Pete's Walks- Cholesbury, Kingsash, Chartridge (page 2 of 5)
I went left along the lane and passed a cottage, then took a path on my left. This was soon running next to Stonehill Wood, dropping down into a small valley. I did see where the path through the wood emerged at the corner of the wood - it would probably be better than the way I came, but again I was just trying a path I'd not walked before. The path I was on should really cut across the corner of the field here (as shown on the OS map), but as usual I followed the field edge and turned right in the field corner. I then went left over a stile and walked through the farmyard at Old Brun's Farm. The path then followed the left edge of a large field, soon turning left and then right (I spotted what I thought was a Fallow Deer here, only to see that it was a Roe Deer when I uploaded my photos to my computer). At the bottom of a dip the path switched to the left of the hedgerow, but in the field corner at the top of the dip it switched back to the right.
The footpath to Old Brun's Farm, after I turned left from the lane
The path passing Old Brun's Farm
The path continuing from Old Brun's Farm
The path continuing from Old Brun's Farm
The path continuing from Old Brun's Farm
On reaching and crossing a lane, I had to look at the map to see where to go, as there was no sign of a path crossing the large ploughed field in font of me. I had to aim slightly left, to where a bit of the wood stuck out slightly into the field. The field was very wet, and it was a bit of a trudge getting across it - there were occasional footprints in the mud that I could follow. Once across the field I entered Lordling Wood, which initially had a lot of Holly in it. I was a bit worried here, as I remembered previously having difficulty navigating through the wood. I fairly soon came to a bit of a glade in the wood, with waymarks on a post and a white arrow on a tree pointing down a broad grassy path going off to the right. There was a gate to my left, with a byway on the other side (I saw two people walk by). I'd intended to take the second turning on the right, but couldn't see a way of going straight on here. Anyway, I decided to take the grassy path going right thinking it was the first path on that side which meant I'd have to walk two sides of a triangle (they were all new to me anyway). The path proved to be quite squelchy, but not too bad. When I came to a path crossroads, I recognised where I was - I'd actually been on my intended path after all! So goodness knows what happened to the first path on the right - I was actually looking for a junction, but I must somehow have missed it. Anyway, I turned right and followed a path that ran just inside Great Widmoor Wood (that's the nearest name on the OS map, but the map shows some wood boundaries so perhaps that's not the name here).
The field after crossing a lane - I headed to the slightly projecting corner of the Wood, just left of centre in this shot
The path through Lordling Wood
Lordling Wood - at the post in the centre I turned right (white arrow on tree)
Wet path in Lordling Wood
Path through Great Widmoor Wood (?), after I turned left
Path through Great Widmoor Wood (?)
The path ended at a bend in a road, where I went more or less straight on and soon reached the hamlet of Kingsash. I fairly soon came to a path on the left (which would take me to The Lee) that started along a concrete drive. This soon turned left and then I went through gates on the right either side of another drive and continued through a paddock (no horses today). Through a gate or stile in the corner, the path continued alongside a long hedgerow on my left. I have always enjoyed this path between Kingsash and The Lee for some reason - possibly because it's flat and easy to navigate! Looking across the field to my right I couldn't see the opposite field boundary as the far side of the field dropped down into a valley, I could just see the top of the hillside on the far side of the valley (the valley currently marred by HS2 work). At one point the path turned left and then right in a field corner. A few hundred yards further on the path switched to the left of the hedgerow. On entering a large empty pasture, I took the path going slightly left (I did consider taking the path going slightly right and then turn left at its end, just to walk two more new paths, but I decided I really wanted to visit The Lee as I'd not been there for a while).
The road into Kingsash
Near the start of the path from Kingsash to The Lee
The path from Kingsash to The Lee
The path from Kingsash to The Lee
The path from Kingsash to The Lee
The path from Kingsash arriving at The Lee (it goes to a gate roughly in the centre of this shot)