Pete's Walks- Hawridge, Chartridge End, Great Hivings (page 4 of 4)
If you are considering walking this route yourself, please see my disclaimer. You may also like to see these notes about the maps and GPX files.
On the far side of the meadow I reached a path junction where I turned half-left, along the far side of the hedgerow, with another meadow sloping down to my right. Beyond this meadow the path continued through what I at first thought was a sheep pasture, until at the end of the hedgerow the path turned left beside a fence and I saw that this large L-shaped field contained a variety of other animals as well - goats, alpacas, Shetland ponies. In the corner of the field I came to a path junction where I turned right, thus rejoining the route I'd taken on the Cholesbury and Whelpley Hill walk I mentioned earlier. Beyond the large field with the many types of animals, the path continued beside some enclosures on the right that contained pigs. As I then crossed a track called Hawridge Lane, I noticed that the farm here was called 'Animal Farm', which was very appropriate. The path now ran for several hundred yards as a 'green tunnel', the hedges either side meeting overhead.
The path after I turned half-left to continue northwest
The path after I turned half-left to continue northwest
The path after it turned left - I turned right in the next corner, where the two paths from the public byway joined together
Continuing through the same field, after turning right - you can see a few of the numerous varied animals kept here at Animal Farm
The footpath continuing northwest from Hawridge Lane
The footpath continuing northwest from Hawridge Lane
On reaching another track or drive, I turned right and passed a house on my left. Just past this I turned left, the path soon running along the left edge of a corn field. In the next field corner the path went through the hedge and turned right, with something marked 'Works' on the OS map on my left. The other time I came this way I turned left at the corner of the Works, but again I chose to try a different path and went half-left, along the far side of a hedge, to reach Peppett's Wood (named on the Google map, but not on the OS maps). There was initially a lot of holly in the wood, but it gradually became less prevalent as the path dropped downhill into a valley.
The footpath continuing northwest, approaching what is marked on the OS map as 'Works'
The footpath beside the 'Works'
The footpath from the woods approaching Peppett's Wood (named on Google map, not on OS map)
The footpath continuing through Peppett's Wood
The footpath continuing through Peppett's Wood
At the bottom of the valley I crossed a path that I recognised from the Chiltern Heritage Trail (the path runs from near Cholesbury along a valley called White Hawridge Bottom). The path I was on today continued up the opposite hillside, passing some paddocks or meadows on the right. At the top of the hill I reached the road that runs through Cholesbury and Hawridge, where I crossed over and turned left to follow the edge of Hawridge Common back to where I was parked by the Full Moon pub. I think the walk had taken about three hours and ten minutes by the time I got back to my car.
The footpath continuing up the other side of the valley
The footpath continuing up the other side of the valley
The footpath continuing up the other side of the valley
The edge of Hawridge Common
The edge of Hawridge Common, approaching the Full Moon pub
It had been a nice sunny morning, and there were plenty of different wildflowers adding splashes of colour everywhere, so I did this walk in pretty much my favourite conditions. But even taking that into account, and allowing for the fact that I always enjoy walking new paths, I'm still really pleased with this route, especially considering that I made it up very quickly shortly before I set off. There were none of the spectacular views you get from the Chiltern Escarpment, and there was no chalk downland anywhere on the route, but I thought the walk went through what I consider to be very typical Chiltern scenery, with alternating hills and valleys. I was mainly following field paths, but there were occasional stretches through woods for variety. And there were plenty of fine views along the valleys, with the buttercup-filled meadows often adding a dash of bright colour to the scene. It's certainly a walk I'd enjoy doing again sometime.