Pete's Walks- Variation on 'Four Hills' walk from Whiteleaf Hill (page 3 of 5)
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.
Near the top of the slope I turned left, rejoining the Ridgeway national trail, and followed it for several hundred yards with trees or bushes on my right and a steep grassy slope dropping downhill on my left. It was quite sunny so I could enjoy the views out over the Vale of Aylesbury, unlike when I was here four weeks ago. When I reached the monument on Coombe Hill I turned right, staying on the Ridgeway. After a section through scrubby downland, I crossed a bridleway in a sunken lane (with gates either side), then the Ridgeway continued with small trees or bushes either side. By an information board saying 'Welcome to Bacombe Hill' the Ridgeway forked slightly left (last time I was here I went straight on to reach the tumulus on Bacombe Hill). It was then a very pleasant and gentle stretch of downhill for about half a mile, with views to my left over the Vale of Aylesbury and ahead over Wendover to Wendover Woods.
The path along the top of Coombe Hill (part of the Ridgeway again)
Looking back from Coombe Hill to Beacon Hill (the white path across the field is the path I'd followed from Ellesborough)
View over the Vale of Aylesbury from Coombe Hill (I forgot to take a photo of the monument here, but you can see it on the shot I took of Coombe Hill from Beacon Hill)
The start of the section of the Ridgeway from Coombe Hill to Wendover (Wendover Woods in the distance)
The Ridgeway going from Coombe Hill To Bacombe Hill
The Ridgeway on Bacombe Hill, just after it forks slightly left
The Ridgeway on Bacombe Hill
The Ridgeway on Bacombe Hill
The Ridgeway on Bacombe Hill
Near the foot of the slope I went through a couple of gates - there was now a road on the edge of Wendover just ahead of me, but I turned very sharply right and followed a bridleway that was going back up Bacombe Hill. After about a quarter of a mile I turned left onto a footpath, going over a stile and going downhill across a large empty paddock. Across another stile I turned left along Bacombe Lane, then after a couple of hundred yards or so I turned right onto a bridleway. This started between gardens, then continued between the fences of some small fields.
The bridleway going back up Bacombe Hill
The path from the bridleway down to Bacombe
Near the start of the bridleway going right from Bacombe Lane
The bridleway from Bacombe Lane (the bridleway turns right where the hedge is, but I took a footpath going straight on there)
The bridleway then turned right but I went straight on along a footpath. This dropped downhill across the corner of a large empty pasture, then continued fairly gently uphill across a field of stubble to reach Coxgrove Wood. I soon reached a path fork in the wood where I kept right - this was the first time I'd been this way for many years, possibly since I did this route in 2010. After a while this path through Coxgrove Wood dropped into a slight dip, then turned slightly right and continued uphill alongside a fence on my right.
The path from Bacombe to Coxgrove Wood (can you spot the walker coming the other way?)
Coxgrove Wood
Coxgrove Wood
Coxgrove Wood
Coxgrove Wood