Pete's Walks - Variation on 'Four Hills walk' (page 2 of 4)
I turned left along the lane through Little Hampden. After maybe a hundred yards I took a path on the right that started along the driveway of a house, then crossed an arable field half-left to reach Warren Wood. I followed the path in roughly the same direction through the wood, then followed a hedgerow (on my right) steeply downhill into the large valley of Hampden Bottom. I crossed two minor roads in quick succession, then followed a path uphill through meadows to reach the start of the drive to Hampden House.
The path from Little Hampden approaching Warren Wood
The path through Warren Wood
The path from Warren Wood, crossing the valley of Hampden Bottom
Hampden Bottom
The start of the path up the other side of the valley to Great Hampden (from after the second road crossing)
Varying from my usual route again, I turned right and followed the tree-lined drive to the house - there were several other walkers here, on this fine Saturday morning. I noticed there was scaffolding around the top of the tower of Great Hampden church, as I passed by. Beyond Hampden House (on my right), I continued on a bridleway - the drive and bridleway are both on the line of an ancient earthwork called Grim's Ditch, and I would soon see a bank and ditch on my right. I was briefly on the route of the Chiltern Way, but when this forked left across an arable field I was entering what was new territory for me (as I continued straight on). The bridleway continued beside the field for about half a mile, with Grim's Ditch in the narrow belt of trees on my right.
The drive to Hampden House
The church at Great Hampden
Hampden House
The start of the bridleway from Hampden House
The bridleway from Hampden House
I then entered Knighton's Hill Wood (I think that's what it's called, there's a big tear in a fold of my map at this point!). This was mainly conifers at first, but then became a typical Chiltern beech wood. As I checked my position on the map at one point, a Red Kite flew out of a nearby tree. The bridleway was quite pleasant as it rose and fell slightly a couple of times as it progressed through the wood, which at some point became Kingsfield Wood. I then reached a path junction by a corner of a ploughed field, where I again rejoined my usual route (having cut a large corner from the usual route of my Four Hills walk, omitting Hampden Common and Parslow's Hillock).
The bridleway through Knighton's Hill Wood
The bridleway through Knighton's Hill Wood
The bridleway through Knighton's Hill Wood
The bridleway through Kingsfield Wood (I think!)
The bridleway continued between the field and Sergeant's Wood on my right. At a bridleway crossroads I turned right, continuing just inside another edge of Sergeant's Wood, and then turned left at another path crossroads. Again I was just inside the edge of a beech wood, with fields on my left.
The bridleway beside Sergeant's Wood
Approaching Whiteleaf Hill