Pete's Walks - Hambleden, Stonor, Henley (page 2 of 5)
I turned right and followed the lane north for about a third of a mile until I reached a lane junction. Here a footpath went straight ahead, crossing a large sheep pasture to reach Gussetts Wood. The path continued through the wood, soon passing a block of tall conifers and then dropping down into a small valley. I had always previously turned right here on a bridleway, but today I entered new territory by continuing on a footpath up the other side of the small valley. This soon emerged from the wood, and followed a tall hedge on my left through a very large empty pasture or meadow. After about three hundred yards I reached a stile in the hedge, which took me into a sheep pasture. The path here cut a small corner where the tall hedge turned left and then right. Another stile took the path back into the original large field, and in the field corner it joined a private drive which led past a couple of properties to reach a minor road on the edge of Southend.
Approaching Gussets Wood
Gussetts Wood
The path continuing uphill after I crossed the bridleway in Gussetts Wood
The path from Gussetts Wood to Southend
The path from Gussetts Wood to Southend (the pasture between the two stiles)
I was now back on familiar ground, as on the other side of the road was the start of the charming path from Southend to the deer park around Stonor House (again part of the Chiltern Way). As always it was very pleasant following the path gently downhill through the trees (Kildridge Wood was to my left, Balham's Wood on the right), and then I squeezed through a tall metal kissing-gate to enter the deer park. The only problem with this next section was that I wanted to stop every few yards to take another photo, even on a day like this when the skies had clouded over and were quite grey.
Near the start of the path from Southend to Stonor
The path to Stonor
Stonor Park (the deer park around Stonor House)
Stonor Park
Stonor House
The path through Stonor Park
View towards Pishill from Stonor Park
On finally leaving the deer park around Stonor House, I turned left along the road through Stonor. Leaving the route of the Chiltern Way, I turned left on a bridleway that was soon climbing steeply uphill through Almshill Wood, with the fence of the deer park on my left. This is one of the toughest bits of uphill I've come across in the Chilterns and I was soon puffing and panting again (I'm thinking of going to the Lake District in a couple of months, goodness only knows how I'll cope there!).
Start of the bridleway from Stonor
The VERY STEEP (honest!) bridleway from Stonor, beside the fence of Stonor Park
The bridleway from Stonor, beside the fence of Stonor Park (the gradient had eased a little here)