Pete's Walks - Hambleden, Frieth, Bovingdon Green (page 4 of 4)
Where another road or drive forked half-right through the green, I followed it to its end and carried on along a track, passing a few more houses on my right. Beyond the end of the track at the last house, a path continued ahead. Soon there was a hedge with several beech trees in it on my right, with paddocks or enclosures to my left. The path led me to Davenport Wood, where I have to admit I got completely lost!
This was most strange. I'd been through the wood at least twice before in this direction (I'd joined the route of the Chiltern Way in Bovingdon Green), and at least three times in the opposite direction, so it should have been quite familiar to me. I knew I had to walk some distance into the wood, then turn right at a path crossroads and after another half mile I'd reach a lane. Well, after some distance I did turn right, although the path didn't seem familiar to me - in fact it soon had a fence running alongside on my left, which I was sure was wrong, I didn't remember that at all. After some distance, the path turned sharply to the left - as it did so, I realised I was back at the entrance to the wood where I'd started from! The path and fence had gradually curved right, and I'd gone round in a circle! Feeling somewhat foolish (by no means a new experience!), I retraced my footsteps to where I'd turned right and this time continued ahead, thinking the turn to the right must be further on (I certainly hadn't passed any others). But to my surprise after a couple of hundred yards, with no sign of any other path junctions, I reached a lane. As I hadn't turned right, I assumed I'd come out on the lane I was intending to reach some distance to the left of where I wanted to meet it - the OS map showed that if I failed to turn right I would indeed reach the lane about half a mile left of where I wanted to meet it. However, the OS map showed the path I thought I was on (the one I'd be on if I missed the turning to the right) meeting the lane by a junction, but I couldn't see one. So to check I was where I thought I was, I went a hundred yards left to a slight bend to check the junction was there. It wasn't! Instead I spotted a Chiltern Way sign post that indicated the point on the lane that I'd intended to reach! I was now totally flummoxed - I'd failed to turn right at a junction, yet somehow had ended up on the lane right of where I'd wanted to be! I just could not work this out at all.
With hindsight, the obvious explanation is that I must have missed a fork in the path (twice!) just after entering the wood. I'd gone straight on where the actual path must go half-left, and so I'd effectively walked the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle. I must admit I'd thought it strange that I didn't see any white arrows or waymarks, but I was on a clear path and the map only shows the one path going through the wood. (update 19/1/17 - I did this walk again in February 2015 and found that I had indeed gone straight on where the path went slightly left, in a small dip - I can only think the waymark or arrow was hidden by vegetation when I got lost here).
The path from Bovingdon Green to Davenport Wood
Somewhere in Davenport Wood (not necessarily on the right path!)
Somewhere in Davenport Wood (not necessarily on the right path!)
Feeling very confused, and frustrated with myself, I continued on along this section of the Chiltern Way (I'd be sharing its route all the way back to Hambleden). Across the lane, the path dropped steadily through Pullingshill Wood, then continued between a fence and an overhanging hedge (I had to duck and almost crawl under some branches along here), with meadows to my left. The path then turned left along the right edge of another meadow or paddock to reach another lane. A few yards to the right, a track on the other side led into the extensive Homefield Wood. I followed the track for over half a mile, moving from Homefield Wood to Heath Wood, then (where the track curved right) took a path going back sharply left, which went reasonably gently uphill to reach another lane where the wood ended at the top of the slope.
The path going west from Pullingshill Wood
The path going west from Pullingshill Wood, just before it reaches a lane
Homefield Wood
Homefield Wood
Heath Wood, the start of the path that angles back sharply on the left
I turned right along the lane, and then took a path on the left after a couple of hundred yards or so. This crossed an uncut large meadow, then passed through another large meadow where the mown hay lay in rows waiting to be gathered up. I then reached the small hamlet of Rotten Row. I followed a lane from there a short distance to a left-hand bend, where a path went off to the right.
The lane on the south-eastern edge of Heath Wood
The first field on the path to Rotten Row
Approaching Rotten Row
The lane from Rotten Row
The path was initially a track between fields, and then became just tractor tracks across a ploughed field. The path then went over a stile into a wood, dropping downhill steadily. As the path left the wood there were views ahead and to my left over the Thames Valley. The path continued downhill to reach a track, where I went a few yards right then turned left to pass through a sports field on the edge of Hambleden and so return to the car park where I'd started.
The path from Rotten Row to Hambleden
The path from Rotten Row to Hambleden
The path from Rotten Row to Hambleden
The path from Rotten Row descending towards Hambleden, with a view towards the Thames Valley
Hambleden
This was a very good walk, on a glorious day (if anything, it was a bit too hot in the afternoon!). Getting lost in Davenport Wood did rather deflate me - I don't usually get lost in places I've walked through several times before! But apart from that it had been a wonderful day - the Hambleden valley is always very pleasant to stroll through, and then there'd been a lot of woodland walking interspersed with sections of field paths. There'd been a few ups and downs to maintain interest, and overall it was a fine route. It's certainly a walk I'd be happy to do again - and I'm determined to return to Davenport Wood sometime to see where I went wrong.