Pete's Walks >- Stoke Row, Woodhouse Farm, Checkendon (page 4 of 7)
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.
I followed Garsons Lane past Garsons Farm on my right, and then a view opened out ahead of me over the Oxfordshire Plain. I then took a byway (Braziers Lane) forking left into a wood. I went straight on where one path went left, then after another quarter of a mile or so through the wood (close to a field corner on my right) I took a path going sharp left, going gently downhill just inside an edge of the wood. On reaching a path junction I took a quick detour, going down some steps on my right to a gate where I took a photo of the view over Bottom Farm, before going back up the steps and continuing on my way.
View out to the Oxfordshire Plain from Garsons Lane
Braziers Lane, a bywyay forking left from Garsons Lane
Braziers Lane
The start of the path going sharp left from Braziers Lane (the second path on the left)
The path going sharp left from Braziers Lane
View over Bottom Farm
The path going sharp left from Braziers Lane
The path going sharp left from Braziers Lane
At the bottom of the slope (where another path went right) I continued along a valley bottom, the wood here being named Braziers Common on the OS map. I was dismayed to see that the wood was infested with Himalaya Balsam, a pretty pink flower that is non-native and very invasive - it was clearly taking over much of the woodland floor at the expense of native plants. The path along the valley seemed narrower and more overgrown than I remembered. When I eventually reached a path crossroads (having passed a junction where a path came in on the left) I turned right, following this path gently uphill through the wood. I kept left at a junction where the path forked, and soon after finally left the woods, following a track past some cottages to reach a lane almost opposite Scott's Farm.
The path continuing along the valley bottom
The path continuing along the valley bottom
The path continuing along the valley bottom
The path continuing along the valley bottom
Fungi on a mossy stump
The footpath after I turned right at a path crossroads
The footpath after I turned right at a path crossroads
The footpath after I turned right at a path crossroads (after keeping left at a fork)
The footpath after I turned right at a path crossroads
The cottages just before I reached a lane and Scot's Farm