16 km (10 miles) 4/10
A mixture of woods and meadows, with a couple of steep hills and several interesting sights on the way - Hughenden Manor, West Wycombe caves (open for “pumpkin fest” at the moment £4.50) and a mausoleum. There are tea-rooms at Hughenden Manor and at the caves, and several good picnic spots. Amazingly this Book 2 classic has not been posted for nearly two years although there have been couple of outings for the longer Wheelers End variant.
Travel: 1006 from Marylebone, arriving 1045. Return trains at 1532, 1615, 1702, 1749.
Lunch: the National Trust cafe at Hughenden Manor is open from 10 to 3.30 and is conveniently placed for lunch. There are picnic benches nearby. The Le De Spencer's Arms (tel 01494 535317), Downley Common 9km from the start of the walk, serves food from 12 to 3pm daily, but you are strongly advised to phone through beforehand to check.
Tea: round the corner from Saunderton station is the Golden Cross (tel 01494 565974), a regular post-walk refreshment stop.
Short walk option: it's possible to cut out the middle section of the walk by following the Short Walk directions from point 2 to 7A in the instructions, reducing the walk to 9.6 km/6 miles.
L=2.3
#2026-10-21T10:00
1 comment:
A regular contributor to these pages suggested that I start this report by saying that despite the forecast, only light drizzle greeted us when we arrived at Saunderton. But in fact, readers, it was lashing down.
Nevertheless #10 brave souls ventured out through the rain. We all soon gratefully dived into Bradenham Church where the offer of free and tea and coffee couldn't be rejected in the circumstances.
By the time we left, the rain wasn't so heavy. Still, my walk directions gradually disintegrated in the wet, and after ill-advisedly leaving the route in Naphill Common ("I think this path just cuts a corner") six of us found ourselves weaving through the woods, mostly off-route. We did manage to find our way out, but realised we had lost the other four. It turns out they had carried on to the Le Despencer Arms, where they stopped for drinks after having sandwiches in the garden in the wet. They then did the rest of the main walk route and got the 1615 train.
Meanwhile, the front six headed to Hughenden Manor where we enjoyed soup and pasties in the cafe. Debate ensued about what to do next, with four tempted by the suggestion of a short walk down into High Wycombe. The other two did a short cut of their own devising, enjoyed a brightening afternoon, and met the back four on the 1615 train.
The High Wycombe four were hoping to drop in on a promising pub next to the station but when we got there it was boarded up, so we went down the High Street to the Three Tuns which offered no proper beer but a friendly welcome from the regulars, making a pleasant way to round off a day of #heavy-rain-gradually-easing.
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