Pete's Walks- Little Missenden, Holmer Green and Mop End (page 1 of 4)
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 did this 6.1 mile walk on Good Friday, 15th April 2022. It was a new route for me, although entirely on paths I've used on other routes.
I parked outside the church at Little Missenden, and started walking about 11:35am. With the church on my left I went a short way along the road to a junction, where I turned right. I followed the lane when it went right (now Penfold Lane, a bridleway called Beamond End Lane went straight on). I spotted some Common Field Speedwell growing here. The lane soon left the village, and after a short distance turned left. Just after this corner I took a footpath on the right, following the right edge of an arable field. On reaching the far side of the field, I turned left onto a hedge-lined bridleway name Kingstreet Lane.
Little Missenden church - this is my favourite church in the Chilterns. At its heart is a Saxon church with a Norman church built around it, so that the two 'Aisles', either side of the Nave are between the inner Saxon and outer Norman walls (with rounded Norman archways cut into the Saxon walls). Another point of interest are the mediaeval wall paintings.
Lane through Little Missenden after I turned right
Penfold Lane, as it leaves Little Missenden
The footpath from Penfold Lane (Kingstreet Lane is in the hedgerow at the end of the field)
Kingstreet Lane is one of five named 'lanes' running roughly south from in or near Little Missenden that are now just bridleways (the others are Featherbed Lane, Beamond End Lane, Toby's Lane and Mope End Lane, with Penfold Lane being the only actual lane south from Little Missenden that is still open to road traffic). I soon spotted some Lesser Celandine, as the lane turned right and then left. It then gradually climbed uphill to reach some woodland, where it levelled off and continued beside a fence on my right (I think this marks the boundary between Haleacre Wood on that side and Coleman's Wood to my left. There were Bluebells and Greater Stitchwort growing in the wood, and I spotted my first Orange-tip butterfly of the year here. On leaving the wood the lane continued between well-trimmed hedgerows (where I saw my first Comma butterfly of 2022) for about half a mile to reach the village of Holmer Green.
Kingstreet Lane
Kingstreet Lane
Kingstreet Lane
Kingstreet Lane
View left from Kingstreet Lane, just as it reaches the woods
Kingstreet Lane
Kingstreet Lane
Kingstreet Lane
Kingstreet Lane