Pete's Walks - West Wycombe, Horsleys Green, Fingest (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.
Across the road a footpath started down an alley. I followed the path for several hundred yards, passing a playing area on my right at one point. On reaching a street, I crossed over, the path continuing with garden fences on my left. When the path ended at a metal-kissing-gate, I went through it and immediately turned right through a similar gate. The next short section of path through a small wood was one of the muddiest of the entire walk, but I soon emerged into an area of rough grass, with houses on the edge of Lane End to my right. I went straight on, then turned left just before drawing level with a footpath finger-post next to the houses. A clear path crossed the area of rough grass to reach a drive running along the far side, next to part of Wittendon Park Wood. I crossed the drive and took a path leading into the wood, which after a while turned left and eventually exited the wood at the end of a drive by a road.
Start of the path continuing northeast from the centre of Lane End
The path continuing northeast from the centre of Lane End
The path continuing northeast from the centre of Lane End
The path after I turned right, on the edge of Lane End
The start of the path to Widdenton Park Wood
Widdenton Park Wood
Widdenton Park Wood
I turned right along the road, which immediately crossed the M40. I then took a footpath on the left, which started alongside Sandage Wood on my right, with a pleasant and far-reaching view to my left. Beyond the wood, the path continued alongside a hedgerow to reach a field corner. Here the path went through a gate on the right, into an empty paddock. The path then aimed at where the fence or hedge on the left turned left, the path then turning alongside it. On leaving the paddock (with Fryer's Farm on my left) I went straight on down a farm track, now on a bridleway. After a while, the bridleway and track continued alongside Hellbottom Wood on my left (a footpath forked slightly left to run just inside the wood), then the bridleway forked half-right from the track to cross part of an arable field (my boots picked up lost of mud here). Adams Park, home of Wycombe Wanderers FC, was a short distance to my right and a game was in progress - from the shouts of the crowd I got the impression the home team were on top, but I discovered later that they lost 1-2 to Mansfield Town. The bridleway now followed another track uphill, initially with another part of Hellbottom Wood on my left and then continuing between hedgerows. This was very muddy indeed, and quite frankly a tedious slog - after the best part of six hours of muddy walking, my legs were already pretty tired and this drained almost all the remaining energy out of them.
The road crossing the bridge over the M40
The path past Sandage Wood
The bridleway from Fryer's Farm
The bridleway from Fryer's Farm
The bridleway where it starts to climb uphill to Towerage
The bridleway near the top of the slope
The bridleway eventually reached a cottage on the right, where it turned left and at last the mud eased a bit. I was now on Toweridge Lane in the hamlet of Towerage (I'm still confused by the two different spellings), and I soon came to a junction where I followed the lane right. It dropped steadily downhill, through a wood at first, then between hedgerows, to reach the A40. I then just had to go a short way right to reach West Wycombe, where I immediately turned left to return to the car park where I'd started.
Toweridge Lane running through Towerage
Equestrian statue in the grounds of West Wycombe House
Toweridge Lane heading down towards West Wycombe
I'd forgotten that this walk had taken almost 6 hours when I did it in the opposite direction in January. It took 20-30 minutes longer this time, because of the very muddy conditions - I've always found a walk of 5-6 hours can take me 20-30 minutes longer when it's muddy. My legs were really tired at the end, and I was generally more worn out than usual (I was still a bit stiff in the legs two days letter, which is most unusual). But despite the mud and the grey skies I still enjoyed the walk (except perhaps for that muddy slog up to Towerage!) and I'd like to do it again on a nicer day. There were seven or eight ups and downs, with a good mixture of woods and field paths, with some very nice views in places.