and through a stud farm then a series of fields into Great Missenden, where you have two good tea options: Cafe Twit, part of the Roald Dahl Centre, serves a good cuppa and has a nice choice of cakes. The Cross Keys pub, near the railway station, is cosy and serves a good pint.
Enjoy. T=1.5
Directions here L=1.5
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3 comments:
Toby's lane had only 4 or 5 easily avoided puddles on Sunday. Penn Wood a bit boggier but not impassable. The left hand side (your direction) probably drier. Thin coating of slippy - as opposed to sinky - mud elsewhere on route.
N=16 on this walk on a day that was w=cloudier-than-promised. The forecast said sun would break through and it seemed to be happening late morning. But then grey cloud returned and stayed in place till just before dusk.
But it was relatively mild at least and this made a nice winter walk - varied and interesting. Mud slithery rather than gloopy, though it accrued to boots on some arable fields. Reversing the directions (a prospect which perhaps put off the fairer sex a bit, since the group was rather male-heavy) was not a problem on the whole as enough of us remembered the route. But even the most experienced went off piste occasionally.....
We pushed on to Little (not Great) Missenden for lunch at the Red Lion, getting there at 1pm. Hearty unsophisticated food in a cosy pub. Ducks and chickens and trout to be fed in the garden (the pub even supplied bread).
Tea in a busy Cafe Twit and then following Midweek Walk tradition we rushed for an early (4.32) train to get back to the Smoke in time for the rush hour. Always nice to squash up with the workers on the way home...
It is interesting doing a well-known walk backwards, btw. In this case rather than rushing anxiously through pretty Littie Missenden in the morning on the way to lunch in Penn Street, one could savour it as a lunch destination. The view as one descended into it was very pretty - usually this is behind you and you barely stop to look at it. The big descent to Little Mis in the usual direction became a brisk climb after lunch. In short, it is a great way to see a walk with fresh eyes - but probably best done when you are already familiar with the walk the right way round.
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