Pete's Walks- Bradenham and Studley Green (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.
The path brought me down to Slough Lane, where I turned left (I'd crossed this lane earlier, shortly after leaving Hearnton Wood). The lane almost immediately turned right, and after passing an impressive farmhouse on my right I turned right onto a footpath. This climbed diagonally across a field sloping steeply uphill - the lower part of the field was a meadow or pasture, the upper half was rougher grass. Again I was struggling a bit for breath as I made my way up here (I'm woefully unfit). In the top corner of the field the path entered Allnutt's Wood, and soon levelled out. After a short distance the path brought me to the drive to Nobles Farm (about half a mile to my right - the drive is the continuation of the footpath I'd crossed in Hearnton Wood earlier on this walk).
Slough Lane (which I'd crossed earlier on the walk) - I turned right after the fencing
The path going up to Allnutt's Wood
Looking back from the climb to Allnutt's Wood
Approaching Allnutt's Wood
The path continuing through Allnutt's Wood
Across the drive, the path continued through Allnutt's Wood. It followed a track for a few yards, then forked left (there wasn't a sign pointing the way I was going, but there was a sign pointing back the way I'd come, and a 'Private - no entry' sign a few yards ahead along the track). The path now descended gently, going at an easy angle across the hillside. I found the path through the wood simple enough to follow, despite all the floor of the wood being covered in beech leaves.
The path through Allnutt's Wood, just after crossing the drive to Nobles Farm
The path through Allnutt's Wood
The path through Allnutt's Wood
Beyond the wood, the path continued in the same direction and at the same easy gradient downhill, now passing through a large uncultivated field of long grass. There was a nice view ahead of me, but again it was hardly at its best in these very grey conditions. Beyond this field, the path went through a hedgerow and turned right, following the hedge to a gate in the next corner. Through the gate the path went left through the end of a large field with several horses in it. The path then went under a railway bridge, and finally crossed an empty field to reach the A4010, almost opposite the Red Lion pub at Bradenham. I crossed over and went down the lane into the village. When I reached Old Rectory Lane on the right, I followed a path half-right across the large green, to return to the drive on the other side of the green and so back to the car park where I'd started.
The path continuing from Allnutt's Wood, with Bradenham on the other side of the valley
The path continuing from Allnutt's Wood
The path continuing from Allnutt's Wood
The path continuing under the railway
The path approaching the A4010 at Bradenham
Bradenham church
Bradenham Manor
The path across the green and back to the car park
This was the first time I'd started a walk in Bradenham, but I'm sure I'll start more walks from here in the future. It was an exceptionally hilly route, six ups and downs in only eight miles and four of the uphill sections were quite long and/or steep by the standards of the Chilterns. I think that explains why it took me three and a quarter hours, whereas last week I walked 12 miles in four and a quarter hours (there was only one significant uphill in that walk). It also explains why my rather arthritic knees were sore for a couple of days afterwards, unfortunately.
I thoroughly enjoyed the walk, despite the typical November conditions of grey skies and dampness in the air. I'd hate to live somewhere where all the seasons are pretty much the same (but somewhere where Autumn and Winter only lasted a month each would be ideal!). It was nice to see that there were still one or two wildflowers about, and I spotted a Muntjac in one of the woods, too. The up-and-down nature of the route made it quite challenging for a walk of only 8 miles (again by the standards of the Chilterns), but I'd be very happy to do it again. I only chose to do it in this clockwise direction because I hadn't walked the first part of the route (to Chorley) that way before, I suspect it would be just as good anti-clockwise.