Pete's Walks- Maidensgrove Common and Henley (page 6 of 6)
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.
About a mile from Paradise Wood I reached Coxlease Farm. Where a gate crossed the track, I went through a kissing-gate next to the gate, then went through another kissing-gate on the left. Instead of continuing ahead through the farmyard I turned sharply left here, passing through a very muddy section of the yard and continuing along a track past the farmhouse on my left to reach Almshill Wood. When the track turned left a faint path continued straight on downhill through the wood - if it wasn't for the occasional white arrows on trees, the path might have been rather difficult to follow in places. On reaching the bottom edge of the wood, the path continued downhill alongside a fence on my right, separating a large pasture from a farmyard. I then reached the bottom of the valley, where I turned right to follow the minor road through Stonor.
Coxlease Farm - the route goes through a kissing-gate beside the gate across the track, through a metal kissing gate on the left and then immediately sharp left to pass the other side of the farm
The path past Coxlease Farm to Almshill Wood
Almshill Wood
Almshill Wood
Almshill Wood
The path continuing from Almshill Wood to the southern edge of Stonor
The road through Stonor
After three or four hundred yards I took a footpath on the left (a few yards before a bridleway goes right). The path was marked 'Maidensgrove 1 mile', and was part of the Chiltern Way. After running between some gardens, it went slightly uphill across a field, before continuing more steeply through a huge and empty pasture. I passed a small coppice on my left and at the top of the field I reached Park Wood. It was still uphill through the first part of the wood, the path really only levelling out just before it left the wood. After crossing a large field (the path wasn't clear today, I aimed towards a corner where I could see the roof of a cottage) I went a little way left to reach the start of a lane by Lodge Farm, Maidensgrove. I turned right along the lane, and when it bent right I turned left and followed the edge of Maidensgrove Common back to the lane where I'd parked.
Start of the path from Stonor to Maidensgrove, after I turned left
The path from Stonor to Maidensgrove
Close-up of fog at Stonor deer park
The path from Stonor to Maidensgrove
Looking back over Stonor
The path from Stonor to Maidensgrove, approaching Park Wood
Park Wood
The path continuing from Park Wood to near Lodge Farm, Maidensgrove
The lane from Lodge Farm, Maidensgrove
It was a shame about the foggy conditions hiding all the views today - I might not have walked in such conditions another time, but I was fairly desperate to get out having not been able to go walking last weekend. Nevertheless I still enjoyed the walk, I found walking through the woods in such conditions quite interesting and a few of the paths I'd not walked since I did this walk five years ago. I still managed to see a bit of wildlife too, lots of Red Kites, a Buzzard, the Fallow deer I mentioned and a Muntjac.