Pete's Walks- Barton and Deacon Hill (page 2 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.
This section of the Icknield Way was a track running between widely spaced hedgerows. There were plenty of wildflowers to be seen, including Common Toadflax (this was one of the first places I ever saw it) and Canadian Goldenrod. In places I could see where parts of the track were paved with bricks. After about half a mile I reached a corner of a minor road where I went straight on, there being a nicely mown path along the wide verge on the left.
The start of the section along the Icknield Way
Icknield Way
Canadian Goldenrod
The Icknield Way
The short section where the Icknield Way follows a road
When the road turned left I went straight on, still following the Icknield Way and again along a track between hedges. The track soon curved slightly left and after a while the hedges were full of mature trees, overhanging the track. At a path junction at the foot of Telegraph Hill, I went right for a few yards, then left along a track rising up the scrub covered hillside (the track I'd been on continues through trees on my left, but that is not shown as a right of way on the OS map). At the top of the hill, the path continued beside a large field extending away to my right.
The Icknield Way heading towards Telegraph Hill
The Icknield Way heading towards Telegraph Hill
The Icknield Way approaching Telegraph Hill
The footpath up Telegraph Hill
The footpath on Telegraph Hill
In the corner of the field I went a few yards left to rejoin the track I'd been on earlier, where I turned right. The track, still part of the Icknield Way, was now hemmed in by tall hedges, allowing me only occasional glimpses of what was beyond them. I noticed there was a good number of Ash trees along here. After about half a mile I came to a gate on my left, where a path went up to the top of Deacon Hill. Before taking it, I took a detour (about a mile each way) to the Knocking Hoe nature reserve to look for Autumn Lady-Tresses.
The Icknield Way again, near the Pegsdon Hills
The Icknield Way
The Icknield Way
Autumn Lady's-Tresses