Pete's Walks- Redland End and Coombe Hill (page 5 of 5)
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 led very gradually uphill, at some point moving from Hengrove Wood into Widnell Wood. At one point I ignored a white arrow pointing down a track on the right (it's not a public right of way, unless my OS map is out of date) but further on turned sharply right on a path that went steadily downhill to emerge from the wood at the same point as the track would have led me to. I then followed a hedgerow on my left, and then followed a hedge that skirted round a sizable garden, before following the drive from Dirtywood Farm down to a minor road - I saw a Green Woodpecker near the farm, several Fieldfares in the field on my right, and a Buzzard over the trees ahead of me (I have often seen them here before).
Where I turned left from the path through Hengrove Wood
The footpath through Widnell Wood
The footpath through Widnell Wood (the white arrow is wrong)
The path after I turned sharply right in Widnell Wood
The path continuing towards Dirtywood Farm
I crossed the road and continued down a public footpath along the very long drive to a property named Solinger House. After a while this turned left (a footpath went straight on). When after a few hundred more yards the drive went right, I went straight on over a stile by a gate, then immediately turned left along a path through Knighton's Hill Wood. After passing a section of conifers on my left, the wood became a typical Chiltern Beech Wood and soon after the path rose quite steeply for a short while. When the path then turned right, the gradient eased considerably and I was soon on level (if very muddy) ground again.
The drive to Solinger House
The drive to Solinger House
The start of the path through Knighton's Hill Wood
The path through Knighton's Hill Wood
The path through Knighton's Hill Wood, after it turns right at the top of the steepish slope
I squelched straight on through the trees, then after a few hundred yards I passed a huge ploughed field on my left, which stretched away towards Great Hampden. Beyond this field the path carried on, now in a wood called Barnes Grove. Just after another path came in on the left, the path started running along a section of Grim's Ditch, an ancient earthwork. It soon came to an end when the wood ended, by the road junction in Redland End where I'd started.
The path through Knighton's Hill Wood
The path now approaching the huge field near Great Hampden
Continuing past the huge field near Great Hampden
The path continuing through Barne's Grove
The path continuing through Barne's Grove, now along the route of Grim's Ditch
It was such a shame about the grey, misty and muddy conditions today, because this is really a very nice walk and my very miserable photos really don't do it justice. There's a lot of woodland walking, with just a few sections along field paths to break it up, and a short bit of chalk downland at Coombe Hill (where normally the views would be the highlight of the walk). I still managed to see a bit of wildlife, apart from the birds I saw near Dirtywood Farm I saw a few Red Kites and twice came across a Muntjac deer. It's certainly a walk I'd be very happy to do again, but hopefully on a sunnier day.