Pete's Walks- Bradenham and Studley Green (page 3 of 4)
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.
The bridleway through Bottom Wood was a good track, though muddy in places, which followed a curving valley floor. It reached the end of the wood after about half a mile, where I turned right on a crossing footpath. This path was much muddier, following the bottom of a small side valley, alongside a tall hedgerow on my left with paddocks sloping up on my right. I saw some Herb Robert flowering here - one reason it's my favourite wildflower is that it has such a long flowering period, I can see it on my walks any time between April and early November. At the end of the path I turned right onto a lane, which went uphill through part of Radnage (this part having the rather curious name of The City).
The bridleway through Bottom Wood
The bridleway through Bottom Wood
The bridleway through Bottom Wood
The start of the path from Bottom Wood to Radnage
The path from Bottom Wood to Radnage
The lane through The City, Radnage
At the end of the lane I turned left for about a hundred yards before taking a bridleway on the other side of the road. This was soon descending into the large valley between Radnage and Bledlow Ridge (the latter is the name of a village as well as of a hill). There was a huge field of stubble on my right, and looking along the valley in that direction I could just make out the tower of St Lawrence's church on West Wycombe Hill. Soon after passing a small wood on my left I was delighted to spot a couple of beautiful Field Pansies, another of my favourite wildflowers - I'm not sure, but this might be the first time I've seen them this year. The path soon passed through another small wood, then rose slightly up the other side of the valley to meet Bottom Road (I'd crossed this lane in Chorley earlier).
The bridleway descending from Radnage
You can just see the tower of St Lawrence's church on West Wycombe Hill on the right - from here it looks like it's on Bledlow Ridge, but it is actually on the next ridge
The bridleway descending from Radnage
Field Pansy - one of my favourite wildflowers
The bridleway descending from Radnage
The bridleway descending from Radnage (and then rising a little to reach Bottom Road)
I crossed the lane and took a path starting on the other side (just a yard or two to the right, it wasn't immediately obvious). This was soon climbing a very steep and long flight of 'steps' - as this part of the path was in a wood, there weren't any views to distract me from what was just a bit of a slog. Eventually the path levelled out as I passed some paddocks on the right. It then followed the edge of a sports field and passed some tennis courts before reaching the road through Bledlow Ridge. I turned right and followed the road for almost half a mile, until shortly after it had left the village.
Part ofhe flight of steps on the path up to Bledlow Ridge (my camera is lying again, it's steeper than this looks)
The path continuing past the sports field
Pond in Bledlow Ridge
Just after a bus stop, I turned left down a drive (marked as an 'other route with public access' on the OS map) which led to a couple of houses. A path continued along a track past them, then entered a large sheep pasture and continued downhill alongside a hedgerow on my right - there was a nice view ahead here, over the valley in front of me and over the gap between Slough Hill and the start of the ridge leading to West Wycombe Hill, to the far side of the next valley. At least it would be a nice view in less gloomy conditions! Apart from the grey skies, since Bottom Wood I'd felt occasional bits of drizzle and there was certainly a dampness in the air - but then that's fair enough in November, and at least it wasn't pouring with rain, as it had for most of the previous day.
The byway going northeast from Bledlow Ridge
The path descending from Bledlow Ridge - this photo is looking across a valley and over a dip to the right of Slough Hill to the far side of the next valley (where Bradenham lies, out of view slightly to the right)
The path descending from Bledlow Ridge (my camera lies about downhills as well as uphills!)
The path descending from Bledlow Ridge