Pete's Walks- Cobblershill and Wendover Woods (page 4 of 4)
My plan had been to turn right here, but I decided instead to go straight on, following another path that was new to me. It followed the edge of a field, where I immediately glimpsed a couple of deer (almost certainly Fallow, though I couldn't be sure) running off into a wood over to my right. The path continued across another green field (like the previous one, entirely surrounded by trees), passed through a tree belt and carried on across a much larger field of stubble. There were extensive views here ahead of me. Beyond the hedgerow on the far side, I turned right on a bridleway and followed it to Great Widmoor Wood. As the bridleway continued through the wood, I was back on a known path (my planned route would also have brought me here). The bridleway ended at a sharp bend in a minor road, where I went straight on and soon came to the hamlet of King's Ash.
The path continuing southeast from Grim's Ditch
The path continuing southeast from Grim's Ditch
The path continuing southeast from Grim's Ditch
The bridleway heading southwest to Great Widmoor Wood
The bridleway through Great Widmoor Wood
The minor road leading into King's Ash
I walked through the hamlet until a small lane came in from the left. Here a footpath went half-left, descending across a large arable field towards the corner of a hedgerow. The path went over a stile in the hedgerow, and I continued gently descending with the hedge on my right. I followed the hedge as it turned right, and in the next field corner I went through a gateway and turned left along a track. At the end of the track I turned right and followed a lane a short distance to Wendoverdean Farm, where I turned right at a lane junction and soon came to the A413, heading south from Wendover towards Great Missenden.
The start of the path from King's Ash (going southwest towards Wendoverdean Farm)
The path from King's Ash, going southwest towards Wendoverdean Farm
The path from King's Ash, going southwest towards Wendoverdean Farm
The path from King's Ash, going southwest towards Wendoverdean Farm
The track going southwest towards Wendoverdean Farm
The lane going southwest towards Wendoverdean Farm
The lane going west from Wendoverdean Farm to the A413
Safely across the rather busy A413, I went a few yards left and took a footpath that crossed some large paddocks or fields near Mayortorne Manor (to my right). The path continued along a track, crossing over a railway line and continuing between hedgerows to reach Cockshoots Wood. Immediately on entering the wood, I turned right and followed a path through the trees. The OS map shows two junctions where I'd need to keep right, but I only actually remember one, where I joined a bridleway that dropped a short distance downhill and emerged in the car park where I'd started. The 11.2 miles (I measured it on the Google map later) had taken me about four and a quarter hours.
The path going past Mayortorne Manor
The path continuing towards Cockshoots Wood
The path on the northern side of Cockshoots Wood
The bridleway in Cockshoots Wood, approaching the Cobblershill car park
I really enjoyed this walk. It's been a while since I did a walk where I tried out so many new paths, and all of them turned out to be clear and easy to follow. The only navigational issue I had was at the visitor centre in Wendover Woods, but I'd been expecting that to be a problem and as it turned out the path I found was much better and more convenient that the route I'd planned. The route involved a great deal of woodland walking, with a few short sections of field paths. There were several fine views, the most expansive of course being those of the Vale of Aylesbury from Coombe Hill and Bacombe Hill. The short section through Wendover wasn't too bad at all, and the section along Hale Lane had a nice view ahead of the wooded Boddington Hill.
It's certainly a walk I'd be happy to do again. It could easily be extended from King's Ash to go further south to The Lee and Great Missenden if I wanted a longer walk, but then it would duplicate more of the Coombe Hill and Great Missenden walk that I've done a few times now. Or these two walks could be merged to produce a route of about 14-15 miles - perhaps I'll do that some day.