Pete's Walks- Christmas Common, Russell's Water, Nuffield (page 5 of 7)
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.
Beyond this second arable field the Ridgeway continued a short distance between bushes and trees (where I saw my first Crosswort of 2017) and then ran between hedges and fences to pass the grand house of Ewelme Park. It then crossed a bridleway and continued through a farmyard, turning right along a tree-lined track and then following the right edge of another arable field.
The path continuing north towards Ewelme Park
The path passing Ewelme Park
The path passing Ewelme Park
The Ridgeway continuing from Ewelme Park
The Ridgeway continuing from Ewelme Park
Wood Speedwell (I saw this lovely little flower in more places today than on any other walk I've done)
A hundred yards or so before the end of the field, I left the Ridgeway and went over a stile on the right. There was then a very pleasant path along the top of some parkland that sloped down on my left towards Swyncombe House. I followed the edge of Straights Plantation on my right, admiring the views on my left over Swyncombe towards Swyncombe Downs (as with all the views on this grey and slightly misty day, they were nowhere near their best today).
View from the path through the parkland above Swyncombe House
The path through the parkland above Swyncombe House
View from the path through the parkland above Swyncombe House
The path through the parkland above Swyncombe House
The path through the parkland above Swyncombe House
Where the grass and trees of the parkland ended, I went over a stile and continued through Haycroft Wood. I crossed a drive going down to Swyncombe House, and not long after I came to a grassy gap between Haycroft and Church Woods, where again there was a view over Swyncombe on my left. Just a few yards further on I turned sharply right at a path crossroads, going back across the grassy gap and back into Haycroft Wood.
The path continuing through Haycroft Wood
The path continuing through Haycroft Wood
View over Swyncombe, from the gap between Haycroft Wood and Church Wood
The start of the path after I turned sharply right, heading back into Haycroft Wood
The path after I turned sharply right in Haycroft Wood