Pete's Walks - Chinnor Hill and Stokenchurch (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 walk of about 8.5 miles on Tuesday, 7th November, 2023. It was a new route for me, including two paths I'd not walked before and another path that I'd only walked twice before in the opposite direction. There was also a short section of the Ridgeway that I don't think I've walked since 2008.
I parked at the car park on Chinnor Hill (grid Reference SP766003) - this was the first time I'd started a walk here, though I've walked through the car park several times. I started walking about 10am, and before I'd even left the car park I spotted a Red Admiral butterfly - I don't think I've seen one so late in the year before. I took the bridleway that headed down Chinnor Hill, which was surfaced as far as a cottage but then become a sunken lane (showing it must be centuries old). The gradient was fairly gentle, but it seemed to go on a long time.
Red Admiral at the Chinnor Hill car park
The start of the bridleway down Chinnor Hill
The bridleway down Chinnor Hill
The bridleway down Chinnor Hill
The bridleway down Chinnor Hill
The bridleway down Chinnor Hill
At the bottom of the hill, I turned left onto a bridleway that is part of the Ridgeway national trail, which I would now follow for about three miles. It ran through woodland for a few hundred yards (I don't think I'd walked this short section since 2008), then it became very chalky as it passed some residences on the left with a hedge on the right. Where a track came in on the right, there was a view to Chinnor and beyond. As I then reached a road, there was a parking area on the right which was obviously well used - if I did this walk again I might park here instead, partly because it would slightly split up the long section along the Ridgeway and partly because the lane to the Chilton Hill car park is narrow with few passing places.
The Ridgeway national trail
The Ridgeway, near Chinnor
View right to Chinnor and beyond from the Ridgeway
After crossing the road I continued along the Ridgeway. At first it was quite chalky, but later it became very muddy. There were tall hedgerows either side, so I didn't often get any views, but I was aware of the wood-covered Chiltern escarpment over to my left. I always think of the Ridgeway here as being flat, but there were some very slight ups and downs. About a mile and a half after the first road I crossed a second road. The Ridgeway continued between hedgerows and remained muddy. After about another half mile, I turned left onto another bridleway that headed to the wooded Aston Hill.
The Ridgeway, after the first road crossing
The Ridgeway
The Ridgeway
The Ridgeway
The Ridgeway
The Ridgeway
The Ridgeway
The Ridgeway after the second road crossing
The Ridgeway, shortly before I turned left onto a bridleway