Pete's Walks- Cowleaze Wood and Radnage (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.
I turned left along the Ridgeway, which here was a broad track between hedges with the Chiltern escarpment across the fields to my left. After almost half a mile I crossed the A40, and continued along the Ridgeway as it passed the foot of Beacon Hill. It was almost another half mile from the A40 to where I passed under the M40, and then it was a similar distance before I took a footpath on the left.
The Ridgeway
The Ridgeway
The Ridgeway, after I crossed the A40
The Ridgeway, passing the bottom of Beacon Hill
The Ridgeway after passing under the M40, looking towards Shirburn Hill (I would later turn left to cross the lighter green field in the centre of the shot)
The path crossed a pasture that contained some sheep and their lambs, and then continued through Old Cricketground Plantation. Beyond this I turned left, following the edge of the wood and then a fence through a couple of larger sheep pastures. The path was climbing very gently alongside the southern flank of Bald Hill, on my left. Further on the path turned right across the end of a valley, then turned left and rose quite steeply through bushes but only for a a short while. It then followed the edge of an empty pasture, levelling out as it did so. I then crossed a road and turned left, following a path running parallel to the road for about a hundred yards to return to the Cowleaze Wood car park where I'd started.
The obligatory lamb shot, I have to take one every Spring ...
... and another one
The path through Old Cricketground Plantation (I can't always remember the names of woods, but strangely enough I have no difficulty remembering the name of this one!)
The path through Old Cricketground Plantation
The path continuing towards Cowleaze Wood (Bald Hill on the left)
The path continuing towards Cowleaze Wood (Bald Hill on the left)
The path continuing towards Cowleaze Wood
Looking back, towards the Oxfordshire Plain (the wood on the right is Old Cricketground Plantation)
The path continuing towards Cowleaze Wood - this is the short steep bit
Near the end of the path towards Cowleaze Wood
The path back to the Cowleaze Wood car park
I think I shall always remember this walk for the surprising number of wildflowers I saw. But apart from that, I think it was a very pleasant route and I think I preferred walking it this way round - although I could, of course, be being swayed by the fact that it was such a fine Spring day.