Pete's Walks - Beeches Way
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.
Day 1 12/06/09 Cookham to Stoke Common (8 miles each way, approximately)
Parked in car park on the common at Cookham. The whole walk was 8 miles each way, but this includes 0.6 miles from the car park at Cookham to the official start on the other side of the Thames.
It took me almost an hour to reach Cookham - unusually I chose a mainly motorway route, following the M1, M25 and M40 as far as Beaconsfield. This was only the second time that I'd started a walk in Berkshire (unsurprisingly, Day 1 of my Berkshire-Essex Walk was the other) and only the third time I'd walked in the county (the other time was when I crossed the bridges from Goring to Streatley as a slight detour the first time I walked the Chiltern Way).
I started walking at about 10.05am. I first had to walk from the car park on the common at Cookham [1], through the narrow streets of the attractive village (where a refuse lorry was causing traffic problems) and over the bridge [2,3] to reach the official start of the Beeches Way. As the walk was created by Buckinghamshire County Council, it makes sense that the walk starts on the Bucks side of the river Thames, although the nearest place to park is in Berkshire. I'd been a little bit concerned about crossing Cookham Bridge, as the leaflet describing the walk mentioned an alternative start in Bourne End (on the Bucks side of the river) to avoid the busy traffic on the bridge - I'd checked with Tim Bertuchi, who did the walk recently, and he said it had been fine, and in fact there is a pavement for pedestrians across the bridge. I can only imagine the traffic lights controlling a single single carriageway across the bridge were set up after the leaflet was published.
[1] Cookham
[2] Cookham from the bridge over the Thames (photo taken in the afternoon)
[3] River Thames at Cookham
Safely over the bridge, a fingerpost showed where The Beeches Way officially begins, going half-right across a huge pasture [4] where a large number of bullocks were chewing the cud some distance to my left. The land here beside the Thames was perfectly flat, but there were hills ahead and a short distance to my left. The clear path through the grass reached a corner of the irregularly shaped field, and continued beside a hedgerow with the murky waters of a branch of the Thames beyond. In the corner of the pasture, I crossed a footbridge over a small stream and followed a gravel path through private grounds to reach a complex of very large and impressive houses - I could understand why Tim had warned me he'd initially gone wrong here, as there was no sign or waymark pointing where I had to turn left here.
[4] The start of The Beeches Way
[5] Church Road
[6] Lord Boston's Folly
I crossed a minor road and continued down Church Road opposite [5] (it seemed just like a lane). On top of the hillside to my left I could see Lord Boston's Folly [6], four connected towers (hexagonal, square, round and semi-circular) built as a folly in the 18th century. On the hill to my right I glimpsed Hedsor church [7] (it's marked Hedsor Priory on the map, but the leaflet doesn't say anything about it). At a bend in the road I took the signposted path continuing ahead between fences. This went slowly but steadily uphill, soon passing through Woolman's Wood [8]. At the top of the hill I reached a lane on the edge of the village of Hedsor, which I followed a short distance to the right to reach the minor road through the village. I turned right again, and soon left the village.
[7] Hedsor church
[8] The path through Woolman's Wood
[9] The road leaving Hedsor
After maybe half a mile of road walking [9], the Beeches Way took a bridleway on the right. I was now heading slightly south of east, the general direction for the rest of the walk. The pleasant path ran between hedges either side [10], with some very young cattle in the pastures to my right. I saw my first Common Cow-wheat growing here, and would see more of it in a couple of places later in the walk. Further on there was a small wood on my left, then I passed an attractive brick cottage on my right, the path then following its drive to a minor road. I should then have had another bit of road walking, going left for a few hundred yards and then right at a junction, but in fact across the road was a new permissive path (complete with a home-made Beeches Way sign), running parallel to the roads through some attractive woodland. I am very grateful to the considerate landowner who has done this. The woods were quite unusual, with many rhododendrons amongst the oaks and silver birches [11], and I was fortunate enough to spot a Muntjac Deer here.
I crossed a minor road and continued through a small area of bushes where I noticed some Honeysuckle entwined around a Holly bush (the first of several occasions I'd see this large and attractive flower today). The path continued between fences through some paddocks [12], rich with grass and wildflowers - I spotted a Painted Lady here on my return. Further on the path ran beside a wood on my left, with more large paddocks beyond the fence on my right. I saw a Red Kite over the paddocks, the only one I'd see on the walk though I'd seen earlier from the M40 near Beaconsfield. On my way back, I saw a Green Woodpecker fly off just as I reached the start of the paddocks.
[10] The path from Hedsor
[11] The permissive path through the wood
[12] Path between paddocks
The path ended at a minor road, by a junction. The Beeches Way continued on the other side, bisecting two minor roads that ended here. Initially the path was through fairly typical woodland, but soon reached a more open area. This was Littleworth Common [13], the first of several remnants of lowland heath that the walk visits. I was particularly looking forward to these heathland sections of the Beeches Way, as it is a habitat I haven't walked through for many years - I was hoping I might see a few new wild flowers here. I spotted a couple of ponds nearby on the left. On the far side of the common I crossed a lane and took a path that started beside a pub (I saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker fly across the pub car park on my way back). Soon the path ran beside a wire fence on my left with a large buttercup-rich paddock beyond. The trees of the wood on my right overhung the path. almost forming a tunnel [14]. Beyond the wood and paddock, the path continued between fences, with rich hay meadows either side. I then entered Dorney Wood [15], apparently a notorious haunt of thieves in Henry VIII's day but now part of the Burnham Beeches Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
[13] Littleworth Common
[14] The path beyond the pub
[15] Path through Dorney Wood
I crossed a lane by a small car park and entered the main part of Burnham Beeches [16]. I was rather disappointed to find that the route here followed tarmac roads (closed to all but disabled drivers and wardens) through the woods [17]. There were certainly some splendid oaks and beeches here [18], some showing evidence of the pollarding for which the woods are famous. Pollarding involves cutting off a tree above head height, which allows foresters to grow a crop of useful sized timbers while animals can graze underneath. It began here in the mid-16th century, and some of the surviving pollarded trees are around 400 years old. The Corporation of London bought Burnham Beeches in 1880 (one of the drives I walked along was Lord Mayor's Drive) and they have continued the practise of pollarding.
[16] The start of the drive in Burnham Beeches
[17] The drive through Burnham Beeches
[18] Ancient trees in Burnham Beeches (photo taken in the afternoon)
After walking through the woods for over half a mile, I passed a large wooden cafe, with many dog walkers seated outside. There was now a long car park, stretched out for about a quarter of a mile along the right of the drive - rather than follow the tarmac drive, I did the sensible thing and walked through the grass area on the other side of the linear car park [19]. Where the drive ended, I crossed a road and continued down a residential street on the other side into Farnham Common. At the end of the street I turned right, along the main road through this busy suburban village (if that's not a contradiction in terms!) [20]. I passed shops, pubs and restaurants, and used one of two pedestrian crossings to reach the far side of the road. I turned left down another street. After a hundred yards or so it turned right, and a few yards further on I took a path on the left. This initially ran between graffiti-covered walls, but soon was following the line of a fence through the more pleasant surroundings of Brockhurst Wood [21]. This felt a bit more like the beech woods that I'm used to in the part of the Chilterns where I live. I had a bit of good fortune here - I started to pass the gardens of a cottage in the woods and checked on the map that this was correct. Having done so I saw that I soon needed to turn left - lucky that I had as there was no signpost at the junction. This was unusual, it has to be said, as otherwise the Beeches Way seemed to be well served with fingerposts and waymarks.
[19] The expanse of grass beside the car park at Burnham Beeches
[20] Farnham Common
[21] Brockhurst Wood
The track I turned onto ran northwards along the edge of the wood [22], beside meadows and paddocks on my right. For some reason the track was very muddy, almost blocked by puddles in places, the only time today that I had this problem. I was probably too busy navigating my way around the worst of the mud to notice there was more Common Cow-wheat here, I only saw it on my return. I also almost missed the stile on the right, where the Beeches Way left the track and wood to follow a fence line between paddocks[23]. Across Duffield Lane, the path continued between fences [24] to reach part of Stoke Common.
[22] The track beside Brockhurst Wood
[23] The path from Brockurst Wood
[24] Rather ugly footpath heading towards Stoke Common
The Beeches Way now went half-right, initially in woodland but soon running through head-high gorse with occasional young silver birch trees - again I was in a remnant of the lowland heath that once covered much of South Bucks [25]. I carefully crossed a busy road, and continued through more of Stoke Common (named from Stoke Poges, immediately to my south) [26]. The path went north, through more young trees, then the Beeches Way went half-right, north-east [27], and entered a more open area of low bushes.
[25] The first part of Stoke Common
[26] Stoke Common
[27] Stoke Common
I was delighted to find my first Tormentil [28], my second new flower of the day (unlike the Common Cow-wheat I recognised what it was and didn't need to get my friends on a wildlife website to identify it for me). To my right I saw the cows that have been introduced to graze the common. There were several orchids here - I hoped I might find Heath Spotted Orchids (because this was a heath!) but examining my photos later they were clearly all Common Spotted Orchids. I enjoyed walking the straight track through the heath, as it reminded me of the tracks I used to walk in the heaths of Suffolk when I lived near Ipswich for many years [29]. I continued across one track junction [30] and went on as far as the next track crossing, which was where I wanted to turn round.
As I got there, I noticed a strange deer on the edge of the woods ahead and to my left. I raised my camera, but as I tried to see the deer in the view finder, I just saw an error message! I am forever switching the 'Mode dial' between the settings for 'landscapes' and for 'Aperture priority' (which I use for wildlife shots) - somehow I'd turned the dial to a position halfway between two settings. Of course, when I turned the dial to the correct position the deer had gone! Doh! Why does this sort of thing only happen when I see something really unusual?! The deer clearly wasn't a Fallow, Red, Muntjac or Chinese Water deer (all of which I'm now familiar with) and I thought it too big to be a Roe deer. I stopped and asked a couple of dog walkers, one of whom said it would have been a Roe Deer. Having looked in books and on the internet, that is clearly what it was, although it still seemed bigger than I'd have expected (it looked to me almost the size of a Fallow deer, but Roe are closer to the size of a Muntjac).
[28] Tormentil
[29] Stoke Common
[30] Stoke Common
Cursing my bad luck at missing out on my first shot of a Roe deer (I now realise that the half dozen or so I thought I'd seen in the Home Counties were actually Chinese Water Deer!), I turned round and headed back towards Cookham. It had taken two hours and fifty minutes to reach my turnaround point on Stoke Common, as it was now about 12.55pm, but going back it took only about two and a half hours - the difference being that I take hardly any photos on the return trip. I had a late lunch about 1.45pm on a bench on the edge of Burnham Beeches, and got back to my car about 3.35pm. There was a long queue of young schoolchildren and their parents at the ice-cream van in the car park, otherwise I might have been sorely tempted (despite all the walking I do, I'm several pounds overweight - not buying ice-creams is about all I do to remedy the situation, though!).
I decided to take the scenic route home through the Chilterns, rather than risk getting stuck in a Friday rush-hour jam on the motorways - probably just as well, there was a virtually stationary queue of traffic from the centre of Beaconsfield heading to the M40. It probably only took 5-10 minutes longer driving back via Amersham and Wendover.
This was an enjoyable walk, slightly better than I'd anticipated. The weather conditions were OK but not great - it was warm and dry, but generally cloudy and grey throughout the walk (it brightened up considerably as I drove home, of course). I was a little disappointed with Burnham Beeches, but that was really only because I was walking on a road surface than a woodland path. The heaths were a great treat though, as it is so many years since I've walked through one - they brought back many happy memories of my time in Suffolk.