Pete's Walks- Watlington Hill and Maidensgrove Common (page 3 of 3)
Lunch over, I turned right along a surfaced track with some cottages on my right and a cricket pitch over the hedge on my left. Further on the track ran through a wood, then continued on to reach Coates Farm. Beyond the farm the track became tarmac, passing another wood on the left and ending at a minor road. On the other side of this road I carried on down another farm drive, heading to what is named Woods Farm on the OS map.
The drive from Cookley Green to Coates Farm
The drive from Cookley Green to Coates Farm
Approaching Coates Farm
The drive continuing from Coates Farm
The drive to Woods Farm
After a hundred yards or so, I turned off the drive onto a bridleway that went left. This gradually descended the Chiltern escarpment over quite a long distance, mainly running between trees and part of it being in an old 'hollow way' or sunken lane. After passing Dame Alice Farm, the bridleway continued ahead along the farm drive.
The bridleway to Dame Alice Farm
The bridleway to Dame Alice Farm
The bridleway to Dame Alice Farm
The bridleway to Dame Alice Farm
The drive from Dame Alice Farm
Looking towards Watlington Hill, from the drive from Dame Alice Farm. The car park where the walk started is in the corner of the wood at the top of the hill, a little to the left of the pylon on the skyline.
When the farm drive turned right (with tracks going on ahead and to the left), I also turned right but went through a metal gate and followed the permissive path here (an alternative to the Ridgeway National Trail, which runs along the tarmac drive). The path followed a tall hedge on my left, with the drive on the other side, through a large and empty sheep pasture with a view of Watlington Hill ahead. The path rejoined the farm drive where it ended at a road, and I followed the road right for two or three hundred yards before taking a footpath along a gravel drive on the left.
The permissive path that runs parallel to the Ridgeway
The road from Watlington
After a few yards a path forked left, just before a cottage. This path ran between hedgerows for some distance (going through a couple of gates at one point) and then started a long and gradual climb up Watlington Hill. I spotted a Bee Orchid beside the path and there were several Pyramidal Orchids. I also spotted some Marbled White butterflies. The path passed through an open grassy area, then through an area of Yew trees, before reaching some beech trees at the top of the hill. The path led straight back to the car park on Watlington Hill.
The path to Watlington Hill
The path up Watlington Hill
The path up Watlington Hill
The path up Watlington Hill
The path up Watlington Hill, approaching the car park
This was the longest walk I'd done for a while (I still don't think I've got my strength back after the viral infections I had), and I've definitely lost fitness - I felt sluggish and stiff-legged after my lunch break, I haven't experienced that for several years. It was a very enjoyable walk, in a part of the Chilterns that I really like and visit often. Apart from the small section in woods near Maidensgrove the route was on paths that I've walked many times before, but I'd linked them up in a new combination and they didn't seem over-familiar or boring. It was a very good day weather-wise, and there was a fair bit of wildlife and nature to enjoy.