Pete's Walks - Christmas Common, Cookley Green, Ibstone (page 1 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.
Google map of the walkDownload GPX file of the walk
I did this circular walk of about 13.9 miles on Saturday, 17th February 2018. It was a new route for me, although probably 90% was on paths or bridleways I'd walked on previous routes. The path I took out of Christmas Common at the start of the walk, and the paths I took back into Christmas Common at the end of the walk were the only ones I'd not used before.
I parked in Christmas Common, at the start of the road that goes to Northend and Stonor - there is parking on the right for maybe half a dozen cars here (grid reference SU 714933). I started walking just before 10:10am, going back a few yards to the road junction and turning left along the minor road through Christmas Common. Just before the road left the village I took a public footpath on the right, which started along a drive to a property named The Tower. After about a hundred yards a white arrow on a tree indicated where th path forked right from the drive, heading through a wood. After a while there was some of the parkland around Watlington Park over a fence on my left. Soon after I reached a National Trust sign that informed me that I was entering Lower Deans Wood, and here the path turned left through what was now a typical Chiltern beech wood. The ground sloped steeply downhill to my right, and I could see out through the bare trees towards part of Watlington Hill.
The road through Christmas Common
The start of the path from Christmas Common, along the drive to the Tower
Where the path forks right from the drive to The Tower
The path from Christmas Common
The path from Christmas Common
The path from Christmas Common, now in Lower Deans Wood
Lower Deans Wood
Lower Deans Wood
Lower Deans Wood
View towards Watlington Hill
After half a mile or so the path left the wood and ran between fences across an area of grass, with Watlington Park visible up to my left. The path then went through a gate and turned right, dropping steeply downhill through a large pasture (currently empty, but I've seen cows here) - I've seen this bit of the path from a distance on several of my walks, and it was the inspiration for devising this particular route today. There was a grand view ahead out over the Oxfordshire Plain, with Watlington Hill nearby to my right - this was a very pleasant section, though I wouldn't enjoy it so much going steeplu uphill the other way! At the bottom of the slope I went through a gate and continued down a track. Another track soon came in on my right, and as I carried straight on here I was back on familiar territory. I followed the drive for about three hundred yards until it ended at Howe Road (coming from Watlington, to my right).
The path continuing from Lower Deans Wood
The path descending steeply after turning right
The path descending steeply after turning right
The drive from the foot of the hill to Howe Road
The drive from the foot of the hill to Howe Road
I turned left along the road, using the verge on the left-hand side. After about a quarter of a mile I took a footpath on the right, that started immediately before a property named Dumble Dore on the OS map. This path ran mainly between hedgerows, which often overhung the path so they'd have formed a green tunnel if they'd had leaves on them. There were occasional views left or right over the flat fields beyond the hedges. After about half a mile the path came to a T-junction with a bridleway (coming from Dame Alice's Farm to my right) where I turned left to head for Cookley Green.
The path from Dumble Dore
The path from Dumble Dore
The path from Dumble Dore