Back to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang country

Date: Sunday 27th May
Route: Ibstone Common to Turville, Fingest and back
Distance: 8 miles

When we first did this walk back in January (see here for some very frosty photographs), I described it as a fantastic walk that I knew we would do again, despite getting lost first time around.

Am happy to report that in the late May sunshine, it is still a fantastic walk, offering welcome shade from the sun through the multiple woodland sections, interspersed with lovely views and the two pretty villages of Turville (aka Dibley or the home of Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and Fingest (home of the Norman church in the photo above). The car journey from Ibstone Common to Mill End once you have finished the walk is pretty spectacular too.

Sadly, even though we were paying even closer attention to the walk instructions in the Pathfinder Chilterns & Thames Valley book, we still found them pretty confusing for the section back from Fingest and found it safest to refer to the map rather than the written instructions. This is the danger of guidebooks unfortunately - even if the book is 100% accurate when it is printed, gates can be replaced or taken down, stiles can be swapped for kissing gates or gaps in the hedge and paths can be re-routed. The path itself is pretty clear - straight on at all intersections once you are on the main path, then left at the arrow painted on a tree - but the instructions make reference to gates that we simply couldn't find and half-right turns that we couldn't place (maybe blame the heat?!). I hope that this will be rectified in the next version of the book (due in December, and a good possible Christmas present, I'm sure!).

So, once again I would recommend this walk but I would advise that you be prepared to ignore the instructions near the end - the scenery definitely makes up for the odd bit of confusion!

Sunshine over Streatley

Date: Saturday 12th May 2012
Route: Streatley Circular along the Ridgeway, the Fair Mile and the Thames Path
Distance: 10 miles

A beautiful day and an early start encouraged us to try out a walk from the Pathfinder Chilterns and Thames Valley walking book, slightly further away from home than normal, starting and ending in the Berkshire Thames-side village of Streatley, which was mentioned in the Domesday Book.

The walk starts from a (free) National Trust car park at Lardon Chase, half a mile uphill from the village centre, quickly leaving an initial (and slightly perilous) golf course behind and joining the Ridgeway, first as a tarmac-ed lane, then as a tree- and hedge-lined track.

After a steady but undemanding climb, with wide views across rolling green countryside, the path dips down and you leave the Ridgeway to head across fields, then right again along the Fair Mile, a wide grassy track, previously used for galloping horses, though thankfully not churned up by hoof-prints. Again, there are wide-ranging views across the lush, undulating countryside of the Berkshire Downs, plus the added distraction of bikers zooming around the woods to the left.

The grassy path becomes a chalky track, before heading to a road, which you follow for a short distance before heading back across fields and down to the Thames-side village of Moulsford. One of the disadvantages of this walk is that the pubs en route don't make an appearance until the walk is over two-thirds complete, so you might want to stop for a picnic lunch either on the grassy section of the Fair Mile or on the path in the shelter of the hedge once you have left the road behind (this is where the 4th photo above was taken).

There is a hotel - the Beetle & Wedge - at Moulsford, which is on the riverside, however it looks to cater more to the discerning diner than the dishevelled walker, so we passed this by to proceed along a section of the Thames Path that we hadn't walked before. Unlike other sections of the Thames Path closer to London, there were very few people on the path across open meadows, with views over the river to Oxfordshire, occasional boats and vast amounts of property envy emanating from us.

The path passes Cleeve Lock, which has a couple of picnic benches and is a good place to stop for a rest, then continues on into Streatley, past solid Georgian houses, past The Bull pub and up the hill back to the car park. Both Cleeve Lock and The Bull feature in "Three Men In A Boat" - which you can download for free on Kindle (the book is also very cheap!).

Although there are some great views over the countryside to experience on this walk, it probably isn't one that you would want to do very often - there isn't a huge amount of variety, as all of the paths are long, straight and pretty similar in terms of views and walking surface, there isn't really anywhere to refuel and recharge your batteries until the end of the walk, then it ends with a very steep climb, just when you have walked 9½ miles and could really do with a sit-down!

Henley, Hambleden and Remenham Hill

Date: Sunday 6th May 2012
Distance: 10.8 miles (although could be done in 9.3 miles - see below)
Route: Hambleden to Henley via Remenham Hill and back along the Thames

As you might have noticed, Henley-upon-Thames features quite regularly in this blog - mainly because it is easily accessible from West London and there are some beautiful walks in the area, combining easy and flat riverside walking with rolling hillsides, pretty villages and ancient woodlands.

The walk that we did today is from the second Time Out Book of Country Walks Near London and although it takes in both Henley and Hambleden is a little less strenuous and less well-trodden than Henley/ Hambleden the walk from the first Time Out book.

If you follow the route as detailed in the book, starting from Henley, you will need to grab lunch at the Flower Pot Hotel in Aston (with good food but slightly terrifying stuffed fish in glass cases), as the Stag & Huntsman in Hambleden is still closed for renovation at the minute. Their website says that they will be re-opening in May, however there still looks to be plenty of building work to be done before this happens.

The other alternative is to park up in the free car park on the road to Hambleden and start the walk by walking back to the main road and crossing Hambleden Lock. If you do this, the walk will be 9.3 miles and you get a choice of pubs and restaurants (Zizzi, Cafe Rouge, Strada etc) for lunch in Henley. Because we had forgotten the route and weren't in a massive hurry today, we added an extra 1.5 miles by walking to Hambleden and back at the start and end of the walk - but this is really not necessary!

Assuming that you start at the Hambleden car park, you cross a slightly vertiginous metal walkway over the swirling waters of the Thames (higher than usual today, thanks to the recent rainfall), then the lock, before walking on the wide footpath up the hill on the other side and up to Aston. From there you walk across fields and onto Remenham Hill, including paths through a field of slightly smelly shoulder-height oilseed rape, a bluebell-strewn wood and alongside green fields, which have obviously benefitted from the recent frequent downpours.

After crossing the lawn of a grand house with obscenely covetable views over the countryside and Thames, you find yourself on the outskirts of Henley and cross the bridge into town. After lunch, the next section of the walk is all along the Thames bank, but rather than the tarmac path alongside manicured grass on the other bank, this section is much rougher walking, including slightly soggy marshes and a succession of narrow footbridges. The advantages of this are that it is much quieter and less busy than the path on the other bank.

Once the path regains the road, there is a slight climb across fields and into woodland, then an easy wide track through the woods, which allows you to look down on the village of Hambleden (former home of W.H. Smith and picturesque location as seen in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Avengers) - today we were also lucky enough to spot a herd of deer grazing on the hillside below. The route then loops back into the village of Hambleden, crossing the churchyard and passing the Post Office & Store (a good place to grab a drink to go or tea and cake), before heading up the hill past the Stag & Huntsman, along a ridge through fields and wooded areas and finally descending down the road signposted "Rotten Row" to arrive at the car park.

This is an easy walk, with lots of variety, beautiful views and straightforward paths - one of the reasons why we can't help but return to Henley so often.