Pete's Walks - Circular walk from Ewelme (page 4 of 5)
After about three quarters of a mile of lane walking beyond the crossroads, I passed Upper House Farm on my right. A public byway carried on and soon entered Mongewell Woods. I'd already heard some shooting and here I caught up with some beaters, moving on to the next location for shooting. The bridleway descended gradually through the woods for another three quarters of a mile - it seemed a much longer distance last time, but then of course I was going uphill! Beyond the woods the byway was a very pleasant grassy track descending steadily between green fields. There were very extensive views ahead over the Oxfordshire Plain and left over the Thames Valley towards the Berkshire Downs.
View north from just before Upper House Farm
The byway just past Upper House Farm
The byway in Mongewell Woods
The byway in Mongewell Woods
The byway approaching the western edge of Mongewell Woods
The byway heading west from Mongewell Woods
Looking southwest across the Thames Valley towards the Berkshire Downs
The byway heading west from Mongewell Woods
The path curved right and then left around an edge of Wicks Wood to reach Woodhouse Farm, a familiar landmark from the Chiltern Way (which I would now be following all the way back to Ewelme). I continued along the farm drive and at its end turned right along a lane (which the map marks as 'Icknield Way' in Gothic type, which I think means the lane follows the route of that ancient track). Initially there was a permissive path along the edge of the field to the left of the lane, but once I'd crossed the line of an ancient earth work called Grim's Ditch (here part of the Ridgeway National Trail) I had to follow the lane itself.
The drive from Woodhouse Farm
The permissive path besides the Icknield Way lane
The Icknield Way lane
After about a mile I turned right at a lane crossroads, the new lane heading east towards Nuffield. After about a third of a mile I turned left along a fenced path beside a wood on my left - twice along here I saw a Buzzard fly out from a tree just a few yards ahead of me. The path eventually turned left for a few yards to reach the A4130 main road.
The lane going east (to Nuffield)
The path going northeast to the A4130
The path going northeast to the A4130