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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 23 December 2017

Saturday Walk - Wendover to Great Missenden

Length:  21.6 km (13.4 mi)
Ascent/Descent:  360 m; Net Walking Time: ca. 5 hours
Toughness:  6 out of 10 
   or
Length:  16.4 km (10.2 mi)
Ascent/Descent:  290 m; Net Walking Time: ca. 4 hours
Toughness:  4 out of 10 
  
Take the 09.27 train from  Marylebone to Aylesbury (Harrow-on-the-Hill 09.39, Rickmansworth 09.49 etc.), arrives Wendover 10.15, for the full walk. Or the 09.57  Aylesbury Vale Parkway service, if walking the short version. Return trains: xx.02 and xx.32 hours (48 minutes journey time). Buy a Wendover return ticket.

This walk combines some of the finest elements of the Chiltern Hills, while having very little overlap with other walks in the area. After leaving Wendover in a south easterly direction on the Ridgeway the walk rises into woods. It then passes along fields to get to the picturesque green in The Lee, a conservation area village. From there it continues through woodland and the beautiful Lee Common to a 16th century lunch pub at Swan Bottom. The afternoon offers constantly changing scenery. It completely avoids settlements and roads, mostly following grassy fields, while still passing through a variety of varied and characterful woods. Several beautiful valleys are crossed in between and the finish is a scenic descent into Great Missenden.

Lunch:  Cock and Rabbit Inn with its reassuringly (or frighteningly, depending on your perspective) traditional Graziemille Restaurant (7.3 km/4.6 mi) or The Old Swan in Swan Bottom (10.0 km/6.2 mi, food to 14.30).

For walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. t=swc.140.b

9 comments:

Bridie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bridie said...

A couple of us will get the 09.57 from Marylebone arriving at Wendover at 10.53 as we are doing the short version - others are welcome to join us if they wish

For those of us with an all zones travel card Apparently on this line when you buy a BZ6 ( Boundary Zone 6 ) to Wendover return, it can be quite expensive because they don’t recognise Amersham as the BZ6 station. One always needs to be vigilant!

Stephen

Sean said...

Amersham is in TfL Zone 9. A Zones 1-6 Travelcard is only valid as far as Moor Park, but a Freedom Pass (or a Zones 1-9 Travelcard) is valid to Amersham. With the latter, you should be able to buy an extension ticket from Amersham to Wendover.

Bill S said...

I'm planning to do the short walk but will be joining the train at Chorleywood rather than Marylebone.

Anonymous said...

I am intending to do the long walk any takers? I think the main walk is only 10 miles and not 13.4 miles unless I am mistaken perhaps someone can correct me.
How long is the short version? I live in Harrow so this walk is close to home for me. Many thanks.

Monica

Bill S said...

The full walk is 13.4 miles, for which the recommended train is the 9.27 from Marylebone (departs Harrow 9.39 according to the post). The shorter version is the 10.2 mile walk for which the recommended train is the 9.57 from Marylebone, which by my reckoning should get to Harrow about 10.09.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Bill I shall do the short version and catch the 10.09 train from Harrow on the Hill. See you guys.

Monica

Mike A said...

Wendover to Great Missenden (shorter route)
n=5 on the later train. Chiltern Railways excelled themselves with Christmas Messages on the train's internal and external dot matrix displays. w=Morning_mist_clearing_to_a_rather_dull_grey_day as walkers resisted temptation to call in to Rumseys Chocolataire and headed off to join the Ridgeway with the mist cocooning them in quietness and serenity. Great Widmoor and Lordling wood probably provided the best full on mud experience this year, but this was thankfully short lived as the walk emerged into Swan Bottom and the Lunch time Pub "The Old Swan". All agreed the food was excellent and well priced here with attentive and unpretentious staff.
The afternoon section was uneventful and shortened slightly following some of the Chesham to Great Missenden route. The Twit Cafe was shut for the holidays, so walkers took tea and puddings in the Cross Keys before heading back from Great Missenden station. A pleasant and easy walk pre-Christmas within easy reach of London.


Thomas G said...

9 off the 'early' train to walk the full walk. The terrain was muddier than expected, but even then it's always nice to walk through a succession of woods. We got to The Old Swan a little after the short walkers (both groups having had booked a table each), and - between us - quickly succeeded in ordering all the breasts of pheasant that there were, and what a good choice it was.
Some nice undulations in the arvo. And half way through we overtook and incorporated 2 other walkers that had taken an earlier train. No shortcuts for the full walkers and at the end we split between The Cross Keys and Matilda's, the 'independent' coffee shop. 17.02 train for most. n=16 w=very-low-clouds-initially-then-lifting-a-bit