Pete's Walks - Cholesbury and Whelpley Hill (page 5 of 5)
I turned right and followed the byway past the Ostrich farm, some of the curious residents following me as I passed their enclosure. The byway turned left (immediately after a footpath went left), then turned right, now with Ramscoat Wood on my left. After a short distance the byway turned left and went uphill through the wood (the Chiltern Heritage Trail continued straight on along the floor of White Hawridge Bottom). The byway turned right along the top of the wood, before turning right then left as it reached the edge of Bellingdon.
Some of the residents of the Pathfinder Ostrich Farm
The public byway, running between Ramscoat Wood and the ostrich farm
The byway continuing up through Ramscoat Wood
The byway continuing along the top of Ramscoat Wood
The byway continuing towards Bellingdon
I'd been briefly on the route of my Chiltern Chain Walk as I followed the byway through Ramscoat Wood, but I was now somewhere I'd not walked before - I was basically following paths along the ridge southwest of White Hawridge Bottom instead of the familiar (and slightly shorter) path along the valley bottom. The byway changed to a surfaced lane, but when this turned left I went straight on along a path on the left edge of a huge meadow (another path went half-right). This went down and up a small dip and in the far field corner I turned right. Part way along that side of the huge meadow (there were some small enclosures this end of it), I turned left and followed a path along the edge of a sheep pasture (Update 1/1/17: there are usually a variety of animals here). Further on I passed some more enclosures, containing a variety of breeds of pig.
The footpath going northwest near Bellingdon
Looking back across White Hawridge Bottom and beyond
The path at a point just east of Bellingdon Farm
I crossed Hawridge Lane and continued north-westwards along a bridleway between tall hedges to reach the end of a short road. I turned right past a fairly modern house, then took a footpath going left. This took me to a building marked as a 'Works' on the OS map, where there were thousands of bricks stored on pallets. It was starting to rain again, so I sheltered under the eaves of a building and put my waterproof jacket back on. The rain suddenly came down in torrents, so I put my waterproof trousers on as well. The rain eased up a bit after a few minutes, so I carried on, the path turning right along one side of the 'Works', then turning left along another side. It then went half-right, descending slowly through a wood to meet the path running along the valley bottom (I kept left at a fork in the path in the wood). I turned left, following the path past a smallholding to reach a minor road. A path on the other side went right and climbed uphill parallel to the road, taking me back to Cholesbury Common.
The bridleway north of Bellingdon Farm
The bridleway north of Bellingdon Farm
The footpath to the 'Works', a huge storage area for bricks
The footpath on the north-eastern edge of the 'Works'
The path descending through the wood
The path approaching a smallholding
Despite the disappointing weather, I really enjoyed this walk as there was so much of it that was new to me, and almost all the rest of the walk I'd only done once before. I was glad to revisit a section of the Chiltern Heritage Trail, as that is still one of my favourites amongst the long-distance paths I've walked in this area. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the area, just pleasant rolling Chiltern countryside. There were no views to match those you get from the Chiltern escarpment, but there were some nice ones looking along some of the valleys. The Ostrich Farm and the old chapel added a bit of interest to the route.