Pete's Walks- Southeast from Cadmore End (page 4 of 4)
The footpath turned left along the reservoir fence, and continued following it when it turned right. At the next corner of the fence the path joined the drive going north from the reservoir. There were now views left across some open ground to the edge of Lane End - the fog had gone now, but it was still quite misty. A short way down the drive I turned right at a path crossroads and entered another part of Widdenton Park Wood. Fairly soon this led to the end of a drive and a minor road, where I turned right and immediately crossed over the M40. A footpath then started on the left, running past the side of Sandage Wood and then following a hedge. Near a field corner a stile in the hedge led into a paddock, where I followed the boundary on the left. This soon turned left, and I followed it to another stile, in front of Fryer's Farm, then continued ahead down a farm track for a hundred yards or so.
The drive from the reservoir
The path from the reservoir drive, through another part of Widdenton Park Wood
The path past Sandage Wood
I turned left where a waymark indicated a footpath leaving the track. The muddy path led past a maize field, then followed a hedge on the right for a few yards before going over a stile. The path then turned left along the other side of the hedge, in a large field of horses which sloped steeply down into a valley. The path then continued up the opposite slope through part of Great Wood. At the top of the small hill it continued between the wire fences of some paddocks, before entering Great Wood again and soon dropping downhill again.
The path north of Fryer's Farm
The valley before the first bit of Great Wood
The path through the paddocks in Great Wood
Great Wood
A short way up the opposite slope I took a hedge-lined bridleway that went left, from Great Wood the short distance to Denham Wood. Here I forked right onto a path that led westwards to the end of Denham Wood. Beyond the wood the path led across a large empty pasture to reach a road in Wheeler End. A few yards to the left a path continued on the opposite side of the road. This was an open access area, and I soon chose to take a grassy path between bushes a little left of the public footpath as the latter looked very muddy.
The bridleway between Great Wood and Denham Wood
Denham Wood
The path from Denham Wood to Wheeler End
Path continuing westwards near Wheeler End
Across a minor road a path continued through an area of wood and common. There were several forks in the path, but I kept left to stay near the edge of the wood. After a while I passed through an open area of grass with a cottage on the left. A little further on, back into woodland, I passed a large pond on my right. I was now on Cadmore End Common. There were more forks in the path, and I generally kept left though at the last fork I should have kept right as I came out slightly left of where the path eventually reached a track. I turned left for a few yards to reach another track or drive, where I went left again and re-crossed the M40 to meet the road through Cadmore End opposite the drive to Rackley's Farm. I now just turned right and retraced the start of the walk back to my parked car.
Path continuing westwards from Wheeler End
Pond on Cadmore End Common
Cadmore End Common
The bridge over the M40
Cadmore End
It was such a shame about the fog and mist. If I'd realised it was going to be like that I'd have just repeated one of my local walks near Kensworth, rather than drive an hour each way to see such restricted views. The BBC weather site indicated there would be no fog at Maidenhead whereas there would be in Dunstable, which is why I went that far. Still it was good exercise - it was more up and down than I remembered and in the very muddy conditions I was pretty tired by the time I got back to my car about 3.35pm. And I did get to see two groups of Fallow Deer and had numerous close sightings of Red Kites. I'm sure I'll be back to do this walk again in better conditions sometime.