Pete's Walks - Kensworth to Ivinghoe Beacon again (page 1 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.
I did this 15 mile walk on Saturday, 17th October, 2009. It was a repeat of my Kensworth to Ivinghoe Beacon walk, a nice route which I hadn't done for some months.
I started walking about 9.30am, and took the familiar route to Holywell, via the Whipsnade Road and Dovehouse Lane. Instead of turning left at Holywell I continued on ahead, passing through a wood and crossing the road from Whipsnade Heath to Studham. The path continued on the other side - as I looked across a field towards Studham church to my right I was delighted to see a Red Kite.
Path leaving Holywell towards Studham
Studham Church
On reaching Studham, I went down Valley Road and forked right onto the bridleway that would take me to the Gade Valley. Despite the mainly grey conditions, the views along the valley were quite pleasant. Looking north-east, I could make out the tumulus at the end of Gallows Hill, obviously carefully positioned so that it could be seen from a distance in many directions.
The path from Studham towards the Gade Valley and Hudnall
The path across the Gade Valley
Looking south-east along the Gade Valley (towards Great Gaddesden)
Looking north-west along the Gade Valley, towards Gallows Hill
Having crossed the Gade Valley and reached a path junction on the edge of Hudnall, I went half-right on what was a very faint path across a harrowed field, continuing across a couple of sheep pastures with Little Gaddesden church over to my right. I continued on through some small paddocks to reach the main road through the village, continuing through the car park of the Bridgewater Arms and turning right onto a private drive. This ran through a valley where it is believed the last witch to be burnt to death in Buckinghamshire met her grisly fate. At the end of the drive a path continued ahead to reach the small village of Ringshall and the woods of Ashridge.
The path from Hudnall to Little Gaddesden was barely discernible across this massive field
Little Gaddesden church
Approaching the road in Little Gaddesden
The private drive in Little Gaddesden
The path approaching the road in Ringshall
The next section of the walk was particularly pleasant as I followed bridleways through Ashridge. There were a few splendid beech trees, so typical of the Chilterns, but the woods also contained of oak, ash, silver birch, sweet chestnut, hazel and holly. In complete contrast to Wednesday's walk (a little west, in the Hertfordshire part of the estate), I didn't see or hear any Fallow deer at all.
The start of the section through the woods of Ashridge
Beech trees in Ashridge
Bridleway through Ashridge
Bridleway through Ashridge