Pete's Walks- Coombe Hill, Bacombe Hill, Little Hampden (page 3 of 4)
I followed the road going left at the road junction (the road up to the Coombe Hill car park) for a few yards and started down a bridleway on the far side side. I then immediately turned right on to another bridleway, which immediately turned left to continue just inside more woodland still sloping up to my left (I don't remember any signs or way marks at these junctions). After about half a mile, I went straight on where the bridleway crossed the route of the Ridgeway national trail. A little way further on, a waymark post showed where a permissive path forked right from the bridleway (the path is not shown on the OS map). I soon spotted some Nettle-leaved Bellflower growing beside the permissive path.
The start of the bridleway continuing south from near the road junction (this taken from where I immediately turned left from the bridleway from the road)
The bridleway continuing south from near the road junction
The bridleway continuing south from near the road junction
Where the bridleway crosses the Ridgeway
The permissive footpath after I forked right, staying just inside the edge of the wood
View right from the permissive footpath
The permissive footpath
After about a third of a mile, the permissive path brought me to a lane, where I turned left (I always think of this as a 'former lane' for some reason, but it's shown as a lane on the OS map). The lane was coming from Buckmoorend and heading towards Little Hampden, and rose fairly gently uphill through more woodland. When the lane ended (I assume it used to continue to Little Hampden), I continued ahead on the rightmost of two footpaths that start at this point (a bridleway was a few yards further right, following the edge of the wood). This path alwys seems longer than I remember it to be, but after almost half a mile through the woods it brought me to the hamlet of Little Hampden.
The lane from Buckmoorend towards Little Hampden
The lane from Buckmoorend towards Little Hampden
Nearing the end of the lane from Buckmoorend towards Little Hampden
The path to Little Hampden
The path to Little Hampden
The path to Little Hampden
Where a small parking area started on the left, I turned sharply left onto a bridleway (a footpath starts at the same point). I followed the bridleway nicely downhill, heading roughly north-northeast, for over half a mile.
The start of the bridleway going north-northeast from Little Hampden
The bridleway going north-northeast from Little Hampden
The bridleway going north-northeast from Little Hampden
The bridleway going north-northeast from Little Hampden