Pete's Walks- Bledlow Ridge and Lacey Green (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.
Google map of the walkDownload GPX file of the walk
The path descended through the trees on the western side of the hill, then followed a hedgerow on my left. It then went left across another stubble field. About two thirds of the way across the field I reached a bridleway, where I turned left (leaving both the Ridgeway and the route of the organised run). In the field corner, I turned right onto another bridleway. This soon ran past Old Callow Down Farm (where I rejoined the Chiltern Way) and then Callow Down Farm, where the bridleway was officially diverted a few years ago so that it now turns right and then left to skirt round the farm. The bridleway then ran beside a hedge on my right, climbing gently up the hillside, then rose more steeply through the edge of a wood to emerge at the hamlet of Rout’s Green.
The path after descending from Lodge Hill - I turned left about two thirds of the way across this field
The start of the bridleway to Rout's Green, after I turned right
The bridleway as it passes Old Callow Down Farm
Looking left from the bridleway to Rout's Green towards Lodge Hill, from just after Callow Down Farm
The bridleway to Rout's Green
The bridleway to Rout's Green
The bridleway to Rout's Green
The bridleway to Rout's Green
I soon turned left at a road junction, then after a hundred yards or so went right on another footpath, initially between garden fences but then going up and down a small dip in a pasture. There was a good view across the Saunderton valley on my left here. The path continued between bushes on my left and a paddock on my right. Across a track, the path continued between fences and hedges, soon with another good view over the valley. I eventually reached a gravel drive that brought me back to the road through Bledlow Ridge, where I turned left to return to my car.
The road after I turned left in Rout's Green
The path after I turned right in Rout's Green
The path from Rout's Green to Bledlow Ridge
The path from Rout's Green to Bledlow Ridge
The path from Rout's Green to Bledlow Ridge
View left across the Saunderton Valley
Looking back along the Saunderton valley, Lodge Hill on the left
The path from Rout's Green to Bledlow Ridge
The road through the village of Bledlow Ridge
I was very surprised when I discovered I'd not walked this route in this direction since 2008. In particular, the path from Bradenham towards Loosley Row is very good and used to be a favourite of mine, I can't explain why I've seldom walked it in recent years.
This turned out to be a slightly nicer day for a walk than I'd expected (especially after the very grey skies while I drove to Bledlow Ridge), with a few more sunny intervals than had been forecast. There were many good views throughout the walk, and there were plenty of ups and downs to keep it interesting, without there being any big hills to go up. There was less woodland than on most of my walks and so more field paths, but that probably explains why there were more good views than usual. All in all, I think it's a very good route and I'm sure I won't leave it so long before walking it again