Pete's Walks- Cowleaze Wood and Ibstone (page 3 of 5)
The path bore slightly right through the wood, which initially consisted of many small young trees. I went straight on when a path came in on the left, and entered an area of beech trees, before going left at a fork to reach a gate across the end of a drive from Wormsley Park. Here I had the choice of following a narrow lane or continuing along an unofficial but clearly well-used path through the trees on the right. A bridleway then went left from the lane, following a track between hedges to reach Gravelly Wood (again named on Google Maps but not the OS map), where it turned right along the bottom of the wood before turning left and climbing fairly steadily uphill to reach Turville Heath (both a heath and a settlement).
The path through Turville Wood
The path through Turville Wood
The start of the bridleway to Turville Heath
The bridleway in Gravelly Wood (not named on OS map)
The bridleway in Gravelly Wood
I went half-left across part of the grassy start of the heath, and managed to find where a bridleway entered the bushes covering most of the rest of the heath. This took me to a small car park on the far side, where I turned right along a lane. At its end I crossed a minor road and took a footpath that started along the drive to a house called Saviours. I went through a kissing gate left of the gate to the property, and followed a path through grass with the house to my right. Through a gate the path crossed an empty field (there are often Jacob's Sheep here), passing a mature tree in the centre. It then crossed a section of a huge pasture, that dropped out of view away to my right, to another gate. Here I turned right along a bridleway that followed a farm track.
Turville Heath
The short lane walk, Turville Heath
Near the start of the path going southwest from Turville Heath, near a house called Saviours
Further along the same path
Further along the same path
It was a shame that I was looking into the sun, as normally there would have soon been a good view along the valley to Stonor on my left. But I did spot a group of about seven Fallow Deer grazing in a field away to my right. The bridleway passed a few trees at the crown of a slope (there was a bench here), then descended quite steeply between arable fields to a bridleway crossroads in a valley bottom where I turned right.
The bridleway going southwest from Turville Heath
The view towards Stonor
The bridleway going southwest from Turville Heath
The bridleway going southwest from Turville Heath
The bridleway going southwest from Turville Heath, coming to its end in a valley bottom