Pete's Walks - Hambleden, Fawley, Stonor (page 2 of 7)
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.
So far I'd been following paths I was pretty familiar with, but as I turned left along the lane through Fawley I was entering an area I'd only visited once before, when I walked this route in the opposite direction two and a half years ago. As I followed the lane for about a third of a mile, I only passed a few well-spaced properties, including a derelict pub (it's obviously been empty a long time as it's not shown as a pub on my OS map which dates to 2005). As I approached a junction by the village green I spotted some Lesser Celandine, confirming that Spring has definitely sprung (having seen it for the first time on last week's walk, it has since turned up near my office in Huntingdon - there was just one flower on Tuesday, 6 on Thursday and 11 on Friday). I stopped to take a look at the old well on the village green - it dates to about 1900 and is 397 feet deep. An information sign mentioned three similar wells - I know the Maharajah's Well at Stoke Row (last weeks' walk started there!) and the one at Gallowstree Common, I'll have to find the one at Kidmore End (very close to Gallowstree Common) sometime. I then continued straight on down the lane a little further, to reach a pond and the village church behind it.
The lane through Fawley
The lane through Fawley
The lane through Fawley
The old well on the village green at Fawley
The lane through Fawley
Pond and church at Fawley
Fawley church
Having taken a photo of Fawley church, I retraced a few of my steps and took a footpath on the other side (so it had been on my left as I came down the lane), which started down a track or drive. It soon went slightly left, running between hedges either side. I soon spotted a white 1920's or 1930's house to the left - these always make me think of Agatha Christie and when I got a closer look I was sure I could remember the house from an episode of 'Poirot' (I Googled it later and found I was right). I continued along the path, passing a field on my left, then the path crossed an open area of grass with a small group of trees in it. Through a gate in a corner I reached another lane, where I turned right.
Near the start of the path going east from near Fawley church
The path going east from near Fawley church
The path going east from near Fawley church
The path going east from near Fawley church
The path going east from near Fawley church
The path going east from near Fawley church
I went straight on where a path went right after a hundred yards or so. A little further on I passed Oaken Grove vineyard on my left. Beyond that there were woods either side of the lane, and I soon took a footpath forking right and running through Rowe Wood. There were high wire fences either side - this is part of the grounds of Fawley Hill House, where Lord and Lady McAlpine have a wild animal sanctuary, and I saw a wallaby and a small antelope when I came along here in 2016. Today I only saw a large herd of Fallow deer. On leaving the wood, the path continued downhill into the Thames Valley (again the low sun in front of me made photography difficult), running between widely-spaced paddock fences for several hundred yards.
The lane through Fawley after I turned right
The lane through Fawley after I turned right
The path after I forked right from the lane, through Rowe Wood
The path through Rowe Wood
The path through Rowe Wood
The path just before it leaves Rowe Wood
The path continuing downhill between the paddocks