Pete's Walks - Christmas Common, Cookley Green, Russell's Water (page 2 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.
Just round a slight bend to the right, I took a footpath on the right that started immediately before a cottage name Dumble Dore on the OS map (nothing to do with Harry Potter, it's a little used alternative name for Bumble Bee). This path led between hedgerows, with occasional views out over fields, for about half a mile until it met a bridleway, coming from near Dame Alice Farm (a short distance to to my right). I turned left and followed the bridleway gradually uphill, at first between hedgerows and then through a wood of mainly beech trees. Along here I was passed by a number of people running (or walking) in some 50Km charity event.
The path from Dumble Dore
The path from Dumble Dore
The path from Dumble Dore, just before it reaches the bridleway from Dame Alice Farm
The bridleway from Dame Alice Farm
The bridleway from Dame Alice Farm
The bridleway from Dame Alice Farm
The bridleway from Dame Alice Farm
The bridleway from Dame Alice Farm
At the top of the hill, the path turned left along the drive from Woods Farm and followed it to a lane. Across the lane I took a footpath along the surfaced drive to Coates Farm. Beyond the farm the drive was more roughly surfaced - it soon entered a wood and emerged on the other side into the hamlet of Cookley Green.
The drive from Woods Farm
The drive to Coates Farm
Passing Coates Farm
Between Coates Farm and Cookley Green
Entering Cookley Green
When I reached the village green on my left, I turned left and followed a path through the green. I then crossed a road and went down a bridleway. This passed a few properties on the edge of Cookley Green, then ran between hedgerows along a valley bottom.
The green at Cookley Green
The bridleway from Cookley Green
The bridleway from Cookley Green
The bridleway from Cookley Green