Pete's Walks- Hambleden, Marlow Common, Moorend Common (page 4 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.
I turned right along the lane, but only for a hundred yards or so before forking left onto a footpath. This followed a track for a few yards, but when that turned left into a farmyard the path carried straight on through a beech wood. The path soon passed quite close to a field on the left, before entering a more mixed wood, all the time gradually dropping downhill. A white arrow showed that I needed to keep left at a fork, then further on another path crossed the one I was on. The path continued very gradually descending through the wood until I eventually came to a narrow fork (I thought that both paths might come together after a few yards, but they didn't), where the right fork started to drop downhill more steeply and soon brought me to a lane in the hamlet of Pheasant's Hill.
Near the start of the path to Pheasant's Hill
The path to Pheasant's Hill
The path to Pheasant's Hill
The path to Pheasant's Hill - where it keeps left at a fork
The path to Pheasant's Hill
The path to Pheasant's Hill
The path to Pheasant's Hill
The path to Pheasant's Hill - where it goes right at a fork
View over Pheasant's Hill and the Hambleden Valley
I crossed the lane and went down a very narrow alley. At it's end I turned right along a private road for a few yards, then turned left onto a crossing footpath. This ran between gardens either side (in fact they were the same gardens either side!) and then continued between a carnivorous hedge (see the photo below if you don't believe me!) and a paddock on my right. The path continued through a paddock and then an empty pasture.
The path through Pheasant's Hill
The path through Pheasant's Hill
The carniverous hedge, Pheasant's Hill
The path continuing from Pheasant's Hill to Hambleden
The path continuing from Pheasant's Hill to Hambleden
After going through a gate on the other side of the pasture, I went a short way along the path through a similar pasture, but then left it at a gate in the hedge on the left (where there was a footpath fingerpost). I now turned right to follow a lane into Hambleden, soon reaching the churchyard on my right. When the lane turned right, to reach the village square, I turned left along a short street to return to the car park where I'd started.
The lane in Hambleden
Hambleden church
Sign on garden gate in Hambleden
Hambleden - the street leading to the car park
This was a very enjoyable walk, though I must admit that most of the enjoyment came from the wildlife I saw. I found all the orchids I'd hoped to see, including two species I'd never seen before, and plenty of other wildlife that I just came across by chance. However I don't think I'd do this as a "wildlife walk" again, because the orchids at Homefield Wood and Moorend Common were out of sync (the former were coming to the end of their flowering period, the latter were not yet fully flowering). But it was a new route for me, even though there were only two or three paths I'd not walked before, and it was a perfectly pleasant 10-mile walk.