Pete's Walks - Stoke Row, Nettlebed, Woodhouse Farm (page 7 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.
The byway then continued through Bixmoor Wood. It went left at an apparent track fork near the far side of the wood, and a little further on the wood became Little Common. Beyond that the byway continued between hedgerows to reach Homer Farm where it became a lane, soon entering the wooded Ipsden Heath and eventually bringing me to a minor road.
The byway going east from Hailey, in Bixmoor Wood
The byway going east from Hailey, in Little Common
The byway going east from Hailey
The byway going east from Hailey, near Homer Farm
The byway going east from Hailey, in Ipsden Heath
The byway going east from Hailey, in Ipsden Heath
Across the road I took another byway named Cox's Lane. The first hundred yards or so weren't pleasant, partly because they were very muddy and partly because of the various skips that were lying here. But then the byway ran very pleasantly between hedgerows, heading roughly southeast. After about half a mile I passed a junction where a path came in on the left - since the start of the byway near Hailey I'd been on rather unfamiliar ground as it's many years since I'd come this way, but the rest of the route was now more familiar to me as I use it on my Stoke Row, Woodhouse Farm, Checkendon walk. The byway continued between hedges either side for another half mile, before passing Stokerow Farm on the left (muddy here again) and then becoming a surfaced lane as it entered Stoke Row. I then took a footpath on the right, which ran between a low hedge on my left and a tall hedge on my right. This brought me to the main road through Stoke Row, exactly where I'd parked near the Maharajah's Well.
The start of Cox's Lane
Cox's Lane
Cox's Lane
Cox's Lane
Cox's Lane (just after a path comes in on the left)
Cox's Lane
Cox's Lane, entering Stoke Row
The path after I turned right from Cox's Lane
I thoroughly enjoyed this walk, it's been far too long since I've walked so many new paths on a walk. It was a glorious morning considering it was the middle of February, with clear blue skies soon becoming very mild after a chilly start. As far as Nettlebed, much of the route was through woodland, and I really enjoyed it in these surprisingly pleasant conditions. There were more new paths after Nettlebed, mainly field paths plus about half a mile along English Lane (which was perfectly OK, there was no traffic and some pleasant scenery along the way). I'm struggling to remember when I last followed the section of the Ridgeway besides Grim's Ditch or the byways leading back to Stoke Row, I think it may be as long as 10 years ago. Even though it had clouded over and gone very grey when I walked those sections, causing me to rather hurry along them in order to avoid some possible rain, I still enjoyed them, though I regretted that the views were nowhere near there best in those conditions. I'd definitely like to do the walk in the opposite direction sometime (clockwise), it might even be better that way as then I'd have the good views ahead of me as I descended the byway into Hailey.