Pete's Walks - Chess Valley Walk (part 1)
A beautiful Spring-like day here today (Monday 16th March,2009), so I went and did a 12-mile walk in and around the Chess valley (southeast of Chesham, on the Bucks/Herts boundary). It was treat I’d been promising myself for some days! This is one of my favourite parts of the Chilterns, and one of the few places in these chalk hills where there is a river to walk along.
Starting at the attractive village of Chenies, I headed west along the hilltop south of the river, with nice views across the valley to Latimer and Latimer House. I descended through a beech wood and crossed the river just below Latimer House (now some type of Management Centre, I think).
Chenies Manor
Looking across the Chess valley, near Chenies
Looking across the Chess valley to Latimer House and Latimer
Path descending through a wood towards the Chess Valley near Latimer
Crossing the Chess valley near Latimer
Crossing the river Chess - the larger waterway to the left is a branch of the river between man-made weirs and fish pools
Weir, below Latimer House
Close-up of the statue on the weir
Latimer House
I followed the river a short distance eastwards to the village of Latimer (another attractive place, with some interesting items on its small triangular green). I then turned and headed west again, along the northern side of the valley, back past Latimer House and along a lovely path beside a beech wood, with the river in the valley down to my left.
Path to Latimer village
The green at Latimer, showing the Boer War memorial and the village pump
Memorial to a horse wounded in the Boer War
The path heading west along the Chess valley, by Latimer House
Looking across the Chess valley, from near Latimer House
The Chess valley