Pete's Walks- Cowleaze Wood, Studdridge Farm, Christmas Common (page 3 of 5)
I crossed the road and started walking half-right across Ibstone Common, heading first towards the prominent Millennium Stone. Beyond the stone I continued roughly in the same direction, on a path heading towards a corner of the common. I went straight on where some paths met in that corner, then a few yards further on I turned left at another path junction. I was now back on the route of the Chiltern Way, as it descended on a bridleway through Commonhill Wood (possibly the same one I'd been through on the other side of the road earlier) back to the Wormsley Valley. Part way down the hill, the Chiltern Way took a path that went left from the bridleway, soon leaving the wood and bearing right along a field edge to continue downhill to the bottom of the Wormsley Valley. This was a very pleasant section of the walk, with good views of the Wormsley Valley ahead and to either side.
Ibstone Common
The Millennium Stone on Ibstone Common, and the path continuing to where I rejoined the Chiltern Way
The bridleway from Ibstone into Commonhill Wood
The bridleway from Ibstone into Commonhill Wood
The path from Commonhill Wood down into the Wormsley Valley
The path from Commonhill Wood down into the Wormsley Valley - you can see the path continuing across the next field
In the valley bottom the path crossed a bridleway on a farm track. At this point I changed my plans again. I had intended to turn left and follow the bridleway for about a mile to Northend, following the route of that walk I did in January 2014. However I only wanted to do that because I'd not walked the bridleway in that direction before - I thought it would have been a pleasant but not particularly fine section. This route had been so delightful so far, I didn't want to impair it now by not taking the most attractive route to Christmas Common, and so after studying the map and seeing a couple of other options I decided I'd continue ahead along the Chiltern Way as far as Northend. I have to say that I think this is the first time I've ever done this - I just do these walks for my own pleasure and to suit my own purposes, not to try to devise the best possible walking route in an area. But this was a walk that I thought deserved a '9/10', and I felt it would be a shame to make it slightly less good than it could be. In any case, the route I followed still allowed me to fulfil may aim for the day of walking about 10 miles in around four hours.
So I stayed on the path as it continued across a large grassy field. It then crossed another of the drives on the Wormsley estate, and then dropped slightly downhill across the corner of another field. I went a few yards right along another drive, then took a footpath on the left. A short distance further on I came to a path junction, where I turned left, keeping on the Chiltern Way (the other option I'd considered was to go straight on here - I chose to go the way I did just because it was slightly longer and because it was a long time since I'd used that path).
The path continuing across the next field
The next field
The path fork where the Chiltern Way goes left. Note the bit of statuary on the right.
The path ran through Blackmoor Wood, at first through a fairly flat area, then going quite steeply uphill. Here most of the trees seemed to be young beech with a few silver birch, similar to Hartmoor wood earlier. Eventually the path reached a slightly more open area, an 'Open Access' area which was more like a common than a wood, and then ended at a minor road in Northend (part of the parish of Turville).
The Chiltern Way in Blackmoor Wood
The Chiltern Way in Blackmoor Wood
The Chiltern Way in Blackmoor Wood
The Chiltern Way in Blackmoor Wood, now rising quite steeply
The Chiltern Way in Blackmoor Wood
The Chiltern Way emerging from Blackmoor Wood into the Open Access area at Northend