Pete's Walks- Southeast from Watlington Hill (page 4 of 4)
Opposite a farm that sells Christmas trees, I went through a gate in a brick wall on the right of the road, to enter Greenfield Copse. The path led through what were mainly beech trees and fairly soon started to descend another hill. The path ended at a junction with a bridleway on the edge of the wood, where I turned right (I spotted some Nettle-leaved Bellflower here). The bridleway soon turned left, but I went straight on along a path through a thin belt of trees. After a while the path went left, and followed a hedgerow to reach the Watlington to Nettlebed road (opposite a property name Dumble Dore).
The path through Greenfield Copse
The path through Greenfield Copse
The path through Greenfield Copse
The path through Greenfield Copse
The bridleway going north (right) along the edge of Greenfield Copse
The path through the tree belt
View left from the path through the tree belt
The path through the tree belt
The path continuing to the Watlington-Nettlebed road
I turned right and followed the road towards Watlington, stepping onto the verge quite frequently as traffic went by. After a few hundred yards a footpath went right, along a drive. Another path soon forked left, soon running between hedgerows either side. It then started a long gradual climb up Watlington Hill - there were initially two parallel paths here, and today I chose the right-hand one which ran in the open (the left-hand one follows an ancient 'hollow way' amongst some Yew trees). The paths came together again after a while, and continued uphill, eventually leading me back to the car park where I'd started.
The Watlington-Nettlebed road
Near the start of the path to Watlington Hill
The path to Watlington Hill
The path continuing up Watlington Hill
The path up Watlington Hill
The path up Watlington Hill, almost back at the car park
In 2013 I said "The walk took me about three and three quarter hours, possibly a little slow for 10.5 miles" - today it took me four and a half hours, which shows how unfit I am! But I really enjoyed the walk, despite the disappointingly grey weather conditions (yet again). When I attempted to 'rate' my walks a few years ago, I gave this route a '*' rating, meaning that it was better than most routes but not one of the very best. If anything I think it possibly deserves a second star, because I don't remember too many of the routes I've walked being better than this. There were a lot of nice woodland paths, and when not in the woods there were usually some nice views to be had. It was also a very up and down route, which I think kept it interesting - apart from the two short road sections, the only lengthy flat section was the bridleway in College Wood.