Pete's Walks- Kensworth, Studham, Whipsnade Downs (page 3 of 3)
Close to the bottom of the slope the path curved right and levelled out. After a couple of hundred yards or so, it started gradually climbing back up the slope, and was soon following another old sunken drovers way. This led to a path running along below the wire fence at the bottom of the huge pasture running across this part of Whipsnade Downs. I followed the path and fence to the left, and at the end of the pasture I turned right, uphill, to follow the fence at that end of the pasture. At the next corner of the pasture, I went through a gate on the right and followed a path along the top of the huge pasture (it ran through an area where there were a few large trees).
The same path now slowly climbing back up Whipsnade Downs, with the long line of Dunstable Downs to the left
The path climbing back up Whipsnade Downs
The path along the bottom of the huge pasture on Whipsnade Downs
View over Totternhoe and the London Gliding Club
The path going back along the top of the huge pasture on Whipsnade Downs
In another corner of the huge pasture I turned left through a gate, and followed a muddy bridleway. This soon crossed a surfaced drive and continued between a hedge on the left and a wooded area. The bridleway kept left at a junction (where a track went ahead to pass some properties near Sallowsprings Wood), and was soon running through a wood - the bridleway here did a passable imitation of a streambed, as there was a couple of inches of running water. Beyond the wood the bridleway continued past a mobile home site on the right.
Near the start of the bridleway going from Whipsnade Downs to Whipsnade
The bridleway going from Whipsnade Downs to Whipsnade
The bridleway going from Whipsnade Downs to Whipsnade
At a bridleway junction (shortly before reaching part of the huge green or common at Whipsnade) I turned left and followed the hedge-lined bridleway to a road on Whipsnade Heath (the road that crosses Dunstable Downs, a mile or so away to my left). On the other side I entered the wooded heath, taking a path going straight into the wood, close to a tall fence on the left. After a short distance the path curved right, close to a very impressive tree apparently called the Witches Beech. The path through the trees was very muddy, and when I turned left at a path junction the next path was just as bad. At the end of this path I turned left and soon left the wooded heath, the path running between a fence and a mature hedgerow on my right. The path then crossed a meadow to reach part of Common Road in Kensworth (opposite Green End Farm). I turned right to return to the start of the walk.
The next bridleway, between Whipsnade and Whipsnade Heath
The path on Whipsnade Heath
Witches Beech on Whipsnade Heath
Path on Whipsnade Heath
Path on Whipsnade Heath
The path from Whipsnade Heath to Kensworth
Approaching Kensworth
This was a very pleasant shorter walk, on a nice sunny winter's day. There were a few short wooded sections, with plenty of field paths, but the obvious highlight was the section on Bison Hill and Whipsnade Downs with their glorious views over the Vale of Aylesbury. The only problem today was that all the paths were very wet after all the rain in January (at least twice the normal rainfall for the month) - the paths were at best very squelchy, in places they were waterlogged and in one or two places gave passable imitations of streambeds, with one or two inches of running water. The 7.2 mile walk took me two and three-quarter hours.