Pete's Walks- North from Hambleden (page 4 of 4)
I went straight on at a path junction where another footpath went left. The path I was on continued through the wood (still Great Wood, I think) and eventually reached another surfaced drive, where I turned right. After following the drive for a few hundred yards, the footpath turned left along a broad track for a short distance to reach the edge of the wood, overlooking the Hambleden Valley.
The start of the footpath through Great Wood
The footpath through Great Wood
The footpath through Great Wood
The footpath through Great Wood
The footpath through Great Wood
The footpath continuing along a surfaced track
The path just before it leaves the wood
The path continued ahead between fields to reach a corner of a wood (Ridge Wood is the nearest name I can see on the OS map). There was a nice view over the Hambleden Valley around Pheasant's Hill here. The path kept just inside the edge of the wood as it dropped down into the valley. Beyond the wood I joined a track that continued ahead between hedgerows to reach the minor road that runs through the Hambleden Valley.
The path starting to descend into the Hambleden Valley, looking towards Pheasant's Hill
Looking along the Hambleden Valley
The path dropping through another wood (Ridge Wood?)
The path dropping through another wood (Ridge Wood?)
The path continuing along a track, again looking towards Pheasant's Hill
I turned right and followed the road for a few hundred yards, then took a path going half-left across a meadow next to the Hamble Brook. The meadow became very wet as I reached the far side, and I could not help but get some water in my boots. It hardly mattered, as I now just had to follow a lane left and then retrace the start of the walk back through Hambleden to the car park.
The minor road into Hambleden
The path through the wet meadow, heading towards Hambleden church
The lane running past the church to the centre of Hambleden
It took me 3 hours and 40 minutes to walk the 9 miles, but I was deliberately taking my time as I've still not recovered from the virus I had in February last year (I still felt ill for a couple of days after the walk). It was a very enjoyable walk, especially if you like woods - some people might think there were too many woods and possibly too few views. It's a little hard for me to evaluate the walk, as it was such a beautiful Spring day and I was so desperate to get out for a walk again that I would probably have enjoyed any walk at all. But it's certainly a route I would be happy to walk again.