Pete's Walks - Cholesbury, Marlin Chapel, Ashley Green (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 circular walk of about 9.5 miles on Saturday, November 25th, 2023. It was a repeat of a walk I first did in October 2011, but today I did it in the opposite (clockwise) direction. It was the first time I'd walked it this way round, and there were a few paths at the start of the walk that I was walking in this direction for the first time.
I parked by the cricket ground in Cholesbury (Grid Reference SP933071) and started walking about 9:35am, heading along the road away from the cricket ground. I took a footpath on the right when I reached Cholesbury's village hall - the path goes through two gates 20-30 yards apart, and I was surprised to see two ponies here. Through the second gate I turned right, now within Cholesbury Camp, an Iron Age Hill Fort encircled by a line of beech trees. The path soon went over two stiles in quick succession. The path then follows the top of the inner embankment of the ditch that surrounds Cholesbury Camp, but there were warning signs about a danger from falling branches and I chose to follow the bottom of the ditch instead. Where the path crosses the ditch (the bottom of the ditch is raised slightly here) I turned right and left Cholesbury Camp, a short path taking me to a lane. I went a few yards left along the lane, then took a path on the other side. This led through a wood to reach a driveway and a road. Across the road I followed a path along a broad strip of grass on Cholesbury Common for two or three hundred yards, as far as a metal kissing-gate on the left.
Cholesbury Village Hall
The path inside Cholesbury Camp
The path continuing along the ditch that encircles Cholesbury Camp
The path after I turned right from Cholesbury Camp
The path after I crossed a lane
Further along the same path
The path on Cholesbury Common, after I crossed a road
Through the gate, a path led uphill through an empty meadow or paddock. After levelling out, the path then went through gates either side of the narrow end of a triangular sheep pasture (there were sheep at the other end of this field). The path then crossed a large paddock with a couple of horses in it. Beyond this, I turned left onto a farm track, and followed it gently downhill for several hundred yards to reach Tring Grange Farm. Here, as I turned right for a few yards, a lady dog walker started chatting to me. I learned from her that Hawridge (the name of the village that adjoins Cholesbury and which I would pass through later on) is pronounced 'Harridge' - I'd forgotten that, if I ever knew it. I then then took a path on the left. This went uphill a short distance, then ran flat as it passed a second field on my left, before continuing along a drive to reach a road.
The start of the path from Cholesbury Common
The path from Cholesbury Common, where it crosses the triangular sheep pasture
The path from Cholesbury Common, where it crosses the paddock
The track leading to Tring Grange Farm
The track leading to Tring Grange Farm
The start of the path from Tring Grange Farm
The path from Tring Grange Farm
After crossing the road I continued down a path on the other side, soon with a tall green fence on my right. After this ended, the path went down and up a very slight dip to reach some houses near Lodge Farm (that's the name on the map, anyway). It turned right along the drive, which soon turned right and ran for a few hundred yards to reach another road.
The path to Lodge Farm, after crossing a road
The path to Lodge Farm
Near Lodge Farm, just before the drive turns right
The drive from Lodge Farm
The drive from Lodge Farm