Walk 9: Glad it's Wendover

Date: Sunday 26th June
Route: Wendover Circular via Cross Coppice, Pulpit Hill Fort and Ellesborough Church
Distance: 8.3 miles

The hottest day of the year meant that this wasn't the quickest or most comfortable of walks but the views over the Buckinghamshire countryside were as good as they get and the early part of the walk included some welcome shade in the woods.

The walk is the first one in the Time Out Book Of Country Walks volume 2, following a different route to the Rough Guide's Wendover walk (described as Walk 5 elsewhere in the blog) until the very end. This one does not get as close to Chequers or follow the Ridgeway but it does cross Beacon Hill and goes through the churchyard of Ellesborough Church and offers just as good a combination of woodland paths and stunning hilltop views.

Because we did the short version of the walk, we missed out the lunchtime pub - there is a Budgens in Wendover that was a good source of picnic lunch and a fallen tree in the shade near the ruins of Pulpit Hill Fort made a perfect lunch stop (anyone hankering after full sunshine should carry on until after the path crosses the Ridgeway, as there are some good view-laden hillsides). If we'd have been a bit later we'd also have been able to have tea at the church, which offers teas from 2-5, as well as tower tours.

If it hadn't have been so hot, this would have been a fantastic walk; as it was, we were a bit too hot and bothered to really enjoy it all (especially the long-ish stretch through fields at the end - apparently Ellesborough gets its name from the fact that asses used to graze there, but now it's all sheep). This is supposed to be a good walk to do in the autumn, so we may well try it again then. We have also done the longer 11 mile version previously, which includes Whiteleaf Cross - another steep bit of climbing but with far-reaching views again.  

Walk 8: Saunderton Circular via West Wycombe

Date: Sunday 5th June

Distance: 8.9 miles

Route: Saunderton to Hughenden Manor, on to West Wycombe and back to Saunderton

After a few months of losing weekends to building work and decorating, it was fantastic to be out walking again (though admittedly it did take a bit more effort to climb some of the slopes that it maybe usually would!).

The first really noticeable thing after some time away from the countryside is, despite the lack of rain recently, how green (and pleasant) the landscape is, on the rolling hills on the outskirts of High Wycombe. This is a walk that we have done a couple of times before but each time we have walked it previously we have cursed the mud in the woods near Naphill - today, the recent lack of rainfall meant that this just wasn't an issue.

Another welcome surprise was the extent to which the plants have grown up in the woods - not just ferns and the usual poppies, buttercups and dandelions, but also some enormous wild honeysuckle, dog roses and foxgloves.

Possibly the best thing about today's walk, though, was the wildlife that we encountered - four separate deer, each alone, ranging in size and generally quite unperturbed by our wandering past at a distance, some wheeling red kites and a swallow zooming over a village green in search of insects.

The walk comes from the Time Out Book of Country Walks Volume 2 (new issue out now), where it is walk 3 (the other Saunderton Circular walk in the book doesn't have so much to see and is a little dull in comparison).

We started off by walking over a few hillsides and into woods, with a mile of woodland valley before arriving at Disraeli's former house, Hughenden Manor. A National Trust Cafe with a good choice of food (and tables both inside and outside) made for a good lunch stop, before heading back into the woods, under a railway line (why are bridges under railway lines always slightly spooky?), across fields and up to the Dashwood Mausoleum, an imposing building on the hilltop. The climb up to the Mausoleum is rewarded with a view of the surrounding countryside (and slightly less picturesque views of High Wycombe). Anyone looking for a fright can visit the infamous "Hellfire" caves at West Wycombe too (or just stop off there for a cup of tea, if preferred).

Walking out of the Mausoleum car park (sadly with no ice cream van today!), it's a really easy path, 3 km of a wide track, downhill all the way - a perfect way to get back into walking, beautiful views, interesting sights and a good mix of open countryside and  woodland.