Pete's Walks- Old Amersham and Little Kingshill (page 4 of 4)
Beyond the wood the path continued across a ploughed field, the first hundred yards or so being very wet and muddy. We passed a copse on our left, then there was a nice view towards the Misbourne Valley. Beyond the field the path continued between fences - again this was a very muddy section. The path then joined a track and then a drive as it entered the next village, Coleshill. We crossed a road and followed an alley next to the church to reach another road.
The path continuing towards Coleshill (the first bit of this field was very muddy, as was the next bit of footpath)
View from the muddy field, looking north towards the Misbourne Valley
The path approaching Coleshill
The Civil War poet Edmund Waller lived in the manor house at Coleshill. His family had lived there since the early 1500’s. He used to write his poetry under an oak tree, which is thought to date back to the Norman Conquest. There is a house called Waller’s Oak, and another house, Stock Place, incorporates a wing of the old manor house (Stock was the name of the village in the middle ages). The parish church has a modern Lych Gate, made of English Oak on a brick base, with a tiled roof.
Coleshill Church
I turned left here, saying goodbye to David who was going straight on (along the part of the Chiltern Way, which we'd been following from Winchmore Hill, towards Chalfont St Giles). I followed the road north-eastwards through the village (it was closed at one point, a short section blocked off where there were large holes in the road). I went right at a fork in the road, but almost immediately went left along a concrete drive that soon passed right of some white stables. The path continued beside and then through paddocks, soon with good views towards the Misbourne Valley.
The road through Coleshill
Start of the path from Coleshill northeast to Amersham Old Town
Path from Coleshill northeast to Amersham Old Town
Looking east over the Misbourne Valley towards Little Chalfont
View towards Amersham Old Town
The path came out in a field close to a large pylon, where I turned right. The path then followed a hedge above a slight bank (the OS map shows it below the bank). Where the hedge ended, the path went sharply right across a ploughed field to a waymark post by another hedge. Here I turned left, following the hedge and then a curving ditch very gently downhill over quite a distance, with the enormous brown ploughed field on my left sloping down to the Misbourne valley.
View towards Amersham Old Town
The footpath going northeast to Amersham Old Town
The footpath going northeast to Amersham Old Town
The footpath going northeast to Amersham Old Town
Eventually the path passed some garden fences on my right (I was now on the edge of Amersham Old Town again), and ended at a tarmac path where it turned right and crossed a bridge over the A413. A little farther on, I left the tarmac path and entered an overgrown meadow on the left. Within yards I came to a corner, where I chose to follow the official footpath that went right between trees and garden fences, before turning left to cross a bit of the meadow to a gate (a clear and much easier path went straight here from the corner). I turned left along the short street here, turning right at the end into Whielden Street, which took me back to the High Street, opposite the church. The car park was then a short distance to the right.
The footpath going northeast to Amersham Old Town
Amersham Old Town, from the corner of the overgrown meadow
Whielden Street, Amersham Old Town
It had certainly been a beautiful day for a walk, despite the initial cold. This was a strange walk for me, probably the weakest one of the twenty in the Chiltern Chain Walk, as it went through six or seven villages, each involving some road walking. There were only relatively short stretches of countryside between the villages, and I didn't see much in the way of wildlife today. It was still an enjoyable walk (though I'm glad I chose a good day for it) and their were many nice views over or along the Misbourne valley. Almost all the walks in the Chiltern Chain Walk are equally good clockwise and anti-clockwise, but this one is probably best clockwise - that way the best section, the lovely stretch along the Misbourne valley, is left to the end.