Pete's Walks - Watlington Hill, Swyncombe, Russell's Water (page 3 of 6)
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.
It was very pleasant walking along this track, with the trees in their Autumn colours either side. After several hundred yards a waymark indicated where the bridleway forked left from the track. It ran through a small bit of woodland, then continued beside a thick hedge on my right past a very long ploughed field. It then passed through another small area of trees, before reaching a surfaced drive where it went right. Fairly soon another bridleway crossed the drive, and I turned left, following it along a track through more ploughed fields. After a few hundred yards it dropped down into a dip, where I turned left at a crossroads of bridleways.
Ladies Walk, the bridleway going west from Swyncombe
Ladies Walk, the bridleway going west from Swyncombe, after it forks left from a track
Ladies Walk, the bridleway going west from Swyncombe
Looking back along Ladies Walk
Ladies Walk, just before it reaches the drive
The bridleway continuing along the drive
The bridleway after I turned left at a bridleway crossing
The bridleway approaching the next junction, in the dip, where I turned left
The weather forecast had said there'd be strong gusts of wind this morning, and it was very windy now - something I'd not experienced on my walks for quite a while. The bridleway ran along a small valley, initially with a hedge on my left where I soon spotted the pink berries of a Spindle tree (actually I was looking for it, as I remembered seeing it once before). Further on there was tall modern fence on my right with 'Private - keep out' signs every few yards (I remembered walking past here when they were putting the fence up). There was then a long but not too steep climb as I followed a hedgerow on my right past yet another ploughed field. The bridleway then continued along a track, through some trees and then beside a paddock on the right beyond which I could see Ewelme Place.
The start of the bridleway to Ewelme Place
Spindle Tree
The bridleway to Ewelme Place
The bridleway to Ewelme Place
The bridleway to Ewelme Place
Looking back from the bridleway to Ewelme Place
Approaching Ewelme Place
Ewelme Place
I passed a stable on the left, and then went straight on at a path crossroads by the farmyard at Ewelme Place (where I crossed the Ridgeway). The bridleway continued on down the drive from the big house, soon passing some white cottages on the left. The drive continued for about a mile to reach a lane, by Parkcorner Farm, where I turned right and soon reached a road entering Park Corner.
The drive from Ewelme Place
The drive from Ewelme Place
The drive from Ewelme Place
The drive from Ewelme Place
The lane passing Parkcorner Farm