Pete's Walks - Cowleaze Wood, Stokenchurch, Shirburn Hill (page 4 of 5)
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 eventually reaching a T-junction at the end of the path, I turned left along a section of the Ridgeway national trail, which here was a broad chalky track. I soon spotted some Meadow Cranesbill growing beside the track - I'd been looking out for it as I remembered seeing it here when I did this walk in 2022. After a few hundred yards the track passed under the M40 motorway (the eastbound carriageway was still a traffic jam, sadly I'd later find out it was due to a fatal accident), and a little further on reached a lane leading to Hill Farm, to my left. I could have shortened the walk (by about 2.7 miles) by going left and either taking a path on the left by Hill Farm (and turning right at its end) or just taking the continuation of the lane, both of which would have taken me back to Cowleaze Wood. But I was feeling good at this point and stuck to my planned route. After just over another quarter of a mile along the Ridgeway another path went off to the left (at a kissing-gate in the hedgerow), the last option where I could have shortened the walk (again by about 2.7 miles) - this would be my preferred option if I did want to shorten the route.
The Ridgeway after I turned left
The Ridgeway
The Ridgeway approaching the M40
The Ridgeway, where it comes out from under the M40 bridge
The Ridgeway, approaching the lane to Hill Farm (I could have shortened the walk here, by turning left and taking either of two routes back to Cowleaze Wood)
I continued along the Ridgeway, which now approached the foot of Shirburn Hill - I spotted my first Marbled White butterfly of 2024 soimewhere along here. The track ran through a narrow strip of trees as it passed the hill, and somewhere here I stopped and sat on a log to eat my lunch (stupidly I left my map and map case here and had to go back to get them, adding about 0.8 miles to the walk!). Beyond the foot of Shirburn Hill the Ridgeway ran between hedgerows again as it passed several fields on either side. Eventually I reached a drive that crossed the track, where I turned left, following the drive towards Pyrton Hill House.
The Ridgeway, heading towards Shirburn Hill
The Ridgeway, passing the foot of Shirburn Hill
The Ridgeway, passing the foot of Shirburn Hill
The Ridgeway, continuing from Shirburn Hill
The Ridgeway, continuing from Shirburn Hill
The Ridgeway, continuing from Shirburn Hill
The drive to Pyrton Hill House