Pete's Walks - Kensworth to Ivinghoe Beacon (part 5)
I followed the lane for a few yards to the right, then took a path on the left that went through a garden and then rose at a steady gradient up the hillside. There was a sheep pasture to my left, surrounded on two sides by the tall zoo fence, and a wooded area to my right. Further up the slope, I had a garden hedge on my left and I crossed the drive to an isolated house. At the top of the hill, I emerged onto Whipsnade Golf course, with the club house just to my right - there were a surprising number of cars in the car park. The path crossed in front of a couple of tees - amazingly, a couple of youngsters were just teeing off from the second of them. I thought the course would have been closed in the frosty conditions.
The start of the path up to Whipsnade Golf Club
Whipsnade Golf Club - somebody was just teeing off and playing down this fairway!
The path continue through a line of trees between two fairways. A tall marker post indicated a path junction, where I turned left and followed the path across five or six fairways - a number of footprints showed that many people had used these path in recent days. Three other youngsters were out playing - they had just reached the temporary winter green on the last fairway I crossed.
The path across the fairways of Whipsnade Golf Course
The path then continued for a long distance beside the tall zoo fence, with a mature hedgerow to my right. The fence and hedge were both covered in thick frost, and as the hedge overhung the path it seemed to form a white tunnel. I passed another huge zoo paddock where various type of deer were kept, and further on I spotted some Musk Oxen. I also managed to photograph a Wallaby and a Chinese Water Deer as I continued on along the zoo fence.
Thick frost on the fence of Whipsnade Zoo
The path beside the zoo fence - almost a white tunnel
By a triangular bit of woodland I came to a T-junction where I took the path going left, almost immediately back alongside the zoo fence again. There were probably a hundred or more Chinese Water Deer in this section of the zoo (which is well away from any visitors) with a few Wallabies mixed in. The path took me to the old lane between Holywell and Whipsnade, which I followed to the left. Again it was icy in places and I had to take care. After quarter of a mile or so, just past some bollards, I turned right on a path beside a hedgerow, passing some tall ice-laden trees as the path rose slightly. I went through a gate in the field corner and immediately went left through an open gate. I was now in a small meadow, following a hedge on my right - it was curious to see large round bales of hay with a smattering of snow and ice on top.
The path by the zoo fence, just after I turned left at a junction
The old lane from Holywell to Studham
The path away from the old lane
The hay meadow just before Whipsnade church
The path continued through the churchyard of Whipsnade Church, where I passed two yew trees near the entrance. I then turned right, crossing a section of the huge village green (an irregularly shaped area of rough grass that goes over one small hillside, down the other and up another small rise, with the residences of this small village dotted around its edges). I headed downhill to reach the minor road (the Whipsnade Road again) by the Old Hunter’s Lodge restaurant, and continued beside the road to the crossroads at Whipsnade Heath.
Yew trees at the entrance to Whipsnade church
A small part of the green at Whipsnade, near the Old Hunter's Lodge - Whipsnade Heath in the background
I crossed over, and made my way left through the small car park and small picnic area, continuing on along the short path through the woods that comprise the greater part of Whipsnade Heath.
Car park and picnic area at Whipsnade Heath
The path through Whipsnade Heath
Beyond the wood, the path runs beside a large field, between a wire fence and a hedge on the right. It then goes through a kissing gate, and crosses a field of rough grass. As I neared the gate on the far side, I met two people walking a dog - it was one of our near neighbours, and her daughter whom I’d not seen since she was a girl thirty years or more ago. After a brief but pleasant chat, I had the simple task of following Common Road downhill for about quarter of a mile, getting home about 3.45pm.
The path beyond Whipsnade Heath
The path approaching Common Road, Kensworth
Despite the freezing conditions all day (I’d not seen any evidence of the snow or ice thawing, save beside the Whipsnade road where it had been gritted), my lovely Paramo gear had kept me nicely warm , and I felt neither cold nor particularly tired when I finished the walk. It had been a really great day out - I really enjoy walking in wintry conditions, it’s far preferable to walking when it’s wet and muddy.
I have walked this route many times now, and have always enjoyed it - I’ve not yet tried it in the opposite anti-clockwise direction, but suspect it wouldn’t be quite so good that way round. It’s a pleasantly up-and-down route, with a nice combination of woodland walks and field paths, plus the lovely chalk downland around Steps Hill and Ivinghoe Beacon. But it was the bizarre weather conditions today that made this walk so special - the remnants of snow on the ground, the spectacular frost coating the trees, bushes, fences, gates and everything else, the grey skies and fog, all these factors combined to make for some eerie yet beautiful scenes. This is a walk that I will certainly remember for a long time, and I will treasure many of the photos that I took.
T see this walk when I did it again on 27/11/10, click here - Kensworth and Ivinghoe Beacon