Pete's Walks - The Chiltern Way
If you are considering walking this route yourself, please see my disclaimer. You may also like to see these notes about the maps and GPX files.
Day 12 29/6/05 Gorelands Lane (Chalfont St Giles) to Penn Bottom (6.8 miles each way)
Parked in Pay & Display car park in Chalfont St Giles.
This was another very enjoyable walk. The weather in the morning was grey and murky, but the afternoon was hot and sunny so I could better enjoy the views that were slightly obscured in the morning. I was lucky with my timing, because there was a very heavy downpour for most of my journey home. The journey took 45-50 minutes, and as I get further from Dunstable the driving time will get longer and longer.
Chalfont St Giles 26/10/05
Started the walk by walking from Chalfont St Giles back to Gorelands lane (about 1.1. miles, according to the guide book), starting off by walking under an arch in a building on the high street and round the outside of the churchyard. The path led through fields and woods, across a couple of roads including the busy A413, and on reaching Gorelands Lane I retraced my steps - a pleasant start to the day, despite the very grey skies and slight mist limiting the views. The path the other side of Chalfont St Giles led along the Misbourne Valley for about a mile (and coincided with the South Bucks Way), before turning left and heading across numerous fields before eventually reaching Coleshill (passed just one small hamlet in this section, one of the longest stretches between villages so far). Coleshill seemed nice, with it’s pub, church and duck pond in close proximity. From there it was a short walk to Winchmore Hill (not the place of the same name in North London!), which again was very charming with its two pubs and houses round a very large green. I read a notice board near there about Gawde Water, or Guardswater, an ancient village pond that had been recently dredged and improved for wildlife. A walk through more woods and then downhill by the hedge of a large meadow led to the lane in Penn Bottom, where I turned round. Almost immediately, I saw two red kites flying over the woods! These birds, only recently reintroduced into England, are now quite common in the western end of the Chilterns, but haven’t reached the area further east where I live. Enjoyed a slightly late lunch sitting on a bench by the green in Winchmore Hill, and then had a very pleasant walk back to Chalfont St Giles in warm sunshine.
Total distance: 86.6 miles (each way)