Pete's Walks - Hambleden, Medmenham, Colstrope, Fawley (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.
After a quarter of a mile or so a path crossed the muddy path I was on, and I turned left, this path being the last new one I'd walk today. The path ran between widely spaced fences with empty pastures either side. The first part of the path was very squelchy, but fortunately it improved after it turned slightly left. I met a lady with a dog by a stile, and she pointed out a group of over 40 Fallow Deer in a field to my left, which I hadn't noticed at all. Over the stile, the path continued along the left edge of a meadow close to Lower Woodend Farm on my right (it seemed odd that I'd been past places called Woodend on either side of the Hambleden Valley on this walk). Through a gate I then joined the tree-lined drive from the farm and followed it to a lane, where I turned left. Back on familiar ground again, I soon reached Roundhouse Farm at Fawley (a building with a round turret said 'The Roundhouse'), where I turned left to follow a bridleway along a track. After reaching a cottage on my left the bridleway became a very muddy path indeed, although I had the compensation of a fine view to my right across the Thames Valley.
The path after I turned left, heading towards Lower Woodend Farm
The path to Lower Woodend Farm
The path continuing along the drive from Lower Woodend Farm
Near the start of the bridleway from The Roundhouse, Fawley
The bridleway from The Roundhouse, Fawley
View right from the bridleway from The Roundhouse, Fawley
The bridleway from The Roundhouse, Fawley, approaching Great Wood
The bridleway squelched its way to Great Wood (which I'd been in before), where the mud eased considerably and progress was much faster. I had a very pleasant and straightforward section of about a mile walking through the wood. On leaving the wood the bridleway dropped downhill through an area of grass, with a view ahead of the Thames Valley. At the bottom of the slope I turned right along a track, but soon came to another junction where I turned left onto another bridleway.
The bridleway continuing through Great Wood
The bridleway continuing through Great Wood
The bridleway continuing through Great Wood
The bridleway continuing through Great Wood
The bridleway continuing downhill from Great Wood (there is a glimpse of the Thames in the top left of the photo)
The bridleway ran between hedges for a while, then had Ridge Wood rising up on my left. As usual when I come this way, I had to check my OS map when a track went half-left up into the wood, before deciding I needed to go straight on. Sure enough, the footpath where I wanted to go half-left started one or two hundred yards further on (the path crosses the bridleway, so there is a gate nearby on the right). The path led uphill into the wood for a short while, then just after a path junction it turned left and started to gradually drop downhill through the trees - I saw five more Fallow Deer here. The path ended at the road through the Hambleden valley, where I crossed over and followed a short lane into Hambleden. I turned right in the centre of the village to pass the butchers and the pub and so return to the car park where I'd started.
The bridleway along the southern edge of Ridge Wood
The bridleway along the southern edge of Ridge Wood
The path after I forked left, uphill through Ridge Wood
The path through Ridge Wood
The path descending through Ridge Wood towards Hambleden
The end of the path, by a road junction at Hambleden
Hambleden church
It's a very long time since I've walked so many paths that I'd not used before, so the element of exploration certainly made this an interesting walk for me. It was a shame about the grey and very muddy conditions, but then they are to be expected when it's the end of January. The start of the walk was very good, I enjoyed the paths I took to Medmenham, and then the long woodland sections to Bovingdon Green. The undulating area further north was unusual for the Chilterns, I thought, but I doubt I'll be back there too often simply because of the lack of footpaths that link up in a useful manner. The paths to and from Pheasants were quite nice, and I enjoyed revisiting the mainly woodland paths to the west of the Hambleden Valley.