Pete's Walks- Ewelme and Swyncombe (page 3 of 3)
The path eventually went over a stile to leave the park land, and I then turned left on another section of the Ridgeway. This soon took me to a farmyard at Ewelme Park. The path turned left through the farmyard, then (leaving the Ridgeway) I turned right onto a bridleway. There was then a long and pleasant descent, soon with views ahead over the Oxfordshire Plain. At one point I heard some shouts and saw two young ladies running towards me, asking if I could help. I could see another three girls a short distance away and correctly recognised them as another Duke of Edinburgh group. Fortunately the only help they needed was guidance as to where they were on the map, which was quite straightforward (their only mistake was to have turned left a bit too soon).
The Ridgeway, heading west towards Ewelme Park
Approaching the farmyard at Ewelme Park
The start of the bridleway going northwest from Ewelme Park
The bridleway going northwest from Ewelme Park
The bridleway going northwest from Ewelme Park
The bridleway going northwest from Ewelme Park
The bridleway going northwest from Ewelme Park
The bridleway going northwest from Ewelme Park, approaching a crossroads of bridleway
After about a mile, I went straight on at a crossroads of bridleways. After a while the bridleway was running between two old hedgerows, with many mature trees shrouded in ivy. The bridleway ended near some large sheds at Potter's Farm (the sheds obviously contained pigs, judging by the sound and smell). This is a familiar spot for me, as it is where the Southern Extension of the Chiltern Way rejoins the original route.
The bridleway continuing towards Potter's Farm, just after the bridleway crossroads
The bridleway continuing towards Potter's Farm
The bridleway continuing towards Potter's Farm
The yard at Potter's Farm
I turned right along the edge of the yard and continued along a hedge-lined track called Potter's Lane. Somewhere along here I met a lady walking her dog (though I never actually saw the dog ...) and she stopped to chat to me for a few minutes, asking how far I was walking - her son was off on a similar length walk apparently. After about half a mile I reached a lane, where I went a few yards right, then continued along a bridleway on the other side. This passed a landfill area on the left. All the paths today had been muddy (it has been the wettest winter on record) and I had to wade through a long puddle here - but at least I saw my first Common Stork's-bill of 2023 here. The bridleway ended at a corner of a minor road (Day's Lane), where I took a path on the right which dropped downhill. soon running along an edge of Cow Common to reach the playing fields at Ewelme, with the car park where I'd started on the far side.
Potter's Lane
Potter's Lane
Potter's Lane
The bridleway past the landfill site
The bridleway past the landfill site
Large puddle along the bridleway past the landfill site
The bridleway past the landfill site
View of Ewelme, from the start of the footpath back to the playing fields
View of Ewelme church from the footpath back to the playing field
View over the last field (Cow Common, an Open Access area) before getting back to the playing field at Ewelme
Even on such a grey day I really enjoyed the walk. I think the only reason I'd not repeated it since 2014 is that for me it means about two and half hours driving altogether, for just over three hours walking, though I didn't mind that at all today. There was hardly any road or lane walking, several ups and downs, plenty of fine views and some places of historic interest (the churches at Swyncombe and Ewelme and the Danish Intrenchment). The only disappointment today was that I hardly saw any wildflowers, just a few Violets, one small area of Lesser Celandine and the Common Stork's-bill (plus a mystery yellow flower I've yet to identify). As I said in 2014, it's certainly one of the best walks of 7-8 miles that I've done in the Chilterns, and I'd be very happy to do it again (if I couldn't do a longer walk).