Pete's Walks - Bledlow, Rout's Green, Lodge Hill (page 2 of 3)
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.
On reaching a gate, at the edge of Rout's Green, a bridleway continued straight on (eastwards), beside a hedge on the left and with a fine view ahead over the Saunderton valley. The bridleway was soon dropping very steeply, with a full-length view of Lodge Hill once the hedge ended. There was then a flat section at the bottom of the slope (this seemed longer than it had looked from the top of the hill). When another bridleway came in from the right I went straight on, now back on familiar ground. I went straight on again when another bridleway went left a little further on, and now climbed a short slope at the southeastern end of Lodge Hill.
The bridleway leaving Rout's Green, to head east to Lodge Hill
The bridleway from Rout's Green heading east to Lodge Hill
The bridleway from Rout's Green heading east to Lodge Hill
The bridleway from Rout's Green heading east to Lodge Hill - with the full length of Lodge Hill now in view
Approaching the foot of Lodge Hill
The bridleway continuing over the bottom of the southeastern end of Lodge Hill
The bridleway continuing over the bottom of the southeastern end of Lodge Hill
I had intended to go straight on here and then turn left at the next path junction (the usual way I go up Lodge Hill from here). But after a short distance I saw a couple coming down a clear path that I'd not noticed before. I checked my OS map and saw that it wasn't a marked public right of way, but that didn't matter as the whole of Lodge Hill is marked as an Open Access area. So I turned half-left and started to follow the path uphill. After a while it turned further left, and then further on turned slightly right and levelled off. It ended by a seat (with wonderful views across and along the Saunderton valley) and a gate, through which I turned left, back onto my planned route.
The path after I turned half-left
The same path after it turns half-left
Further along the path, now near the top of Lodge Hill
View near the end of the path
Lodge Hill is one of my favourite places in the Chilterns. It's not a big hill (even by Chilterns standards), but it stands in splendid isolation, not linked to any other hill, and so the path along its lengthy top has fine views in all directions. Earlier in the walk I'd been looking forward to this section, but did remember that in recent years the views hadn't been quite as good as I remembered because the scrubby bushes had grown and partly obscured them. So I was delighted to see that some of the scrub had been cleared, opening up the views again. I soon passed another seat on my right, which is probably the place I've had a lunch stop more often than any other on these walks. The last two or three times I've used it, I've only been able to see the view when I've stood up, so it was wonderful to now see it clear of scrub and undergrowth. At the same time, it was good to see that the scrub clearance hadn't gone too far, there was plenty left to provide a habitat for wildlife.
After a while, the path passed through a clump of beech trees, then continued over a more grassy area where there were views on my right out over the Vale of Aylesbury or to Princes Risborough and Whiteleaf Hill, and a view on the left south towards Slough Hill (far smaller than Lodge Hill) with Allnutt's Wood behind it.
Looking back from the path over the top of Lodge Hill
The path over the top of Lodge Hill, passing through the small clump of Beech trees
The path over the top of Lodge Hill
The path over the top of Lodge Hill
View northeast from Lodge Hill, towards Prince Risborough and Whiteleaf Hill
View south from Lodge Hill towards Slough hill and Allnutt's Wood