Pete's Walks - West Wycombe, Speen, Hughenden (page 2 of 4)
I had intended to stay on this path and avoid Speen itself, but I changed my mind and decided to turn left at a path crossroads and then right, to follow the road through the village, which I'd never visited before. There was an interesting village sign, and lots of attractive cottages, so I didn't regret the detour. I followed the road out of the village as far as the junction with Spring Coppice Lane, where I took a footpath on the left (just a few yards along the lane). This crossed a small pasture or paddock, rising very gently uphill, then crossed a larger pasture with a good view of another valley on my right. There was a Red Kite here, flying up and down a little to my right but about at the same level as me, so I had a good sight of its aerobatics. The path continued through a small unnamed wood, then crossed a couple of paddocks and briefly went through a garden to reach Piggott's Wood.
The village sign in Speen
Start of the path from Spring Coppice Lane
View south towards Upper North Dean, from the path to Piggott's Wood - you've probably recognised the bird in the sky as a Red Kite
The path to Piggott's Wood, though this small unnamed wood is a short distance before Piggott's Wood
I forked right almost immediately I entered Piggott's Wood, and continued on a series of paths through the wood for about a mile. At one point I came to a path T-junction where I turned left for a few yards before turning right at another path junction to continue in the same direction as before - the OS map shows a second staggered crossroads of paths but I didn't see that. Near the end of the wood I came to another T-junction, where I went right for about a hundred yards before turning left at the next junction. Another couple of people with a friendly black Labrador were just behind me for much of the way - this being Easter Monday there were a lot of people out walking today. When I eventually reached the end of the wood, there were more good views ahead of me as I gradually descended on a clear path through two large fields, heading southwards towards the Hughenden Valley.
Near the start of the path through Piggott's Wood
The path through Piggott's Wood
Looking south to the Hughenden Valley from the edge of Piggott's Wood
Hughenden and the Hughenden Valley, from the path from Piggott's Wood
Looking back to Piggott's Wood
I crossed over a minor road on the northern edge of Hughenden, and took a path that started opposite. This went through a gate to pass through the garden of a pub, went through a gate on the other side and soon crossed a street. I was then soon going steeply uphill, on a long flight of wooden steps through the Longrove Plantations. I was quite pleased to reached the top, where there were some good views northwards (even on a grey day like this), to where two valleys forked either side of a rounded ridge. I soon reached a path crossroads, where I turned right and started to gradually lose the height I'd just gained as the path ran down between trees to eventually reach Boss Lane. I went a few yards left and then took a footpath on the other side.
The steep wooden steps up through the Longrove Plantations
Near the top of the path through the Longrove Plantations
The path at the top of the Longrove plantations
View north from that path
Near the start of the path heading south from Longrove Plantations
Start of the path from Boss Lane