Pete's Walks - Maidensgrove Common and Moor Common (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.
The highlight of this lengthy stretch through the woods was seeing a Fallow Deer on the bridleway ahead of me - it was one of the 'spotted' ones, which I don't see too often. At the end of the woods, I took a new permissive bridleway (the official route of the bridleway goes through a farmyard) which continued a bit more steeply uphill, between a fence on my left and a hedgerow. At the top of the slope I continued beside the fence (there had been a good display of wildflowers to the right here when I came this way in July, but that area had been mown now), and then turned left along the drive from Kimble Farm.
The long bridleway through the woods
The long bridleway through the woods
The long bridleway through the woods
The permissive bridleway near Kimble Farm
The permissive bridleway near Kimble Farm
When the drive brought me to a lane, there was a nice view ahead over the Thames Valley towards Berkshire (I missed seeing this view when I did the walk the other way in July). I turned right and followed the lane for over half a mile, passing a number of Chestnut trees at one point (I only recognised them from the chestnuts on the ground). Eventually I took a bridleway on the right (where the lane turned left), which was heading to Coxlease Farm. I didn't go that far, turning right after a couple of hundred yards or so to follow a bridleway that dropped steeply downhill through Almshill Wood, following the fence of the Stonor deer park on my right. The path brought me back to Stonor, in the valley bottom. I went just a few yards left along the road, then took a path on the other side. This ran between gardens a short way, then crossed a ploughed field before rising steadily uphill through a large cattle pasture to reach Park Wood
View from across the lane at the end of the drive from Kimble Farm
The lane, betweeen Kinmble Farm and Coxlease Farm
The track to Coxlease Farm
The path going steeply downhill through Almshill Wood to Stonor
The path going steeply downhill through Almshill Wood to Stonor
The path going uphill from Stonor to Park Wood
The path going uphill from Stonor to Park Wood
The path continued uphill through Park Wood, levelling off just before I reached the far side. The path then crossed a very stony field, turning left on the other side to reach the end of a lane in Maidensgrave by Lodge Farm. I turned right along the lane, and when this turned right after maybe a quarter of a mile I turned left along a track. This took me past a few cottages and then I continued along the left edge of Maidensgrove Common, until I reached the lane that crosses the common where I turned right to return to my car.
The path continuing through Park Wood
The path continuing through Park Wood
The path continuing from Park Wood to Lodge Farm. Maidensgrove
The lane through Maidensgrove
Maidensgrove Common
It was a very grey day unfortunately, perhaps I should have saved walking this route in this direction for the first time until a better day. I enjoyed it anyway, but on a warmer and sunnier day I'm sure it would have been more enjoyable. There were two or three short sections that I was walking in this direction for the first time, which made it a bit more interesting for me, and the paths that I was familiar with were largely one that I always enjoy anyway. It was a fairly typical Chiltern Walk, a nice mixture of woods and fields, with a few ups and downs to keep it interesting. If I do it again, I'll probably do it in June, just to see the magnificent display of orchids at Moorend Common at that time of year.