Pete's Walks - Wigginton, Wendover Woods and St Leonards (page 4 of 5)
After about another quarter of a mile through this part of Barn Wood, I reached a staggered crossroads' of paths, where I turned left once more. This path headed north to reach the edge of the wood, then went northeast along a thin belt of trees with wood encircled fields either side. At the end of the tree belt, the path went right for a few yards into a corner of a field, then turned left into Baldwin's Wood. The ancient earthwork of Grim's Ditch was now a few feet to my left. The path continued north-eastwards through the wood, until I emerged at a lane junction (Hale Lane again).
Path going north in Barn Wood
Path going north in Barn Wood
Looking east as the path leaves Barn Wood
Grim's Ditch, in Baldwin's Wood
The path continuing northeast through Bradwin's Wood
Looking left from the narrowest part of Bradwin's Wood
Approaching the lane junction
I took the lane continuing ahead of me, which led me to a part of the village of St Leonards (where I spotted my only Red Kite of the walk). I crossed over a road junction, bearing half right on a footpath that led through a mobile home park. This led through a meadow, and on through large two fields marked as St Leonard's Common on the map. It was 1pm now, so I stopped and ate my lunch on a stile, before crossing a minor road and heading into Buckland Wood.
The lane leading to St Leonards
Start of the path from the mobile home park
The path on St Leonard's Common (the common has an apostrophe, the village doesn't)
The path on St Leonard's Common, approaching the road junction by Buckland Wood
It was very pleasant walking through the wood on a clear path. After a while I came to another point of confusion last time, where the path simply went straight on at a path crossroads while the map showed it as a distinctly staggered junction. A little further on the wood became Drayton Wood, the boundary between the two woods being marked by a ditch with a plank bridge crossing it.
Footpath through Buckland Wood
Footpath through Buckland Wood
Footpath through Buckland Wood
Footpath through Drayton Wood