Pete's Walks - Nuffield and Hailey (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.
On finally reaching a lane I turned left, leaving the Ridgeway but joining the route of the southern extension of the Chiltern Way, which I would now follow as far as Hailey. Rather than walk the lane itself, I followed the permissive bridleway on its right. After a few hundred yards I turned left along the drive to Woodhouse Farm (a byway). On reaching the middle of the farm buildings I turned right and followed a footpath through Wicks Wood. The path then went slightly uphill across a field, and then continued along a farm track - there was a good view on the right here, across the Thames Valley to the Berkshire Downs. The track soon passed Poors Farm (where it became Poors Lane) and eventually brought me to the hamlet of Hailey, where I turned left along a lane.
The permissive bridleway next to the lane
The drive to Woodhouse Farm (a byway)
The footpath through Wicks Wood
The footpath continuing from Wicks Wood, heading to Hailey
View right from the path to Hailey - the hills in the distance are the Berkshire Downs, part of the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty)
The footpath continuing towards Hailey
The same footpath as it passes Poors Farm
The footpath continuing towards Hailey
As I passed the King William IV pub, I was again surprised to see some Marjoram still in flower. The lane continued eastwards, now rising gently uphill between hedgerows either side. After passing a couple more residences on the right, the surfaced lane became a 'restricted byway'. The Chiltern Way turned right soon afterwards, but I continued along the restricted byway, still very gradually going uphill. For part of the way now the hedges either side overhung the byway to form a tunnel, which was quite attractive today with some leaves still green while the rest were in their autumn colours. After several hundred yards the hedge on the left ended and I could get a view back towards the Oxfordshire Plain.
The lane through Hailey
Marjoram
The lane through Hailey
This is roughly where the lane becomes a restricted byway
The restricted byway
View back from the restricted byway