Pete's Walks- Maidensgrove and Greys Court (page 3 of 5)
The path through the car park was clear, then I passed the booth were visitors were paying to see round Greys Court and continued along a drive, passing the grand house on my right. After passing some outbuildings, a short path left the drive on the right to reach a lane, Rocky Lane. The Chiltern Way went straight on here, but I turned right along the lane, this being the start of another section that was new to me. After a few hundred yards a footpath went left, following the right edge of a sheep pasture to reach a gate leading into a wood. I'm not sure if this section of wood is part of Sam's Wood, but after going through a second gate I was certainly in Sam's Wood (named on the OS map). The path continued through the middle of the wood to reach the far (southern) side, where I turned right.
Greys Court
Rocky Lane
The start of the path from Rocky Lane to Sam's Wood
The path continuing through the wood, I'm not sure whether this first section is Sam's Wood or not
The path continuing through Sam's Wood
The path through Sam's Wood
The path left the wood and ran between a hedgerow and the fence of a paddock on my right. I soon came across my first Cuckoo-flower of the year here. The path continued along the left edge of a meadow before running between fences around the edge of a cottage's garden to reach the attractive hamlet of Shepherd's Green. I'd been here before, but not by the route I'd taken today.
The path from Sam's Wood to Shepherds' Green
Cuckoo-flower (or Lady's Smock or Mayflower) along the path from Sam's Wood to Shepherds' Green
The path from Sam's Wood to Shepherds' Green
Shepherd's Green
I kept to the right edge of the green here for a hundred yards or so (beside a gravel drive most of the way) and followed a short track through bushes in the corner. Within a few yards I came to a path junction, where I decided to explore another new path by turning right (previously I'd always used the path going straight on towards Padnell's Wood). The path I used today headed north, running gently downhill beside a hedge on my right. In the valley bottom it entered Overland's Wood, another mainly beech wood - I thought to myself that there was nowhere I'd rather be on a fine Spring day like this than walking through such a wood, with plenty of different flowers to distract me. Beyond the wood the path continued between wooden fences either side and passed a cottage before reaching another section of Rocky Lane, where I turned left.
Looking back at Shepherd's Green
Start of the path going northwest from Shepherd's Green
The start of the path going north from Shepherd's Green
The path going north from Shepherd's Green
The path going north from Shepherd's Green
Rocky Lane (again)