Pete's Walks - Christmas Common, Cookley Green, Ibstone (page 5 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.
On reaching the valley bottom I crossed one of the drives on the Wormsley estate and went a few yards left to where a bridleway continued between hedgerows. But instead of taking the bridleway I took a path going half-right across a field to Hale Wood - there was a nice view to my left as I crossed the field, along the Wormsley Valley. The path continued through Hale Wood, then followed a short fence separating two large sheep pastures to reach Great Wood. The path now climbed steadily uphill through the wood, turning half-right after a while to ease the gradient by going at an angle to the slope. Near the top, the path turned left and ran level for a short way before turning right and soon reaching the edge of the wood. The path then crossed a field to a gate, through which it continued between garden hedges to reach a lane in Ibstone, opposite the wonderfully named Hell Corner Farm.
Near the start of the path up from the Wormsley Valley to Ibstone, heading towards Hale Wood
Looking left along the Wormsley Valley
Hale Wood
The path continuing between Hale Wood and Great Wood
Looking left from where the path enters Great Wood
The path continuing through Great Wood
The path continuing through Great Wood
The path continuing through Great Wood
The path continuing through Great Wood
The path continuing from Great Wood to reach Ibstone by Hell Corner Farm
I turned left along the lane, but only for a short distance until I reached a bridleway on the left. A couple of yards down the bridleway I turned right on a short path that brought me to the edge of Ibstone Common. I then went left and followed the edge of the common. After crossing a drive, I took a path going half=left, soon returning to the edge of the common which I then followed until I reached the wooded northern end of Ibstone Common. Just a few yards into the trees I turned left onto a bridleway, going through a gate and continuing a short (and very muddy) way between hedges before entering Commonhill Wood (a sign told me I was re-entering the Wormsley estate). The bridleway headed downhill through the wood - after a while I reached a section where it had worn a white groove in the chalky hillside. About halfway down the slope I turned left onto a footpath, which dropped more steeply down to the edge of the wood and a stile.
The lane through Ibstone
Ibstone Common
Ibstone Common
The bridleway descending through Commonhill Wood
The bridleway descending through Commonhill Wood
The bridleway descending through Commonhill Wood
Over the stile, the path turned right and descended more gently along the right edge of a huge sheep pasture - it had generally been a very sunny day, but it had now clouded over and the skies would remain grey for the rest of the walk. In the valley bottom I crossed a bridleway (running along a hedge-lined track), the footpath then continuing across a large field. I then crossed one of the drives on the Wormsley estate, and continued along the path as it went half-left and slightly downhill to reach a gate in the corner of another pasture.
The path descending from Commonhill Wood to the bottom of the Wormsley Valley
The path descending from Commonhill Wood to the bottom of the Wormsley Valley
The path continuing after crossing a bridleway
The path continuing after crossing a Wormsly estate drive