The Chess Valley

Date: Sunday 26th February
Route: Latimer Circular through woodlands and villages of the Chess Valley
Distance: 9.5 miles

As we do rather a lot of wandering around the Chilterns and Thames Valley, it's not often that we discover a walk that he haven't at least partially completed previously - finding a wholly unknown route and tackling it in brilliant sunshine made today one of the best walking days of the year so far.

The walk comes from the Pathfinder Guide and sets off from a free car park on the road between Little Chalfont and Latimer. It is a winning combination of pretty, Miss Marple-esque villages (with a much higher pub count than usual), manor houses, woodlands, hillside views and riverside walking. The area is popular with walkers, cyclists and horse-riders, but is surprisingly quiet, given how easy it is to access it from London.

The start of the walk sees you crossing the river Chess and passing through the village of Latimer before heading up onto the first, very chalky, wooded hillside and the first great views over the valley. The very straightforward path then heads out of the woods, between hedges and into the village of Flaunden, whose church is visible from a distance. More easy paths and wooded areas follow - although there are a few ascents and descents to contend with, these are not too strenuous.

After the popular path alongside Chipperfield Common, the Cart & Horses pub at Commonwood is a welcoming place to stop for food or drink - and today it was even warm enough to sit in their large garden - before continuing on to the village of Sarratt (with another picturesque pub and a church that appeared in "Four Weddings and a Funeral") and the path across fields and over the hillside to Church End.

Yet more lovely views and a tree-lined path lead back downhill and to the river Chess, then the next section of the walk follows the Chess Valley Walk on a well-maintained and busy path. The river Chess provides the perfect growing conditions for watercress and you can see the watercress beds alongside the path.

Once over the river and through more woods, the last ascent of the walk is into the village of Chenies, which boasts an impressive Tudor manor house (open to visit in the summer), with fantastic twisted chimneys, before the path leads back to the car park, with yet more great valley views and woods en route.

This is a highly recommended walk which I'm sure we will repeat time and again.

Muddy Maidenhead, Cookham and Cliveden Reach

Date: Sunday 19th February 2012
Route: Maidenhead to Cookham and back along the Thames Path
Distance: 5.5 miles

As previously noted, when a walk starts by going through a housing estate, it's not usually a good sign - and when a gravel works, a football pitch and a very muddy field filled with slightly whiffy brassicas are the next few things you encounter, your heart sinks. Luckily this walk redeems itself at the end, with a 1.5 mile section along the Thames.

The walk comes from the Pathfinder Chilterns & Thames Valley book (walk 7, Wildbrook Common and Cliveden Reach) and is all very flat. It starts from the car park at Boulter's Lock but only really starts getting interesting once you are a bit further away from civilsation, crossing the National Trust's Wildbrook Common, with views across the fields to Cliveden, the imposing house on the hillside that belonged to the Astors and was associated with the Profumo scandal.

There is a pretty section of path alongside Strand Water, then a covered path leads into the village of Cookham, home of Stanley Spencer and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. A lane leads away from the village and down to the Thames near Cliveden, then all the way back to the car park. 

Wet wanderings near Marlow

Date: Saturday 18th February
Route: Hambleden to Marlow and back along the Thames
Distance: 12.1 miles

After a few weekends of frosty days with clear blue skies and ominous grey skies that have threatened rain but not quite delivered, it was inevitable that we would encounter a proper downpour at some point  - and that point was today. Given that we're preparing to walk the West Highland Way, arguably we need to be prepared for rain!

Luckily we didn't have the full twelve miles of walking in the rain, just six (from Marlow back to Hambleden). This is the Marlow walk from the Time Out Book Of Country Walks Volume 2, but given that the Stag & Huntsman in Hambleden is a building site at the minute, parking up in the free car park on the road to Hambleden and starting and ending the walk there is a better option - not only do you have lots of pubs and restaurants to choose from as your lunch stop in Marlow, you also get to do the steepest bit of the walk first, heading up to the woods behind Hambleden.

This is a straightforward walk, which we have done a few times (so much so that the guide book was one of the few things to stay dry in my bag for most of the walk), combining a few hills, lots of woodland, locks, picturesque villages and a nice long stretch of Thames Path. Even in the rain it is still highly recommended (although if you want to see some slightly nicer photos and a bit more detail about the walk, check out this previous blog entry).

Note to self: don't leave your waterproof trousers at home next time though! 

Wendover Winter Wonderland

Date: Saturday 11th February
Route: Wendover Circular through woodland to Pulpit Hill Fort, Beacon Hill, Ellesborough and back
Distance: 8.4 miles

With clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine, it was impossible to use the snow or cold weather as an excuse not to walk, although when we arrived at Wendover and found that the snowfall was slightly deeper than in Ealing we did worry that we might not actually be able to see the paths! Luckily this wasn't the case and whilst the going was a bit heavier than usual, this was a fantastic way to pass a sunny winter Saturday.

The walk sets off from Wendover station, heading up over the hillsides and very quickly into beautiful woods, with the snow adding a Narnia-esque feel to the whole proceedings. This is the first walk in the Time Out Country Walks Volume 2 book and is very easy to follow, with clear paths (and lots of footprints and paw prints today!). After taking the short cut across fields and along a bridleway, there is a climb up into Pulpit Wood and a wide, well-signposted track to the remains of Pulpit Hill Fort.

Once past the hill fort the path follows the edge of the wood, before emerging onto the hilltops near Chequers, then heads back into woods and onwards towards the imposing Beacon Hill, which was a magnet for sledgers today. Once past the hill, the pretty church at Ellesborough comes into view and the path descends through the churchyard and alongside fields, with lovely views back to Beacon Hill and up to the Boer War monument at Coombe Hill up to the right. After a few sheep-filled fields, the path descends through a farm then crosses fields to get back to Wendover.

Whilst this wasn't the easiest of weather in which to do this walk it was well worth the effort - a highly recommended, wonderfully wintry, West Highland Way woodland warm-up from Wendover.