Pete's Walks- Cholesbury, Great Hivings, Chartridge End (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.
At the end of the path I turned left along a minor road called Bank Green. I soon came to a junction with another road, where I went straight on (I spotted my first Red Admiral butterfly of the year here). I followed the road as it turned left by Asheridge Farm, then after another hundred yards or so I took a footpath on the right. This ran along the right edge of a couple of paddocks before reaching Braid Wood. Here I went right for a few yards, then turned left onto a bridleway along a track called Ashotts Lane. This dropped steadily downhill into a typical Chiltern valley, soon following a mature hedgerow on my left. It continued beside the hedgerow up the opposite slope, with a recently mown meadow to my right. I passed a cottage near the top of the slope (another barking dog!), the 'lane' then becoming a drive running between hedgerows.
Bank Green (the name of the road)
The road approaching Asheridge Farm
The path near Asheridge Farm
View from Ashotts Lane (the bridleway descending in the shade of the hedge on the left)
Ashotts Lane, rising up the opposite slope
Ashotts Lane
At the end of Ashotts Lane I turned right along a minor road. Remember the cycle race I mentioned before? Every few yards I had to stop or step onto the verge as large numbers of cyclists came the other way. I soon passed through the hamlet of Chartridge End (I assume that is what it is, as there is a Chartridge End Farm here), and then turned right into Arrewig Lane (the name means 'way to the fields' in Saxon, I remember this from the Chiltern Way guide book). The lane dropped downhill into a valley, with hedges of tall trees either side - there were occasional gaps or gates in the hedges, giving nice views along the valley.
The road to Chartridge End
The road to Chartridge End
The start of Arrewig Lane
Looking right from Arrewig Lane - Ashotts Lane is this side of the hedge that divides the two ploughed fields, descending from the end of Braid Wood
Arrewig Lane
At the bottom of the valley the lane turned left (I had to jump out of the way of a cyclist here) but I went straight on along a bridleway. This climbed the opposite side of the valley, following a tall hedge on my left. It then dropped down into a second valley where it switched to the other side of the hedgerow and started to climb up the other side of this valley.
The bridleway continuing from the bend in Arrewig Lane
The bridleway continuing from the bend in Arrewig Lane
The bridleway continuing from the bend in Arrewig Lane
The bridleway continuing from the bend in Arrewig Lane