Pete's Walks - Maidensgrove Common and Henley (page 2 of 5)
The footpath continued along the tarmac drive from Merrimoles, and then as I reached the hamlet of Lower Highmoor (a rather contradictory name!) I turned left onto bridleway which was soon running southeast through a wood called Holly Grove (I think I've said before that it would be better named Rhododendron Forest!). This was where I made my mistake over the route. I actually stopped at the first path junction I came to and checked the map, but somehow forgot that I should have turned left here - I got the route of this walk confused with another one I've done more often, and so just went straight on along the path I normally take through this wood. Doh! I turned right at the next junction, then took a path going left. Shortly after this turned right and entered an area of conifers, I turned left to finally leave Holly Grove.
The drive from Merrimoles
Approaching Holly Grove from near Lower Highmoor
Bridleway through Holly Grove
Footpath in Holly Grove
Footpath in Holly Grove (just before I turned left to leave the wood)
On leaving the wood I took the right-most of two paths across a field, to reach a lane (Rocky Lane, which I would meet again later). On the far side of the lane I entered another wood, Padnell's Wood. I soon came to a path crossroads, and a few yards left a stile took me out of the wood into an empty pasture or paddock. Across another stile, I followed the edge of another pasture, initially with a small wood on my right - this pasture was occupied by three Highland cows, which I remembered seeing here once before. The path then continued beside garden hedges through another field and brought me to the attractive hamlet of Shepherd's Green.
The path from Holly Grove to a lane
The path going southeast from Padnell's Wood
A Highland Cow
The path continuing to Shepherd's Green
It was now that I realised my mistake as it suddenly dawned on me that Shepherd's Green was definitely not on my intended route! Never mind, it was easy to rectify the mistake. I went left along the lane through the hamlet and took a path on the left, between garden fences initially. This descended into a small valley, with orchards over to my right (the Chilterns were once famous for their cherry orchards). The path then continued between a fence and an overhanging hedge to take me back to Rocky Lane, which I'd crossed earlier. I went a short distance right along the lane, then when it turned right I continued ahead on a bridleway.
Shepherd's Green
The path north from Shepherd's Green to Rocky Lane
Orchards, to the right of the path to Rocky Lane
The path to Rocky Lane
The path to Rocky Lane
Rocky Lane (I took a bridleway on the left where the lane bends right)